British, 1941--2009, bronze, from a limited edition of 8.
Brought to The Walk by Waddington Custot
Artist – Barry Flanagan is renowned for reinvigorating late 20th century sculpture with his dynamic bronze hares, which fuse an almost cartoon clarity with a deep engagement with sculptural tradition. Flanagan used the hare as a vehicle for exploring balance, movement and anthropomorphic feeling, noting that investing an animal with human attributes can access a wider range of expression than the human figure itself.
Work - This work is inspired directly by Rodin’s 1912 figure of the Russian dancer Nijinsky, famed for en pointe balances and gravity defying leaps. The levity and cartoon logic of the twin hares is set against the weight and solidity of the industrial anvil, so that the whole sculpture becomes a meditation on suspension, risk and release. The work invites viewers to circle the plinth and experience how each hare alternately leads in a perpetual, balletic exchange.