Explore the Beaverbrook Art Gallery's TD Sculpture Garden
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s TD Sculpture Garden extends its exhibition space outdoors in a park-like setting, enhancing the visual presence of the space for members of the public.
Take a look at the sculptures below:
Riace IV, by Dame Elisabeth Frink
Riace IV is a seven foot tall bronze figure created in 1989 by celebrated British artist Dame Elisabeth Frink. It is one of only a small handful of sculpted works by the artist held in Canadian public collections, and is a significant work by the artist.
Frink’s Riace series was inspired by a discovery of fifth-century Greek sculptures found in the sea of the Italian coast in the 1970s. The nudes build on the figures of the classical Greek warriors and evoke an aggressive presence. Another figure in this series, Riace I, is in the Tate collection in the UK.
The Birth of Venus, by André Lapointe
The Birth of Venus, by André Lapointe, approximately 12 feet/3.66 metres in height, is at once representational and abstract, contemporary and traditional. The work was commissioned by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in 2009 to mark the Gallery’s 50th anniversary and the designation of the City of Fredericton as a 2009 Cultural Capital of Canada. A gigantic scallop shell, in combination with other biomorphic forms suggestive of a wave and a flower, The Birth of Venus stands at the intersection where culture meets nature, symbolizing the beginning of all art in the natural world. Emblematic of the sea, the primal, archetypal form of the scallop shell has a rich, multi-layered history in art and myth, symbolically referring to birth, resurrection and the pilgrimage of life.
Survivors Are Not Heroes, by Sorel Etrog
Sorel Etrog’s Survivors Are Not Heroes, currently on loan from the Estate of Sorel Etrog, is one of the largest and most celebrated of the artist’s works. In 1965 Etrog established a studio near Florence which allowed him to create larger scale bronzes, and he rapidly rose to prominence. He was featured at the 1966 Venice Biennale, then Expo 67 in Montreal. Survivors Are Not Heroes was created as an edition of three, and was included in the international exhibition, Sculpture '67, organized by Dorothy Cameron for the National Gallery of Canada.
King and Queen (Cornuti), by Sorel Etrog
Sorel Etrog’s sculpture King and Queen (Cornuti) is one of his key works; its subject pertains to an ongoing fascination that recurs throughout his career. The sculpture invokes the story of the famed frontline horn-helmeted warriors of the fourth and fifth century Roman Army; they act as both guardians as well as potential aggressive combatants. Etrog created these figures by tinkering with common hardware store nuts, bolts, screws and wing nuts, building mock heroes from mundane, everyday materials. It is simultaneously regal and majestic, yet laced with impish, devilish humour. His works have been featured in exhibitions around the world including the 1966 Venice Biennale, Expo 67 Montreal and Expo 93, Seoul, Korea.
INBHIRNiS COSMIC FISH, by John Greer
John Greer, who uses sculpture as a communication device, is widely recognized for articulating cultural metaphors through the language of stone and within the context of a postmodern society. Although Greer’s representations are often at first glance concrete images, they contain underlying messages of a more conceptual nature meant to inspire the viewer to consider language, objects and ideas on a deeper level. Greer’s fascination with the flounder’s physical transformation from a lateral fish to a flat fish is emphasized by the detailed work that has been put into the eyes of the fish in particular. The aesthetic qualities of the work are also enhanced by medium’s softly swirling colour pattern and the material nature of the stone.
Arriving Home, by Dennis Oppenheim
Arriving Home is an outstanding work from the mature career of this preeminent American sculptor Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011). Its transparent panels reflect the prevailing ever-changing light conditions of sky blue and the sun’s golden glow, its strong containing outlines create an effect reminiscent of a stained-glass window. At its tip is the image of a gable-roofed house; the sculpture’s coiled, roller coaster-twister shape personifies the energy and exhilaration felt by a traveler as they approach home. Its form resembles a ram’s horn or perhaps the ancient ceremonial trumpet, the shofar. It is the most important work by this internationally renowned artist in a Canadian public collection.
