Well known Irish street artist Emmalene Blake has revealed a new mural painted on the side of The George in celebration of Pride 2021 – it depicts the famous scene from Derry Girls when Clare comes out to Erin as ‘the wee lesbian.’
In a post on Instagram, Emmalene shared an image of the mural with the caption: “Happy Pride to all the wee lesbians and other LGBTQ+ folk! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. ?
“Painted a quick Clare (@nicolacoughlan) from Derry Girls, the best show ever, on the side of @thegeorgedublin. Really hoping season 3 is out soon coz we could all do with more Derry Girls in our lives right now.”
Nicola Coughlan, who plays Clare, commented under the post, “I love it so much, what an honour.” She also shared the post on Twitter writing “How cool is this?!!”
https://twitter.com/nicolacoughlan/status/1409093748357730305
Blake is the artist behind many brilliant murals all over Dublin, including the back wall of Street 66 on Parliament Street, which is painted with the progress Pride flag and a portrait of artist Keith Harrington. The mural is an homage to the artist and his activism which was embedded in so much of his work.
The newest mural is not the first of Blake’s to get the attention of a Derry Girls star. In 2019, she also painted Sister Michael in Portobello as a protest to another hotel being built in place of the Bernard Shaw. The mural caught the attention of Sister Michael herself, Siobhán McSweeney.
So it appears that @emmaleneblake who was responsible for the wonderful #LyraMcKee mural also did this. So obviously talented and compassionate. Fair fucking play #AnotherHotel🙄 pic.twitter.com/siyXnaj0U7
— Siobhán McSweeney (@siobhni) November 3, 2019
Next to the mural of Clare at the George is another Irish queer icon, Oscar Wilde, who was painted by Chelsea Jacobs. This was also created for Pride 2021.
To see more of Emmalene Blake’s work, you can visit her website, find her on social media @emmaleneblake, or check out this amazing interview with the artist published on GCN last year.
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