From the Courthouse Gallery:

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While the novel coronavirus wreaked havoc in cities around the world, including Ragna Bruno’s beloved Madrid, where she was born and raised, and where most of her family still lives, Bruno remained alone and isolated at her home and studio in Hancock, Maine. Here she created a series of nine 10 x 8-inch paintings that document her response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Alex Barker, a friend of the artist, offered the following comments after seeing the series at the Gallery: “On the wall, the nine separate works from the Corona Series froze me in my tracks. Each one rewards strict individual attention, but the wall as a whole affects me as a single work, which I dubbed ‘The Mourning Wall.’

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“The panels, as I am tempted to call them, considered singly, draw me inward towards their private grieving. But taken together, they synergistically become a powerful, somber, dignified public memorial. Surely the grief-stricken would find their terrible losses commemorated, and perhaps even transcended, if only briefly.”

Bruno’s Corona Series offers a space for quiet contemplation where one can take stock of the pandemic and find comfort in the wake of this tragedy. Our hope is that Ragna Bruno’s Corona Series will be displayed in a public venue where “The Mourning Wall” will commemorate those who lost their lives during the pandemic.