Soldered brass, copper, 21 x 17 x 9, 2022. The title names the earthly paradise as the twentieth century invented it. James Hilton coined Shangri-La in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon for a hidden Himalayan sanctuary of peace and long life, a Western fantasy of Tibetan and Chinese spirituality, and the name has since passed … Continue reading Shangri-La
Soldered brass, 18 x 8 x 9, 2022. "Helm of the First Horseman," a 2022 brass sculpture by Ryan McCourt, draws upon rich symbolic imagery to provoke thought about its possible meanings. The title references the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with the "First Horseman" traditionally associated with conquest or pestilence. This connection invites speculation … Continue reading Helm of the First Horseman
Soldered brass, 11 x 34 x 13, 2021. The title is a pun: spoken aloud, "attic wit" is "adequate." The attic is where a household's discarded objects end up, and the sculpture is made of them. Attic wit is the refined humour of Athens. Adequate is the verdict of faint praise. The pun sets the … Continue reading Attic Wit
Soldered brass, 11.5 x 9.5 x 5.5, 2021. The title is the opening line of the Prologue to Henry V. The Chorus calls for a Muse of fire "that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention," then concedes that the stage is an "unworthy scaffold" for so great an object and asks the audience to … Continue reading A Muse of Fire
Soldered brass, 15.5 x 25 x 10, 2021. Schiller's ode, as Beethoven set it in the finale of the Ninth Symphony, says that joy's magic binds together again what custom has strictly divided. The sculpture takes that line as its method. Its parts come from different places and uses: a carp, an elephant, a folding … Continue reading Ode to Joy
