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Sculpture exhibit sparks the imagination
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For almost 10 years, when spring dawns on Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach, something wonderful and inexplicable emerges along the headlands, something that has captured a nation’s imagination.
On the Bondi Beach to Tamarama coastal walk, the “Sculpture by the Sea” exhibition has come a long way since its humble beginnings when it was produced on a shoe-string budget, most of which went to the exhibiting artists.
Today it’s the world’s largest annual free outdoor sculpture exhibition and has become one of Sydney’s most loved events.
With artists from 14 countries represented, this year’s exhibition features some whacky works by some 40 international artists, including Australia’s rock-and-roll sculptors Ron Robertson-Swann and Ken Unsworth.
There are more than 100 works on display.
It’s a collection of the weird and wonderful, the fun and the fantastic and it has a hold on the Australian cultural imagination.
Chinese artist Qian Sihua’s gargantuan liberation-red bubble gum boy is this year’s scene stealer as it stands sentry on the South Bondi headland.
The exhibition’s founder, David Handley, says Qian’s work, which is for sale for AU$38,000 (US$35,650) is part of a heavyweight Chinese contingent and is consistently among the most popular.
“There’s vibrancy in the Chinese sculptures which really grab people’s attention,” says Handley. “The works of Chen Xihua and Chen Wenling are really quite delightful as they reflect the human condition and send a universal message.”
Sydney-based artist, Francesca Mataraga, is a University of NSW (College of Fine Arts) graduate and a 2013 Helen Lempriere Scholarship recipient. It has allowed her to travel and study in Europe, including visits to Copenhagen and Venice.
Mataraga told Xinhua that her goal was to inspire people. “My work for ‘Sculpture by the Sea’ was specifically planned for this exhibition,” she says. “It’s three low walls where people can walk through and around with a striped pattern based on an Ikea fabric.
“It’s my way of linking the abstract to everyday art. It’s just meant to inspire. It’s not necessarily a political or intellectual criticism.”
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