The Return of Big Tone is an etching made by Antony Davies during his move from Northern Ireland to Belfast, where he took up a teaching post. Davies’ attention was drawn to the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1981 hunger strikes at the Maze Prison. Davies felt it was ‘a matter of personal integrity’ to bear witness to what was happening there. Consequently, he took up a teaching post in Belfast and moved his print studio from South Wales to the commercial heart of the city, an area which was fenced off at night from the rest of the country due to frequent nighttime bombings and violence.
This print is one of many that Davies made during that time in order to document the scenes happening on the streets of Belfast. Rather than focusing on any one particular event, this print, like his many others, offers a sense of the chaos, violence and fear of those times that ran alongside scenes of everyday life. Davies has remarked on how, as the Troubles ran their course, his impressions were that rather than the violence stemming from religious differences, ‘it was really about intimidation and fear’ and also ‘to do with youth – a lot of the crime was committed by these young hotheads, earning their stripes for the local political affiliations’. Davies has a long standing interest in youth culture, particularly in connection with music, which has resonated in his practice over many years.