Jennifer Farley - The Art Of Superstition

‘The Art Of Superstition’

42 artworks inspired by irrational beliefs. Curated by Peter Donnelly

In October 2013, members of Illustrators Ireland followed up the huge success of their 2012 group exhibition The Illustrated Beatles with a new highly anticipated show... The Art of Superstition. Launched at the prestigious Copper House Gallery in Dublin, this 42 piece exhibition examined the world of irrational beliefs through the medium of illustration. Once again the collection showed a range of artistic approaches including watercolour, pen and ink, acrylic, oils, pencil and digital work all expertly reproduced and presented as framed fine art prints.

Opening night at the Gallery exceeded all expectations with numbers reaching a record for an exhibition launch and cementing for the second time in two years the reputation of the collective and the quality of illustration currently being produced in Ireland. Unsuprisingly media coverage was extensive and exhibition previews and reviews were unanimous in praising the standard of the show.

Although Irish based, Illustrators Ireland also has several members from around the world all working in Ireland. This was reflected throughout the work giving the show the benefit of a truely international flavour .

Superstition can be defined as:
1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.
a. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith

in magic or chance.

b. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.

We are delighted to offer a selection of the best works, available as individual prints or as a bespoke portfolio of 12 prints in a handmade presentation case with a tipped in cover print of the image of your choice.

In recent years members of Illustrators Ireland have been recognised in international award ceremonies and competitions such as 3X3 magazine, American Illustration, Association of Illustrators (UK) and the Society of Illustrators (NY).

PETER DONNELLY - SEAWAYS

In Seaways, Peter Donnelly uncovers traditional maritime folklore and superstitions from Ireland and Scotland.

The sight of redheads, dogs and clergymen near a ship as well the mention of salt onboard were considered bad omens while the spilling of blood prior to sailing was considered good luck by the fishing community.

MARGARET ANNE SUGGS - SHOEPERSTITIONS

In the deep south of the United States, the wearing of red shoes is reserved for the very young and those of lascivious repute. Nevermind Dorothy's most famous pair of red slippers or the scarlet soled masterpieces of Christian Louboutin – this irrational belief was held firm! Once removed from the south, Margaret Anne took the opportunity to purchase and wear a variety of ruby-hued footwear. If red shoes are for hookers and children, what does that make you?

EOIN COVENEY - APOLLO 13

Launched on the 11th of April, 1970 at precisely 13:13 CST, it was the seventh manned mission of the Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the moon.

NASA apparently didn't suffer from triskaidekaphobia, or the fear of the number 13.

FINTAN TAITE - THE SIRENS

In Greek mythology Sirens lived on the island Sirenum scopuli, and were daughters of Ceto the sea monster and Phorcys the sea god. In Fintan Taite's interpretation they drew passing sailors to their doom with some tuneless singing, corsets, and a fine array of tattoos.

ALE MERCADO - BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

Superstitions are those things we turn to when we need an explanation to what we can't explain. They are fear to fight fear. From small rituals to big religions.

For a superstitious person, as Albert King seems to say in the song that gives name to the piece, it is better to have bad luck than no luck at all.

PHILIP ELLIOT - SUPERSIZED SUPERSTITION

A world where chaos ensues when so many people believe in too many everyday superstitions fate has conspired to bring together at one moment.

JESSE CAMPBELL BROWN - GOOD TO KEEP THE YANG UP

The Superstition under scrutiny by Jesse Campbell-Brown in this work is the belief of Chinese medicine practitioners that parts of tigers can be used to cure various ailments - more specifically, that Tiger penis can cure impotence, premature ejaculation, sexual dysfunction, and boost all round virility. Apparently it makes a lovely soup and is eagerly consumed by those stereotypically short changed in the trouser-snake department.

The use of endangered Tiger products and their medicines is also seen as a symbol or high status and wealth, and the recent increase in the standard of living in China and southeast Asia, had contributed to the demand for these products. Indeed, China has almost eradicated it's own Tiger population, and now sources Tigers from Bangladesh and Nepal. China is not alone in the mass slaughter of this endagerd animal - in Russia, poaching one Tiger can provide 10 years income on the black market. It's estimated that in 1991, one third of the Siberian Tigers were killed to meet demand for Chinese medicine supplies.

As mentioned, it is not just the penis that is used in Chinese medicine: In Taiwan, a bowl of Tiger penis soup goes for US$320, and a pair of eyes (to fight epilepsy and malaria) for US$170. Powdered Tiger humerus bone (for treating ulcers rheumatism and typhoid) brings up to US$1,450 lb. in Seoul.

As few as 3,200 Tigers exist in the wild today. It is fair to say that this superstition, pandering to the sexual insecurities of men across the patriarchal societies of asia, is complete fantasy, horribly and unnecessarily destructive, and well deserving of, not only being completely eradicated, but also of our utter contempt.

