A protester holds up a "Black Lives Matter" sign.Getty Images
An Irish portrait artist is using his work to raise money for the George Floyd memorial fund.
Dublin-based artist Shane Gillen has been attracting attention over the past few months with his “pandemic portraits.” While in lockdown, he started drawing well-known Irish personalities, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, President Higgins, and Gay Byrne, reports Lovin Dublin.
Read More: Irish artist's signed portrait of Matt Damon to be raffled for charity
Gillen, a self-taught artist, raised over €12k ($13,500k) for mental health charity Pieta House by raffling off a signed portrait of actor Matt Damon, who has been residing with his family in the South Dublin suburb of Dalkey since the lockdown.
Gillen is now using his skills to bring attention to racism. On his Instagram, he shared a video of his latest work in progress, a portrait of the late George Floyd, and pledged to donate all proceeds from the sale directly to the official George Floyd memorial fund.
The official fund, managed by Adner Marcelin, has amassed over $13 million in donations so far, with all of the funds going to support George Floyd’s family.
Read More: Thousands in Dublin and Belfast march following the death of George Floyd