Though its etymology is uncertain, the term or concept of the mask has long been a potent symbol for writers and artists. Scholars have argued for its derivation from sources as distant as the Lombardian maska, symbolising the soul of the departed, to the Arabic word maskara, meaning jester or buffoon. The function of the mask is, above all else, to preside over ritual. In serving that function it knows no bounds. It is part of the daily routine of surgeons, thieves, judges, clowns and executioners. The power of the mask rests in its paradoxical nature; it hides the old persona and establishes the new, but in that act of concealment there is also revelation.

It is those moments of revelation that Brian McCarthy's paintings are most concerned with. Here are all the representative vagaries of the past. Rakes, jesters, warriors and sultry beauties all have the soul behind their masks laid bare in these distinctive paintings.

Michael O'Sullivan - 1996