A WALL formerly used to proclaim communist propaganda is now giving Prague residents food for though, courtesy of a North-East art lecturer.

A series of giant images have been produced by Martina Mullaney who teaches the fine art degree course at The Northern School of Art, in Hartlepool.

The large-scale works mounted on an embankment wall in the Czech capital are set to challenge populist representations of mothers and draw attention to the missing mother in art and culture.

Titled ‘Usually She is Disappointed’, the pieces include images of the Duchess of Cambridge and Beyoncé alongside one of the Virgin Mary in her show at the Artwall Gallery in Prague, which launched earlier this month.

The exhibition connects to a wider body of Martina’s work that first started as a series of photographic posts on social media.

She said: “The project is driven by my experience of how my practice had to change after I had my daughter, and the realisation that the support systems I needed weren’t there.

"This made me angry so I set up public discursive events which mostly mothers attended, where we talked about the needs of artists with children.

Ms Mullaney added the birth of her daughter led to a big change in her life as well as her practice as an artist.

“It was a big shift, but a good one as it really opened my practice up to other ways of working," she said.

"At the same time it was a painful shift because I’ve been quiet for a long time and I haven’t shown any work which is why I turned to social media. As an artist it’s important to engage with the world and also to have my work disseminated.”

The invitation to exhibit at Artwall in Prague provided a great opportunity for the artists to showcase her work in one of the most visited Czech galleries.

The fine art lecturer added: “Artwall is a great space, it challenges the notion of the gallery and pushes work into a wider public context.

“It also supports my teaching where I encourage students to show and disseminate their work in public spaces.”

The ‘Usually She is Disappointed’ exhibition will run in Prague until the end of November.