Bryan Bailey Memorial Sculpture - Coventry, UK
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N 52° 24.596 W 001° 30.820
30U E 601100 N 5807672
This bronze statue stands outside the redeveloped Belgrade Theatre in coventry city centre.
Waymark Code: WM85R7
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/03/2010
Views: 7
The original sculpture by Norelle Keddie was constructed of fibreglass and epoxy resin in 1962. It was created in honour of the first director of the Belgrade Theatre who died in a car accident in 1960.
The sculpture had not aged well and the theatre was faced with the prospect of it not surviving in the long term
Developers Oakmoor Deeley commissioned a new bronze recasting of the memorial at the Tanat Foundry in mid Walesas part of the £1 million transformation of the square and the £150 million Belgrade Plaza development.
The sculpture is 1.7 meters high and 0.8 meters wide.
From: Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull by George Noszlopy (2003):-
The sculpture is of a human figure with raised arms enclosed by the comic and tragic masks signifying the two main genres of the theatre. The overall impression is one of emotion. It recalls dancing figures that were a favorite theme of Surrealist artists in the 1920s and 1930s. The enclosed figure also resembles Henry Moore's preoccupation with incarcerated figures reminiscent of a seen in a kernel , during the 1950s.
Bryan Bailey was appointed by the Belgrade Theatre before its opening in 1957 and became well known as a director, introducing modern socialist theatre, especially Arnold Wesker's plays, to its stage.
Title: Bryan Bailey Memorial
Artist: Norelle Keddie
Media (materials) used: Bronze
Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Theatre forecourt
Date of creation or placement: 2008 (original - 1962)
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