NICOLA COLTON - THE SHIP'S CAT

There are many seafaring superstitions surrounding keeping a cat on board a ship for good luck. Cats were also believed to have supernatural powers that could protect ships from dangerous weather. Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails.Sometimes fisherman's wives kept black cats at home in the hope that they would use their influence to protect their husbands at sea.

JENNIFER FARLEY - LOCK UP YOUR CHICKENS

Despite popular misconceptions, Voodoo is a benevolent religion. It's not all about dolls, pins and chicken sacrifice. However, my piece is.

NIALL MCCORMACK - VATICAN VOODOO BRAND
An advertisement for Vatican Voodoo Brand products in the style of an old King Novelty Company of Chicago 'Curio Catalog', circa 1940.
Nihil Obstat: Father Kurt Fahrt S.J.
Imprimatur: † The Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, 2013

STEVE CANNON - HARBINGER

An old superstition of if a crow flies over a house it can foretell of a death within the house "A crow on the thatch, soon death lifts the latch."

STEVE SIMPSON - THE MONARCH

Each year, around time of El Día de los Muertos, the sky over the Mexican mountain village of Anguangeo becomes a flurry of orange as millions of monarch butterflies flutter in an endless stream into a few remote groves of firs in the hills above the town.

Locals have long believed the monarchs are the returning spirits of their deceased relatives, mysteriously arriving at the same time each year, coinciding with the Day of the Dead. Aztec tradition holds that the souls of the departed will return as butterflies. The link between myth and the monarchs’ annual return spans centuries.

POPPY & RED - ALL THAT GLITTERS

A playful take on the old traditional children's rhyme about the sparkle loving Magpie. Magpies have been considered a bird of ill omen for centuries, but the predictions are not always bad! This superstition indicates the possibility of a positive outcome. According to the well known rhyme, the number of magpies a person sees determines their fate. Although there are a number of variations, the most common version reads:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

TARSILA KRUSE - SEVEN WAVES

The celebration of New Year's in Brazil is one of the biggest in the whole country and as a multicultural nation it offers a mix of religious traditions, customs and superstitions. During the night of New Year's eve people dress in white clothes as a way to wish for peace for the following year, and many head to the beaches to send flowers and offerings into the ocean as well as to jump the very first seven waves after midnight, guaranteeing they will have luck, after all, it's a way to honour the sea goddess Iemanjá. The whole ritual of the New Year passage is completed by a grand firework show that gets bigger and better year after year.

PADHRAIG NOLAN - ONE FOR SORROW

With fear as the default setting of our primal brain, the human condition is built on superstition.

Evolving from protective charms, ritual and prejudice can atrophy to trap us within.

TATYANA FEENEY - RAINING ON THE INSIDE

This piece is based on the superstition that it is bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.

PJ LYNCH - THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

For centuries sailors have considered it very unlucky to kill an albatross. In

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the narrator
killed the bird with his crossbow and, when their luck turns bad, his fellow
sailors force him to wear the dead albatross around his neck.

MARTIN BECKETT - A FORTUNE TO BE TOLD

Madame Rosa purveyor of futures both fortunate and foul. Cross her palm with silver to discover yours....

The art of fortune telling is in many ways the ultimate superstition, the means to avoid bad futures or to help bring on bad fortune in others.
In Martin's piece he brings to life this practice through the use of 7 seperate elements making a whole image:
Cracked mirror for bad luck.
Magpies, one for sorrow two for joy.
Lucky to have a bird poo on you.
Bad luck to step on the cracks in a pavement.
Bad luck to walk under a ladder.
Black cats are both good and bad luck and Madame Rosa the lucky gypsy...beware of her curse.

ORLA ROCHE - ONE IS FOR SORROW

The Superstition goes- One is for sorrow. Two is for joy......

In this film noir, one lonely magpie meets his sorrowful demise.

KEVIN MC SHERRY - BLASPHEMY

ADRIENNE GEOGHEGAN - RUSSIAN RAGE

Based on the superstition in Russia: never give a lady an even number of flowers, in other words 13 is better than a dozen! It was created with acrylic, graphite, paper, glitter on board.

MARK REIHILL - LUCKY GIRL

The piece features four superstitions; lucky four leaf clover, lucky rabbit's foot, lucky pants and three on a match.

During the first World War it was considered bad luck for three people to light their cigarettes from the same match. It was said the third on the match would be shot. As our over-superstitious heroine bends over to pick up a four leaf clover she narrowly dodges the snipers bullet.

