6th Year:24th April
Hi Class.This is a continuation on Public Art, here I would like us to look at The big Fish by John Kindness,ceramic tiles,with bronze .
Close up of the Big Fish
This ten metre (32ft) Salmon made a big splash in Belfast in 1999. The work was commissioned to celebrate the regeneration of the River Lagan. The site is a significant landmark as it is the location of the confluence of the River Farset with the River Lagan (Belfast is named after the River Farset).
The outer skin of the fish is a cladding of ceramic tiles decorated with texts and images relating to the history of Belfast. Material from Tudor times to present day newspaper headlines are included along with contributions from Belfast school children (including a soldier and an Ulster Fry).
The Ulster Museum provided the primary source of historic images, while local schools and day centres located along the line of the River Farset were approached to provide drawings for the fish. Images were provided by Glenwood Primary School, St Comgalls and Evrton Day Centres. The Bigfish also contains a time capsule storing information, images and poetry about the city.
John Kindness is one of Northern Ireland’s best known artists, particularly in relation to the work he has produced for public spaces including Big Fish at Donegall Quay in Belfast (1999) and Waterfall of Souvenirs at the Ulsterbus Station in Glengall Street, Belfast (1991).
He has had solo exhibitions in the Ulster Museum, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Art in General, New York and Third Eye Centre, Glasgow.
His work has been is included in many private and public collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the AIB Bank.
Other works by John Kindess
Big School Dog
China Cabinet Fly
Sculpture Romulus and Seamus’
Although Kindness works in a variety of media, he is best known for using recycled materials to create his mosaics, for example, the use of broken, pink bathroom fittings in ‘Romulus and Seamus’. Kindness is well known for contrasting the domestic and static association of tiling with a dynamic and epic subject and pointing to current political and social issues. This can be seen in this sculpture, as it plays on the classical image of the mythical founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus, who are being suckled by a wolf. However in this case Kindness has replaced Remus with Seamus, who is coloured orange and green, and they are being suckled by an enormous pig representing Ireland as an ‘old sow’.
Close up of the Big FishThis ten metre (32ft) Salmon made a big splash in Belfast in 1999. The work was commissioned to celebrate the regeneration of the River Lagan. The site is a significant landmark as it is the location of the confluence of the River Farset with the River Lagan (Belfast is named after the River Farset).
The outer skin of the fish is a cladding of ceramic tiles decorated with texts and images relating to the history of Belfast. Material from Tudor times to present day newspaper headlines are included along with contributions from Belfast school children (including a soldier and an Ulster Fry).
The Ulster Museum provided the primary source of historic images, while local schools and day centres located along the line of the River Farset were approached to provide drawings for the fish. Images were provided by Glenwood Primary School, St Comgalls and Evrton Day Centres. The Bigfish also contains a time capsule storing information, images and poetry about the city.
John Kindness is one of Northern Ireland’s best known artists, particularly in relation to the work he has produced for public spaces including Big Fish at Donegall Quay in Belfast (1999) and Waterfall of Souvenirs at the Ulsterbus Station in Glengall Street, Belfast (1991).
He has had solo exhibitions in the Ulster Museum, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Art in General, New York and Third Eye Centre, Glasgow.
His work has been is included in many private and public collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the AIB Bank.
Other works by John Kindess
Big School DogChina Cabinet FlySculpture Romulus and Seamus’Although Kindness works in a variety of media, he is best known for using recycled materials to create his mosaics, for example, the use of broken, pink bathroom fittings in ‘Romulus and Seamus’. Kindness is well known for contrasting the domestic and static association of tiling with a dynamic and epic subject and pointing to current political and social issues. This can be seen in this sculpture, as it plays on the classical image of the mythical founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus, who are being suckled by a wolf. However in this case Kindness has replaced Remus with Seamus, who is coloured orange and green, and they are being suckled by an enormous pig representing Ireland as an ‘old sow’.
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