August 2021 Newsletter: Street Sculpture Exhibition by the Sea: Hares About Town
Mary Zagoritou of Mary Zagoritou Gallery on a July sunny day trip has experienced the beauty of a small sample of the sculpture trail at Hares about Town Open Space Exhibition, walking along the Chackwell Beach Esplanade.
Two large size sculptures of 1.6 metre each decorated with its own unique design, one created by a local and the second by a regional professional artist. These two thematic Hares are displayed outdoors by the seaside, against the intriguing Thames estuary background along the Esplanade on Chackwell Beach.
The acclaimed local artist Paul Karslake, has decorated one of them and is actually the very first Hare Sculpture of this incredible sculpture exhibition. Working by hand, Paul decided the Hare should have a traditional face and then the body would depict a stunning image of the fishing boats at Leigh on Sea. Paul in his own words explains that he wanted something realistic but at the same time with a surreal morphing from a traditional face to a sea scape. His inspiration has been driven by his passion about the local area having lived in Leigh-on -Sea for much of his life; working and raising a family. He calls Leigh-on-Sea 'this fantastically creative corner of the world'. Paul considers that town centres can sometimes be a bit sanitised and so it is vitally important ambitious projects like this to be put forward to embrace creativity and draw inspiration from the wealth of history and culture in the area. Paul thinks that this pretty surreal concept really works, and we agree with him.
The second Hare Sculpture on display is a Hare Nurse, called Nurse Hare-o, sponsored by Argo Global and created by Phip Daniels. Phil is a professional artist working from his studio/gallery in North Norfolk. With pieces in collections around the world his art has achieved sales in excess of 800 paintings, known in particular for highly detailed wildlife paintings. Working in a wide variety of mediums and styles he is not limited to paper and canvas, with huge demand for specialist airbrush automotive work and street sculpture skills. Alongside local charities Phil’s artwork has helped raise £ millions for those in need through his belief that art strengthens minds. The Hare Sculpture Nurse Hare-o transmits the message: Be Patient, there is a watch on the Nurse Hare left part of the chest to remind all about time.
In 2020 the world changed forever. Change always presents challenge, and challenge calls for heroes, none more so than the nurses on the front line of humanitys biggest challenge to date.
Phil’s own challenge to convert a hare sculpture into a nurse was fun and also humbling. He hopes the realistic hair effect, with its representative generic uniform, will go some way in reminding us all of those heroes, especially when this challenge is overcome.
Hares About Town is a spectacular public art event in partnership with Wild in Art that will weave its way across Southend on Sea, the seafront, High Street through to Priory Park , filling the town for 10 weeks with giant Hare sculptures from July 1st until 12th September 2021. These beautiful Hare sculptures, each one individually designed by an artist and sponsored by a business, form a free, fun, family-friendly trail of discovery for local people to explore and enjoy.In addition to the big hare sculptures 50 Leverets (baby hares) have been designed and created by over 40 schools and community groups across the Borough. These Leverets have formed their own trail in Southends from the 14th June.
Following the trail, the Hares will be whisked off for a little makeover, before coming together again, along with the leverets to form a wonderful exhibition at the Farewell Event Then the sculptures will be auctioned to raise vital funds for a local charity Havens Hospices and deliver significant economic, social and cultural benefits to the town.
19.7.2021 Article and Photos Mary Zagoritou