Sculptures of Bertie Ahern at the Mahon tribunal and HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm wielding a guillotine form part of two new exhibitions casting a wry look at Irish society.
One piece depicts Minister for Health Mary Harney tucked-up in a hospital bed above an elderly patient on the floor while another portrays a pair of semi-naked pensioners "stripped" by cutbacks.
The carefully-crafted ceramic caricatures on sale at a Dublin gallery were designed by artist Brigit Beemster to reflect her frustration with the country’s leaders.
The Sligo sculptor said the political class were failing the least well off.
“I feel a bit for them as they’re caught between the electorate and business interests, but they should be strong enough to say this is my programme,” Ms Beemster said.
“This is what I stand for and I’m going stick to it.”
One colourful exhibition at Gallery Zozimus on Francis Street - Frolitics and Econocomics- is made up of 19 mostly ceramic pieces about a foot high, depicting the demise of the economy.
One, selling for €790, shows an elderly man and woman stripped to their underwear representing the suffering of the elderly through cutbacks and pension losses.
“A lot of fiends of mine lost their pensions and they paid into it for 40 years and then suddenly they had nothing,” Ms Beemster said.
“I find that stealing. Even if they still have enough money to live on, they bought a product and now there’s no product.”
A sculpture of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern with brown envelopes poking out of his pockets in front of tribunal chairman Alan Mahon has an asking price of €895, while another model, going for €1600 euro, shows several cabinet ministers in rubbish bins with banana skins on the ground around them.
Ms Beemster has devoted an entire exhibition to the Minister for Health, and names it The Story of Mary Blarney.
One piece shows the Minister next to Prof Drumm with a guillotine beside him.
A caption states that 'Ms Harney's' head is about to come off and that if she wants it back, she’ll have to join a waiting list.
PA