Once again, the artist used a school desk appropriated from Salesian Secondary School, an all-girls school in Limerick, across the road from where he attended an all-boys secondary school, painted black and this time with a striking combination of materials inside;
Red Korean Hanji paper (a traditional hand made paper O’Brien grew fond of using since living in South Korea for one month in 2012 and discovering it there), the arms of a crucifix sculpture which had already fallen off (found while having a studio in the former Franciscans Friary building in Limerick at the time) and a pair of white shoes from a Justin Bieber toy found in a charity shop. Like the show, this sculpture was also titled ‘Superstar’.
Using this title for the show was partially an ironic response to the relatable anticlimax found after attaining some prestige through education, qualifications, exhibits or otherwise, especially as a young professional (O’Brien had his first solo show the year before).
This worked in sync with the show’s unusual mixture of the obnoxious surface image we often see promoted in pop culture, and the historical message of ego death for spiritual salvation shared in religious tradition, all together in one strangely theatrical-looking installation that hinted at a deeper education of sorts possible behind the scenes.
Near to the ‘Superstar’ sculpture there was a sculpture consisting of a shower door lodged into a wooden pallet, with a male figure painted onto the glass, with a vacant gaze, appearing far removed, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, from the simplicity of his depicted physical presence under the showers water.
The piece begged the question of; what drives an individual to such a state? and; what is society missing the mark on, for the good of any given individual in society?
This piece was also ironically titled, as ‘Palmolive’. That’s a relatively budget soap bar brand for anyone not in the know.
The show also displayed an intuitively drawn crucifix, with a strong sense of movement in its aesthetic appearance, a drawing that seemed to express the desire for a level of meaning and realisation not yet achieved at a shared level of society, the artist working with archetypical imagery rather than presenting a religious or anti-religious position of any kind in the work.
