The seven of the leaders of the 1916 Rising are discussed, including Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke , Sean Mac Dermott, Joseph Mary Plunkett, Eamonn Ceannt, and Thomas MacDonagh. Tom Byrne was born in Dublin in 1962. He studied at Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design, where he trained in the Bauhaus tradition, a revolutionary 20th century school of artistic training which integrated craftsmanship, art and technology Byrne describes, “religion, politics and celebrity all play equally important roles in my work”. His strong interest in current affairs along with his punk mentality merges to create an artist who is in tune with the world around him. Informed by spirituality and popular culture alike, the artist thinks of himself as a contemporary artist first and foremost, selecting beauty from everyday experience and channelling it into painterly abstractions.
