The queer body and the desire of the unknown: locating queer desire in Northern Irish painting

Abstract

This research aims to consider painting as a means to explore queer desire in Northern Irish visual culture. Typically, Northern Irish artists have used a wide variety of mediums to express themes of queerness however this has seldom been done through the language of paint. The research question aims to explore queer desire, with an emphasis placed upon the artistic practice of Irish artist Gerard Dillon (1916 – 1971), investigating his practice and examining how Dillon has used coded language to express queer desire throughout his paintings. In response, using a practice-based methodology, I have created a body of paintings, along with support material (sketches, works on paper) that uses Dillon’s practice as a framework in exploring queer desire.

The research findings have identified several paintings of Dillon’s that explores his queer desire within various depictions of men in the West of Ireland. In particular, a queer interpretation of one painting by Dillon, The Cottage Gable (c. 1951), led to the creation of several paintings within this project that explores the queer act of cruising. These queer readings or interpretations of Dillon’s practice led to the creation of a body of work and a visual language that I utilised to express my own queer desire through the language of paint. While there have been existing readings of Dillon’s practice through his sexuality, these readings have been brief and infrequent. Significantly, this research has bridged the gap between these existing readings, offering new understandings of Dillon’s practice and the role his sexuality has had upon it. The research has also explored depictions of men in Northern Irish visual culture, and how my portrayal of the male body as an object of queer desire contests the violent, hypermasculine male found within visual culture in Northern Ireland.

Date of Award	Oct 2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Suzanna Chan (Supervisor) & Joseph Mc Brinn (Supervisor)