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Le dejeuner sur l'herbe

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Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick

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This is a light-hearted reference to the outrage surrounding the exhibition of Eduard Manet's priginal 1863 work le dejeuner sur l'herbe. In this work all of the naughty bits, the people, have been removed and all that remains is a lovely avocado, the lunch itself, a most sensual fruit.

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My sculpture has always been site specific. For the most part I have used stainless steel for my monumental public works. It has been of great concern to me that my work, not intrude on but rather, reflect on or reveal some aspect of its site. This sculpture, a significant departure in terms of scale and material is situation specific and  is also an opportunity to use colour and perhaps some earthy humour. It is generally understood that Eduart Manet wanted to depict people naturally. In this, his best known work, he chose to do so in the context of nature but the suggested interplay of clothed and unclothed people was considered scandalous. In spite of its brilliance his painting was rejected by his peers. While making this sculpture I found myself wondering if offence would be taken at the nakedness of this plump avocado.