that allows representations in the public domain (of naked children, naked women, naked men) that would be subject to strident criticism in any other artistic medium? We thought John Dowie’s Alec Downer Memorial sculpture, born of a more innocent age (sic), might be regarded as an hysterical accident, but we have no idea what might be the contemporary significance of the more weighty iconography of Ante Dabro’s “Resilience”, recently “unveiled” by the Chief Minister, facing the Canberra Casino. We wonder if it’s a subtle form of anti-Gaming policy? It certainly stopped us in our tracks (on our way to Kathmandu) and required a certain resilience to remain unmoved by the experience… P.S. Don’t you love the Press Releases that accompany such events?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jane Barney // Apr 23, 2008 at 5:49 am
I stumbled upon this proud masculine bronze on the way home from the recent k.d. lang concert and, in the gloomy light, was most struck but the monstrous plinth upon which the work sits.
I was then struck by the plaque which states that the work is ‘on loan’ to the people of Canberra. Does this mean that, even after axing a few casuarinas, the developer’s edifice is so large that he has no room left on his footprint for Resilience?
I hope to get to the bottom of this when I scrutinize the work in the light of day.
2 Nigel // Apr 23, 2008 at 10:08 am
The necessity for such a plinth is one thing (raising questions of scale, the relationship of the sculpture to its location, a framing device to isolate the work from the surrounding context), but how do we read the iconography? An art historical struggle between good (the figurative) and evil (the geometric)? No wonder the male figure strikes such a ponderous pose! Pity the female casualties…
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