SPOKEN STATE
Gary McGinty - Artist and Movie Art Director released his series of Flag paintings in April 2026. Each piece meticulously drawn and hand painted.
Flag paintings built from the speeches that made nations
24 works across six continents ·
9 complete.
Hand painted acrylic on aluminium.
Spoken State
ARTIST STATEMENT
Language doesn't describe nations. It constitutes them. De Gaulle spoke France into resistance. Gandhi spoke India into independence. Carney spoke Canada's character at a turning point in 2026.
Spoken State rebuilds national flags word by word from these speeches. At distance: flags. Close up: the words that made them.
Twenty-four works across six continents. Nine complete. Fifteen in production.
Spoken State, Artevolve, RDS Dublin, 2026
PROCESS
Early February morning in the studio. T Square on Gessoed Diblond.
My yellow pentel pencil beside the Ebony Edged T Square
After the grid lines come the hand drawn letters
Word by word the speech is built
Half way through lettering. I need a break.
I paint the outlines of each letter, then I block in around them. Steady hand required.
The final phase of painting in the colour around the letters.
The green side is done, moving onto the orange section.
Ireland Piece complete hanging on the studio wall
Canada flag. The hand drawn text in pencil is complete.
The outline of each letter is hand painted.
I paint colour around the maple leaf
The Winter evening.is closing in.
The Maple leaf is a particular design, its outline is hand painted.
Done for the night, all the main area are painted before the final painting process.
Painting from the top left
The letters are more visible now, white on the red background.
I use folded water colour paper as a blotter and the yoga towel as a thin cushion for comfort. Its 100's of hours of work.
Painting in around the letters
The speech is appearing.
the final Spoken State - Canadian Flag - Mark Carney Speech.
SPOKEN STATE SERIES
IRELAND — 1916 Proclamation • Pádraig Pearse (GPO Dublin, 1916) • Macro: Tricolour | Micro: Verbatim Charter • Acrylic & graphite on 915mm Dibond panel
CANADA — Mark Carney • Mark Carney (Davos, 2026) • Macro: Flag of Canada | Micro: Fiscal Sovereignty Address • Acrylic & graphite on 915mm Dibond panel
UNITED KINGDOM — Winston Churchill • Winston Churchill (House of Commons, 1940) • Macro: Union Flag | Micro: "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" • Acrylic & graphite on 915mm Dibond panel
USA — Martin Luther King Jr. • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Washington D.C., 1963) • Macro: Stars & Stripes | Micro: "I Have a Dream" • Studio Original on 915mm Dibond
USA — John F. Kennedy • John F. Kennedy (Washington D.C., 1961) • Macro: Stars & Stripes | Micro: Inaugural Address • Acrylic & graphite on 915mm Dibond
UKRAINE — Volodymyr Zelensky • Volodymyr Zelensky (Kyiv, 2022) • Macro: Flag of Ukraine | Micro: Defiance Address • Studio Original on 915mm Dibond
FRANCE — Charles de Gaulle • General Charles de Gaulle (London, 1940) • Macro: Tricolore | Micro: Appeal of 18 June • Studio Original on 915mm Dibond
SOUTH AFRICA — Nelson Mandela • Nelson Mandela (Rivonia, 1964) • Macro: Flag of South Africa | Micro: Dock Statement • Studio Original on 915mm Dibond
INDIA — Mahatma Gandhi • Mahatma Gandhi (Bombay, 1942) • Macro: Flag of India | Micro: "Quit India" Address • Studio Original on 915mm Dibond