TOM MATHEWS is one of Ireland s leading cartoonists. And we don t just say that because his surreal and hilarious work adorns each issue of Hot Press. He has also contributed to In Dublin, Hibernia and the Sunday Independent, while receiving plentiful commissions from corporate clients.
In recent years, Tom has exhibited his work with ever-increasing regularity. Ensconced in the Bankers pub, I remind him that our last interview was undertaken to promote Odd Couples, a show in Tosca s restaurant which subsequently became extremely successful, 17 of the 20 paintings were sold.
Tosca s will also be the venue for his next exhibition which opens on September 15th. This time, the work is built around his passion for the writings of James Joyce. The 21 paintings feature the author either transposed into scenarios described for his fictional creations, or in some setting conjured up from Mathews imagination.
Unsurprisingly, though, this particular example of Joycean endeavour is free of the po-faced attitude which often afflicts treatment of the writer. It is entitled Lotso Fun and as Tom says, there is lots of fun in Joyce s work, even in Finnegan s Wake, but you have to work hard to get that.
Fun, art and Tom Mathews the perfect combination.
Lotso Fun, 21 drawings on Joycean themes by Tom Mathews runs at Restaurant Tosca, Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 from 15th September. Free admission.