‘The bird’ lands on a new perch outside Museum of Art
Workers installed 'Mirage Bird' in its new campus locale Thursday morning. The cast aluminium sculpture by British artist Elisabeth Frink will stand permanently outside the Alvin A. Lee Building, home to the McMaster Museum of Art.
Dozens of species of Ontario landbirds migrate south for the winter each year, but one brave soul is preparing to battle the elements on campus.
On Thursday, staff at the McMaster Museum of Art gathered outside their offices in the Alvin A. Lee Building to watch the installation of Mirage Bird, colloquially referred to as “the bird” by senior curator Ihor Holubizky.
The 1967 sculpture by British artist Elisabeth Frink is made of cast aluminium, and stands at more than two metres in height. The work has been part of McMaster’s permanent collection since 1992, but has spent much of that time indoors or in storage. Its new home is located on the southern side of the Alvin A. Lee Building, across from Divinity College.
“This installation is part of our desire to have more works from our collection featured outside the gallery walls,” said Carol Podedworny, director & curator at the Museum of Art. “We’ve had Mirage Bird in our collection for a long time, but it looks marvelous in this new space.”
In preparation for the installation, Facility Services staffers cleared a section of overgrown brush from beside the building, and a cement pad was poured by a local contractor to anchor the sculpture in place.
Roger Couldrey, vice-president, Administration; Mohamed Attalla, associate vice-president, Facility Services; and Carlos Figueira, director of Facility Services were all “instrumental and highly enthusiastic” during the planning stages, said Podedworny.
Born in Suffolk, England in 1930, Frink became well-known as a sculptor and printmaker during her 40-year professional career. She died from cancer in 1993 at the age of 62, and remains one of Britain’s most beloved contemporary sculptors.
Mirage Bird was originally located in the artist’s personal sculpture garden. The Museum of Art acquired the work in 1992 as part of the Levy Bequest Purchase. In addition to Mirage Bird, the Museum’s permanent collection includes 12 watercolour paintings and etchings by Frink, gifted to McMaster by Gordon Eberts in 1991.
