The last time that I photographed my old friend the Beach Bear I mentioned that he had turned green maybe because of the salt from the sea. Today I noticed that the green surface that he once stood/walked on has been removed.
I really like this bear who appears to be on a mission to enjoy themself at the beach. However, a number of local residents have complained that the sculpture is inappropriate in an area of protected architecture and sweeping marine views and others have complained that the bear will scare young children as it is too aggressive “marching fast with its outsized feet it cuts a swastika like shape against the sky”.
The bear was donated to Greystones Tidy Towns Committee by local property developer and guardian of the National Gallery of Ireland, Dermod Dwyer. Mr Dwyer donated the bear in memory of his daughter, Caroline Dwyer Hickey, a teacher at the local St Brigid’s school, who died well before her time.
The Caroline Foundation set up by Mr Dwyer raises money for cancer research at St Vincent’s hospital.
I would visit Greystones to meet this guy … what about you?
The artist Patrick O’Reilly was born in 1957 in Kilkenny. At the age of 17 he studied at the Art College of Belfast, but left after on year.
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Statue of Anne Devlin and plaque in commemoration of the housekeeper of Butterfield House which Robert Emmet rented from 1803 onwards under the pseudonym of Robert Ellis and used for the planning of his rising. After the failure of the rising she suffered torture and imprisonment. The statue by sculptor Clodagh Emoe, was oficially unveiled by Mayor Maire Ardagh of South Dublin on the 4th of March 2004, the anniversary of Robert Emmet’s birth.
Clodagh Emoe initiates collaborative projects and creates works that explore how meaning is formed through our connection with each other and the natural world. Her practice draws on ritual to create moments or spaces that invite thought and instill agency. Her exercises, a term she uses to describe her event-based participatory works foreground experience and perception creating instances where ideas might be played out and felt.
Clodagh has initiated numerous collaborative projects; Mystical Anarchism (2009-2013) with philosopher Simon Critchley (Prof. of philosophy, New School for Social Research), Creating the Common/The Unveiling (2010) a theatrical event parodying a failed unveiling of a monumental sculpture in sheltered housing for the elderly, The Plurality of Existence… (2015-2017) public audio works for Dublin, Cork, Carlow and Galway and Crocosmia (2018) exploring metaphor through horticulture to cultivate inclusion and belonging with individuals seeking asylum.
Clodagh’s work has been commissioned by Serpentine Gallery, London; Taipei Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; Nylo, Reykjavik; Documenta XIII, Kaisel; Visual, Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow; Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery; Project Arts Centre; IMMA, Dublin and Maynooth University. She has been recently nominated for the David and Yuko Juda Award UK.
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