Vincent Browne (sculptor)

Browne was born in Dublin in 1947. He studied at the National College of Art and Design^[1] and at the Jan Van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands. In 1987, Browne represented Ireland in Budapest at the 7th International Small Sculpture Show.^[2] He created a well-loved Dublin landmark, Mr. Screen, the squat bronze usher who stood outside the Screen Cinema at the junction of Hawkins Street and Townsend Street in Dublin for many years.^[3] Mr Screen was made from two immersion water heaters and was relocated to the Savoy Cinema after the closure of the Screen.^[1][4] His public commissions also include Anti-War Memorial (Limerick, 1987) and the bronze Palm Tree seat in Temple Bar, Dublin.^[2]

In 2005, Browne was commissioned to create a sculpture for the exterior of the Blanchardstown Civic Offices called The Tree of Lifes, which was constructed in bronze with hand-welded leaves representing a DNA double helix, symbolizing growth and the environment of the county’s civic centre.^[5][6]

Browne's public artworks, particularly Mr. Screen and the Anti-War Memorial, continue to be cited in Irish arts commentary and independent public art records as lasting contributions to Ireland’s public sculpture landscape. Mr. Screen, a caricature statue of a cinema usher, is catalogued in independent public art listings as a notable Dublin landmark. Browne’s Anti-War Memorial in Limerick, which symbolizes conflicting sides of war, continues to be featured in cultural guides to public art in Ireland.^[7] Commentators have discussed the memorial’s creation and significance in the urban context of Limerick’s George’s Quay.^[8]