NIAMH SHARKEY - THREE FOR A FUNERAL

MAURICE PIERCE - THE DARK ABANDON

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AISLING DOWLING - SAILORS AND TATTOOS

My piece is based on the longstanding tradition of sailors and tattoos. Sailors often got tattoos of specific objects to warn off bad luck and keep them safe while on board the ships. Images and names of loved ones were a popular choice as well as anchors, compasses and black cats

JOVENS KEREKES - SUPERSTITION

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GILLIAN COMERFORD - BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON

In magick, butterflies are said to symbolise the soul of a human and are known to pass easily between this world and the next.

On a full moon the powers of nature are at their peak and the unconscious mind is open to subtle influences.

A perfect time to conjure some magick

DONOUGH O'MALLEY - DIFUNTA CORREA

Difunta Correa is an unofficial and popular saint of Argentina. Legend has it that this lady went in search of her husband, who had been conscripted into the army. She died from thirst in the desert but days afterwards gauchos discovered her baby alive, still breast feeding on her body. Since then, dotted along the dusty desert roads of Argentina are shrines to this patron saint of truck drivers, where people place bottles of water for her eternal thirst, in the hope she will guide them safely on their journey.

DERRY DILLON - A PRAYER AT HALF TIME

Sports fans are a particularly superstitious bunch. They somehow imagine that a lucky old shirt or toy deity or even a 'psychic' octopus can influence the outcome of a game. In my illustration I've created a particularly desperate football fan who, although not on the pitch, perhaps feels more involved by surrounding himself with his lucky trinkets.

DIARMUID O'CATHAIN - SOULULOID

Native Americans traditionally believed that having their photographs taken could steal their souls and disrespect the spirit world. Many would refuse to pose for pictures fearing that part of them would be imprisoned forever on film.

DAVID MCCLELLAND - TOUCH WOOD

By touching the wood of a tree it is believed that you will be granted good luck by the fairies living in that tree. While it is just a superstition you should always make sure that it is the wood that you are touching when you make your wish.

THE PROJECT TWINS - FRAGILE

Curiosity, humour and wit are a predominant feature in their work. Their playful graphics have a bold and simple aesthetic. They are interested in observations and oddities and enjoy taking the familiar and turning it into the surprising.

In this piece, humour is used to question ideas of ecclesiastical fear and how belief systems and rituals can be seen as superstitions.

BRIAN FITZGERALD - SALT

I never understood the reason for chucking salt over your left shoulder to undo the bad luck of spilling it on the table in the firstplace. Now I’m a little wiser. Salt is very affordable now but in ancient times it was rare and was a precious commodity and was used as a form of currency. So if you spilled it you were chucking your money about carelessly which was considered bad luck in those days. The devil gets the blame for your carelessness and as he sits on your left shoulder a pinch of salt was one way of blinding him. This clever move will prevent him from tricking you into spilling any more salt about the table.

DAMIAN O'DONOHUE - FAN DEATH

In South Korea, it is widely believed that, if you go to sleep with a fan switched on in a room where the windows are closed, you will die of Asphyxiation.

In Damian's interpretation, Death comes in the form of a demon, emerging from the running fan, who slowly and menacingly gorges on the life-force of its' victim.

ROGER O'REILLY - LUCKY LADY

Designed as a tattoo, Roger O'Reilly's "Lucky Lady" also recalls the aircraft nose art of the Second World War and especially the aircraft of the various bomber squadrons. Notoriously superstitious, the crew regularly took along with them lucky tokens and charms to protect them from enemy fire.

Lucky Lady serves as both a good luck mascot and as a unifying team identity.

AIDAN COONEY - DANCING DEMONIAC

Most preformers are supersticious and regularly wear black

PHIL MCDARBY - LADDERS

A figure stands immobile, trapped in an infinite environment of ladders and walkways - unable to move without walking under those dreaded rungs.

STEVE DOOGAN - SNEEZE

At one time people believed a man's soul could be inadvertently thrust from his body by an explosive sneeze, thus "Bless you!" was a protective oath uttered to safeguard the temporarily expelled and vulnerable soul from being snatched up by Satan (who was always lurking nearby). The purpose of the oath was to cast a temporary shield over the flung-out soul which would protect it just long enough for it to regain the protection of the corporeal body.

STEPHEN MAURICE GRAHAM - SONG OF THE WITCHES

From antiquity to the modern day many cultures have attributed bad fortune to the existence of witches, from crop failure to untimely death we have often suspected those at the fringes of our society to be responsible for tragic happenings. Over centuries the practice of witchcraft has changed and evolved, in many places accepted. However many of the practices are still wrapped in a veil of mythology, shrouded by hundreds of years of superstition, today most of us can rationalise spiritual ephemera very easily, but the witch with her spells, familiars, tarot cards and runes are still here in the present, walking amongst us, flesh and blood, invoking, casting and conjuring.

MARIO SUGHI - LINES AND COLOUR
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High quality prints available from The Copper House Gallery