Raymond Watson (artist)

Raymond P Watson (born 1958) is a visual artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[1] He lives and works in Cushendall, in the Glens of Antrim. He studied Media Studies at the University of Ulster, obtaining a BA hons., and Master of Philosophy. He has worked as a Media Studies lecturer at the Belfast Metropolitan College, and worked as a group editor with a local publishing house for a number of years. He has produced artwork since the early 1990s and in 1999 stopped all other work to dedicate his energy to creating art. He has a substantial body of work influenced heavily by the recent political conflict in the north of Ireland. He is an eclectic artist who creates work in any media, commonly bronze, wood, clay, metals, paints and cement.

Exhibitions

Since the 90s Watson has had many exhibitions across Ireland and in England, New York,^[2] and has contributed to joint exhibitions in many other countries. A notable piece of his art is the Hands of History sculpture.^[3][4] For this sculpture he managed to cast in bronze the hands of the political leaders who negotiated the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Peace Agreement). Those cast are: David Trimble, Ulster Unionist Party, Gerry Adams Sinn Féin, John Hume Social Democratic Labour Party, Malachy Curran N.I.Labour Party, Monica McWilliams N.I. Women's Coalition, David Irvin Progressive Unionist Party, Gary McMicheal Ulster Democratic Party, Seán Neeson Alliance Party. The British Government is represented by Mo Mowlam the then Secretary of State. This sculpture is a unique historical record of the aspirations of the Agreement, designed to create a blueprint for a better future in between all conflicted parties in Ireland.^[5]

In 2011 he created the largest public art installation^[6] ever seen in Belfast. The Belfast Flags of Hope ^[7] project was an installation of more than 10,000 art pieces^[8] created by communities across Belfast especially, and installed along the ‘Belfast Peaceline’ as a symbol of inclusive flag flying^[9] The project was in memory of murdered school boy Thomas Devlin^[10] and attended by Baroness May Blood.^[11]

In 2015 he exhibited artwork commemorating the discovery of one of Ireland’s national treasures - The Broighter Boat, at the 'Towards Broighter' ^[12] Exhibition in Limavady.^[13]

International

He has worked on art projects in Australia, Africa and India. In Calcutta, India, he produced a large scale temporary sculpture called The Helix of Hope with street children^[14] and orphans. Besides exhibitions Raymond Watson has worked on many community art projects^[15] that are designed to enhance deprived or troubled societies. He has presented his art practice at many international conferences and his work is in many private collections. The Peace Flags^[16] have been exhibited in many locations including Australia^[17]

Publications

In 2014 he produced a book on his artwork, titled: The Cell Was my Canvas^[18] In 2016 The Cell Was my Canvas^[19] was updated and translated into German, it is now available on line as an ebook.
In 2010 the book Belfast Flags of Hope^[20] was published jointly by Raymond Watson and the Thomas Devlin Fund.^[21] This publication outlined the process of an earlier Flags of Hope project.

References