On a Pedestal

Castletown House and Dublin Castle, 2018

“The concept for On a Pedestal, if it was to engage, had to draw from the lives of the creators of Castletown House, it had to engage in a deep and meaningful way with that which survives from its past. Nuala and I had gone through a similar process with Meditation on Plates (2014) at the Casino in Marino and we knew that a project which truly connects with the genius loci of a place will reach and stir visitors. Looking at the Castletown busts with Jeremy Musson sparked my interest anew” … “The title for this exhibition celebrating the contemporary portrait bust, refers as a matter of course to the plinth that goes almost inseparably with this sculptural form. However, here, in admiration of this special category within the discipline of sculpture, the portrait bust as a genre has been put on a metaphorical pedestal too. Art history shows that many artists have visited the genre, either solely making busts or including them as part of their complete body of work. Why are artists still fascinated by making a bust? The contemporary artistic view on the bust deserves a closer look and examples of the work of thirty-two artists are presented for the public to admire and contemplate.

The exhibition shows that the shapes and ideas behind these small statues are still based on classical values and have ‘survived’ history.

Moreover, this unique form of portraiture has remained visible and still deserves its place within the discipline of contemporary sculpture. Firmly founded within the tradition of the classical world, but without ignoring artistic progress and changes throughout the centuries, the works presented in the exhibition and this catalogue tell a timeless story: one about the human search for the representation of one’s self, one’s beauty and one’s inner psychological space.”

‍ ‍ Mary Heffernan, General Manager of Castletown House and Curator.