Ace of Spades

Still life of an American Pattern Helmet.

This painting is part of a war helmet series that Meagher produced in his continuing documentation of modern day masculinity. It explores men's engagement with military relics as repositories of personal and collective memories. Meagher commented that his own father still treasures a pair of binoculars and pith helmet which were owned by his father Peter James Meagher who fought in the Light Horse in Palestine 1917-18. For his father they remain tangible objects for his father to remember him by from that moment in history.

Meagher is a contemporary Australian artist based in Sydney, NSW. He trained in traditional portraiture at Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy and then later at Julian Ashton Art School from 1994-1997. Prior to becoming an artist Meagher left a career in medicine and the influence is apparent in his work. Floating his subjects against a white background gives them an almost translucent specimen-like quality.