GEOFF TRACEY
HITTING the canvas FF/AP Geoff Tracey talks to Adam Hyland about creating works of art
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FF/AP Tracey with his stencil work of Adrian O’Grady
Pablo Picasso once said that art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. With this in mind, it was fitting to see the artworks of emergency services personnel go on display as a collective at the Frontline Emergency Services Art and Photographic Exhibition held at the Printworks in Dublin Castle in August. Featuring paintings and photographs from members of the various services, depicting either their experiences or their impressions and inspirations over the last 18 months when all emergency services were stretched to the limit by the pandemic, it included a work by Dublin Fire Brigade FF/AP Geoff Tracey. His piece “A Fresh Coat” – a spray paint and acrylic on canvas – depicting a young girl painting a sun over an enlarged depiction of Coronavirus, took its place among works by other frontline workers, and is something he is very proud of. “It is nice to have your art recognised and framed somewhere, to be able to bring my family in to have a look at it hanging, to be able to say I did that,” FF/AP Tracey, who works on A Watch in Tallaght, tells me. “I don’t care about it being sold, just having it hanging in a gallery was important to me, especially because of the subject matter and everything we have been through as emergency personnel in the last couple of years, and the message I tried to get across in it.”
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