John Byrne is currently in the process of creating a spectacular large bronze equestrian sculpture for Ballymun. This new work will reference traditional classical equestrian sculpture yet Byrne will subvert this tradition by placing the figure of a teenage girl from Ballymun as the rider on the horse.
Refering on the one hand to historic monuments, and the strong Irish legacy of bold public sculptures, the work refers, on the other hand, to both the history and the future of Ballymun, youth, and regeneration. Turning the notion of what public monuments are about on their head, John Byrne's new work asserts that the everyday person can be as much a hero as celebrated public figures.
After an open-call, Breaking Ground brought 20 teenage girls from Ballymun to the Kill International Equestrian Centre in Kildare in September 2007. As part of an auditioning process, they each had their photograph taken on a horse, taking up the posture of how the eventual rider might look. The artist short-listed a group of the teenagers, and announced local girl Tony Marie Shields as the rider in late 2007. Tony Marie travelled to London to be scanned by a state of the art 3D laser scanner at London Metropolitan University, enabling a mould to be made for the rider section of the sculpture. Her mould and the mould made from the Gough Memorial at Chillingham Castle were then combined to create the new work.
An exhibition documenting the selection process was held at Axis Art Centre, Ballymun, from 8 November - 3 December 2006.
A second exhibition was held from 12 to 26 June 2009 in Axis Ballymun of documentary photographs of work in progress on the equestrian sculpture.
John Byrne gave a talk on his project for Ballymun on Wednesday 17 June at 6.30pm.
To coincide with this exhibition, a selection of photographs chosen by young people from BRYR was also on display at the RECO, Sillogue Road, for the same period.
The sculpture is due to be sited in Ballymun town centre in September 2010.
