Running Horses - Ottawa, Ontario
Posted by: 
Weathervane
N 45° 25.796 W 075° 41.826
18T E 445470 N 5030948
This new sculpture by Joe Fafard has been installed on the grounds of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.
Waymark Code: WMD9G8
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/09/2011
Views: 37
With manes and tails streaming out behind them, the herd of horses in shades from rusty red to yellow to black appear to gallop along Sussex Drive towards downtown. An elegant mare leads the herd, followed by other mares and colts, while a muscular black stallion brings up the rear. Made from laser-cut steel, each horse is a less-than life size silhouette-like form with various cut out patterns in its body. These negative spaces enable the viewer to see through each horse, creating a layered effect. Viewed head on, each horse is a narrow sculptural form made from ¼"-thick steel and supported by a solid bronze cast base that has been sculpted and painted to look like wind-blown prairie grass.
Among the eleven horses, no two are identical: there are six different variations of cut out patterns and each horse is painted in a unique manner. While the laser-cut patterns are suggestive of dappled or certain types of pinto markings, they come from the artist's imagination.
Details from a National Library of Canada article: (
visit link)