‘Reminders of Africa’
The launch of Colm Brophy’s latest paintings took place on Thursday 10 September 2026, 6.30pm in the Framexperts Framing and the Gallery, in Ranelagh Dublin 6 (see photo). Jesuits, colleagues, friends, fellow painters, gathered on the night to view the exhibition entitled ‘Some Reminders of Africa’. Colm worked as a Jesuit in Africa, mainly in Zambia, for over 40 years. On returning home to Ireland he completed a Masters in Art Psychotherapy, and continues to pursue his life-long interest in creative art.
The paintings are all acrylic on canvass with the exception of four water colour photo prints – ‘Child’, ‘Innocence’, ‘Nothing Compares’, ‘Mandela’ ( a striking portrait), and the pastel drawing of a bowl of fruit. Other titles evoke the spirit of the vast continent including, ‘Woman in Search of Medical Roots’, ‘The Sound of the Drum’, Wet Season Growth’, ‘Early African Cave Art’, ‘The Poor are Choked by the Rich’,and ‘Flaming Bush’.
Stefanie Fitzpatrick, who has been sharing a painting room with Colm, at the Redwood Arts School, for a number of years, launched the exhibition. She says she watches ‘in wonder’ as his work developed over the years. “I’ve learnt to hold my breath as Colm says ‘I’m just going to try something'”, she shared, adding that almost instantly he produces “a totally transformed canvas… full of unexpected colour and patterns, shapes, and echoes of a rich tapestry of memories and experiences.”
However, she cautioned, while the painting might happen very quickly, the influences behind it have been accumulating over a very rich lifetime. Referencing his time in Africa she spoke of Colms’ love of Tonga, one of the native languages of Zambia which he learnt to speak. She explained the way it impacted him, “poured through him and over him, along with the murals, the wildlife, the street art and above all the extraordinary intensity of light and colour, and of course that experience surrounds us here tonight”
Colm said a few words himself, expressing his gratitude to Stefanie for “making me sound like an artist!” He continued, “One of my theories is ‘art is looking,'” (also the title of one of his paintings). He explained that when those gathered tonight headed for home the gallery would be closed, the place all in darkness, the paintings left hanging and nothing happening in the room. “But when we’re here there’s an explosion of things happening. You’re seeing things – you’re saying ‘I hate that picture’, and you’re wondering ‘why do I hate it? Or you love it. Why do you love it? And that interaction between the person, and the painter and the paint, that is art.”
Drawing attention to one of his more ‘political’ paintings, a map of Africa, he explained how the continent was carved up into 54 countries by the big empires. Focusing on Zambia, he explained how the British and the Belgium ‘powers that be’, divided the country’s rich copper resources between themselves, drawing a straight line across the country, splitting it with no reference at all to the villagers or the local systems of governance. People were left with half of their family on one side of the divide and half of their family on the other. That’s the reality of Africa – its countries all formed in a very unusual manner.”
The ‘Some Reminders of Africa’ exhibition continues until Thursday 24 September. Colm can be contacted by email at: [email protected].
