St. Boniface (completed 1970).
I'm a huge fan of Etienne Gaboury, but I can't say this is one of my favorite works of his. This one's always kind of creeped me out, actually.*
*Update: Thanks to Xtoval for pointing out that it was Marcien Lemay who designed the sculpture, not Gaboury.
10 comments:
cropped out his junk, eh.
I remember how controversial this statue was when it was first placed on the Legislature grounds (not least because of "his junk" as macho so charmingly puts it). People complained for years that it was an insult to Riel, that no other Father of Confederation would be depicted so disrespectfully. Now it's out of the public eye in St. Boniface. An interesting lesson in what is considered "acceptable" public art and what isn't.
Regarding the junk: Nobody wants to see that. I think.
Like it or not, Gaboury's work captured Riel's inner conflict in a way that the replacement statute, one of a generic male authority figure (which bears a striking resemblance to Jebbediah Springfield, if you ask me), could never come close to.
I do not see how this statute diminishes Riel's legacy in the least.
Although I don't think the statue diminishes his legacy in any way, I don't think the piece ever really fit the context of the legislative grounds.
Marcien Lemay was the sculptor, not Gaboury. And it was terrible surrender to philistine tastes to remove it from its original site and put up a cartoon version of Riel instead.
I stand corrected; turns out Gaboury only designed the wall that currently surrounds the sculpture in its current location.
LOL -- Jebbediah Springfield -- you're absolutely right, cancelbot!
great piece, read the history of Riel and it captures his struggles and demons. In the end, a man completely tortured yet still standing. Still a man struggling.
Maybe too much for white toast miserables anglais to appreciate.
Everything about him gets debated. Louis Riel had a remarkable impact in so many ways. I commend to you the article "Louis Riel and Nicholas Flood Davin": http://bit.ly/f1FXdm
Post a Comment