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Sculpture

THE COIS NA LAOI SCULPTURE BY BETTY GOLD 1994

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BESIDE THE RIVER LEE IN FITZGERALD PARK 2022

I usually have difficulty photographing this sculpture, in Fitzgerald Park, because children play on it but for some reason, maybe Covid-19 restrictions, there were very few children in the park when I visited in May 2022.

Betty Gold, a professional sculptor for more than 24 years, has worked in diverse media to create pieces that reflect her artistic focus on intensifying opposites. “I’ve always been interested in opposite ends of the spectrum, such as the contrast of my rugged, oversized, sandblasted outdoor steel sculptures with my indoor, delicate gold-leaf icon visuals.” Her works appear in more than 50 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world.

ADAM AND EVE BY EDWARD DELANEY WAS NOT EASY TO PHOTOGRAPH

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FITZGERALD PARK IN CORK CITY

I had difficulty photographing this as it blended in with the very green landscape

Sculpture of two modernistic figures, representing Adam and Eve.
As a matter of interest there is another sculpture “Eve With Apple” by Edward Delaney at the Irish Museum Of Modern Art in Dublin

Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas Davis in College Green, opposite Trinity College Dublin. These are both examples of lost-wax bronze castings, his main technique during the 1960s and early 1970s.

ANOTHER BLUE GENERIC METAL SCULPTURE IN CORK BY JOHN BURKE

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REMASTERED AND PUBLISHED 17 JUNE 2023

I was at a distance when I noticed this blue sculpture so the photographs are not detailed. I came across the sculpture by accident as I was trying to find my way to St. Finbarr’s Cemetery. At the time there was too much traffic at the Wilton Roundabout so I decided that it would be better to return later in order to photograph the sculpture but as it began to rain during my visit to the cemetery I decided to get the 216 bus back to the city centre. Of course, the rain ceased the minute I boarded the bus. Unfortunately because of weather conditions I never got to revisit the sculpture.

If you refer to “Cork In 50 Artworks” you will discover that No 29 is John Burke’s sculpture at Wilton Roundabout.

The piece – 25 ft high and eight tons in weight – was commissioned by local businessmen Clayton Love and Séamus Gallagher to inaugurate the Cork 800 celebrations the following year.

According to a local newspaper the untitled sculpture was mistaken by many as a location marker for airplanes flying into Cork Airport.

Born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, in 1946, John Burke studied at the Crawford School of Art in Cork, and in London with Brian Kneal.

He has shown sculptures in all the major Irish group exhibitions, as well as international shows like Artists 77, New York (1977); 18 European Sculptors, Munich (1978); Sculpture Européenne, Brussels (1979); A Sense of Ireland, London (1980); and C.A.N., Cork (1985), where he won the sculptor prize. He has held solo shows at Trinity College, Dublin; the Ulster Museum, Belfast; the David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin; and an open-air show in Cork city.

His outdoor works include the abstract red steel sculpture at the Bank of Ireland building on Baggot Street, Dublin. I really like the one on Baggot Street.

EXAMPLE OF RED METAL SCULPTURE ON THE CORK UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

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A RED METAL YOKE

Is it my imagination or is there a certain ‘sameness’ about much college campus sculptures.

About twenty years ago I heard a young child refer to a red metal sculpture as a “red metal yoke” and I decided to use the term myself. In Irish slang, the word ‘yoke’ doesn’t have anything to do with eggs. Instead, it’s another way of saying ‘thing’. So if someone in Ireland sees an object that they’ve never seen before, they might ask, ‘What’s that yoke there?

In 2015 I spent three days in Cork and it rained most of the time and I had to abandon my plans to photograph the University campus because the rain got so heavy that I ended up photographing raindrops.

In 2016 I decided to spend five days in the city assuming that that it was unlikely that it would rain for five days without stop. As you may have guessed, it did rain every day but as there were many extended dry spells the weather did not impact on my photography. I did, however, have a problem with dust on my sensor. I discovered that there was a large object attached to the sensor and I was unable to remove it but it only obvious under certain conditions. Further investigation leads me to believe that the debris was there since my 2016 visit to Belfast.

Previous years I walked from location I walked from location but 2016 was the year that I began to use the bus service which I found to be good. I got a lot advice from the bus drivers as to what I should photograph and how best to get to the locations in question.

My most recent visit was May 2023 and it did rain every day but there were many extended periods of really pleasant weather which allowed my to explore and photograph parts of the city that I had never visited before.

RORY GALLAGHER TRIBUTE BY GERALDINE CREEDON

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AT RORY GALLAGHER PLACE IN CORK

In 1997 Paul Street Plaza was renamed as Rory Gallagher Place and a memorial sculpture was unveiled. The unique bronze sculpture was created by Cork artist Geraldine Creedon in honour of Rory Gallagher, at the request of Cork Corporation and Rory’s family. The bronze sculpture takes the form of a guitar on one side, while the other side consists of intertwined lyrics from Rory’s Jinx album.

Rory Gallagher was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste during the late 1960s. He was a talented guitarist known for his charismatic performances and dedication to his craft. Gallagher’s albums have sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide.Gallagher received a liver transplant in 1995, but died of complications later that year in London at the age of 47.

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