Dublin exhibition captures every Roy Keane red card

Seán Harte began with one painting of Roy Keane’s first red card. That single oil pastel, depicting Keane’s 1995 dismissal after an altercation with Crystal Palace’s Gareth Southgate, grew into an exhibition covering every sending-off in the footballer’s career.

“

The first one was purely out of amusement to me. It kicked it all off. People responded well to it, so I kept going.

Harte’s “Sent Off” series captures 12 red cards in total: 11 received while Keane played for Manchester United and one while representing Ireland. Among the works is a series devoted to Keane’s knee-high tackle on Manchester City’s Alf-Inge Haaland during the April 2001 Manchester derby.

“The first one was purely out of amusement to me. It kicked it all off. People responded well to it, so I kept going,” Harte told RTÉ News. He said the Haaland paintings took longer because he felt pressure depicting what he called “the most infamous tackle.”

“

It took me a while to do these. I felt a bit of pressure. It’s the most infamous tackle.

Harte said Keane’s candid podcast conversations and clips shared on social media have also influenced the work. He believes the paintings appeal to fans of Irish popular culture and sporting nostalgia. “It’s not high-end art. It’s not putting people off. It allows people to revisit these football memories in a different way,” he said. The exhibition opens tomorrow at Hen’s Teeth in Dublin.

“

It’s not high-end art. It’s not putting people off. It allows people to revisit these football memories in a different way.