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RIELLY, James (1956 - )
Date: 2000
Media: oil on canvas
Size: 198.0 x 167.0 cm
Acquired: 2001; Purchase; with assistance of Derek Williams Trust
Accession Number: NMW A 14221
We are confronted by a child with a black eye. She holds a toy dog with an identical injury. It may be imagined that the girl has been the victim of an accident or physical abuse. However, she is smiling, which introduces ambiguity into this unsettling painting. The subversion of an idealised or sentimental view of childhood is a recurrent theme in Rielly’s work.
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