Brian Maguire's 'The Known Dead' at Galerie Christophe Gaillard

Brian Maguire's large-scale painting 'The Known Dead' (2015) is on display in the show room of Galerie Christophe Gaillard in Paris. The work depicts five migrant bodies on a desert border between Mexico and the United States, rendered through thick white paint with subtle color patches that gradually reveal human forms. Maguire, an Irish artist, describes painting as 'an act of solidarity' involving meeting, questioning, listening, understanding, and transmitting stories. The painting references historical works like Géricault's 'The Raft of the Medusa' and Delacroix's 'Scenes of the Massacres of Scio,' positioning itself within the tradition of history painting. Critic Marc Donnadieu highlights how the work forces viewers to confront the reality of migrant deaths often reduced to news images, giving these individuals a physical presence and identity. The title 'The Known Dead' paradoxically underscores that while we know of these deaths, we do not truly know the individuals. The painting was created in 2015 and is currently exhibited at the gallery's show room in Paris.