"There Is No Why" is the title of a compelling exhibition of colour
drawings by artist Tom Delohery, which opened at the Linenhall Arts Centre in
Castlebar on Friday 3rd August, 2001. Tom Delohery was born in Nenagh, Co.
Tipperary. He studied in NCAD, Dublin and in Belfast, and has been living
and working in Co. Clare for the past 3 years. He has had a number of solo
shows with venues in Ireland North and South, as well as in England and
Germany.

"There Is No Why" is a show based on the theme of the Holocaust, but
Delohery takes the specific and renders it universal, alluding to more
contemporary events on the world stage as well as the historical. He
describes his work as "dealing with shocking images of the past and making
them relate to our eyes and thinking." The works in the exhibition are raw
and immediate with a strong graphical element. The act of drawing imparts a
gestural, energetic sense of process that finds its roots in expressionism.
The works are also unexpectedly colourful, adding to the feeling of gritty
immediacy.

Delohery's approach is from a social and cultural viewpoint rather than a
political one: "It is an attempt to understand and portray, to allow people
to approach the subject while avoiding any overt political statement". The
results are powerful and provocative without being didactic or preachy.
Ultimately, as Tom explains, "my work is about the importance of having an
identity."

While based in events of the past, this exhibition has just as much
relevance in today's world: open any newspaper and you will find disturbing
echoes of the same theme and the same recurrent images. This is an
exhibition that demands to be seen.