Welcome to the first piece of a new series for Funnieamh! This series aims to provide a crash course in various influential figures from the art world throughout the semester. Arts editor Aislinn Kelly will make the weird and wonderful world of art accessible and a broad spectrum of genres and mediums will be explored.

Art can provide a valuable form of both escapism and inspiration during this isolated time and the hope of the series is a featured artist may start a reader on a journey of arti

In 1968, a black artist launched her first solo exhibition American People. The display quickly became a talking point for its unflinching depictions of racial tensions.

#20: Die depicts the riots of 1967. Crimson blood splatters contorted, helpless figures with their haunted saucer eyes spelling pain, both animalistic and terrified.

The men and women wear business clothes, making the business class accountable for the violence.

In the middle of the painting sits two toddlers, a white boy and

Tortured, emaciated figures lost in thought in a dizzying space, melting backgrounds and skin resembling decay.

Retaining the same shock factor a century on, the troubling works of Egon Schiele continues to intrigue art lovers.

In a short life, he became a pioneer of the Expressionist movement while making strides through shocking, bold and sexual works.

Tension, anxiety and sexuality are conveyed in a distinctive linear manner, with figures often contorted in an unusual ways to trouble the v

At 89 years old, few artists have made a larger impact on the contemporary art world than Yayoi Kusama.

From spurring Pop Art to defining Minimalism, the iconic polka dot artist has an impressive body of work that explores mental illness, consumerism and the psyche.

Hailed as one of the most important living Japanese artists today, Yayoi Kusama has achieved global acclaim through her distinctive, obsessive approach to art.

Famous as the first pioneer of an all-immersive art installation, Kusa

“I don’t listen to what art critics say. I don’t know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.”

Remembered for a strikingly short, meteoric career, Jean Michel Basquiat is the embodiment of a troubled genius.

Having overcome poverty to lead an anti-establishment art movement inspired by the New York graffiti scene, Basquiat continues to send shock waves through the art world decades after his premature death.

One of the few black male artists to achieve international notoriety, his

“To me, the trick is to seduce the viewer. If you can get the viewer to look at a work of art, then you might be able to give them some sort of message.”

Still practicing at the age of 93, Betye Saar is finally receiving global recognition for her prolific career creating politically charged folk art.

Her use of symbolic and surreal imagery makes her a leading figure in the folk art aesthetic and a master of the medium of assemblage.

Famed for recontextualising icons of African-American folkl

Hailed as one of the greatest stained glass artists of all time, Harry Clarke contributed in establishing Ireland’s unique artistic voice during the early years of the Free State.

With vivid lively faces rooted in the revival of Gothic stained glass imagery, Harry Clarke is remembered as one of Ireland’s greatest artists and mastered both drawing and glass in his short, prolific life.

As leading figure in illustration and the Irish Arts and Craft movement, his work is dotted throughout the cou