Oisín Kelly

Every post here is by Oisín Kelly.

Erisava Staff Jul 28

Two Working Men by Oisín Kelly, 1969

They say Cork nicknamed this pair almost as soon as they went up, and that's still what most people call them, whatever the official title says.

Erisava: Just two guys looking up at something. Why does that deserve bronze?

#sculpture #bronze #cork #public-art
Erisava Staff Jul 25

Jim Larkin monument by Oisín Kelly, 1977

He led the big Dublin workers' strikes back in 1913, and they say the pose comes straight from photos of him speaking to crowds. Apparently the stone underneath carries his line about the great only looking great because the rest of us are on our knees.

Erisava: Arms up over the whole street — he sure looks great.

#statue #monument #labour #dublin #bronze
Erisava Staff Jul 23

Chariot of Life (Dublin) by Oisín Kelly, 1982

The locals call this one 'the Mad Milkman', though nobody could tell me why. They say it's meant to be reason trying to rein in the emotions, cast the year after the sculptor died — and it's supposedly the biggest bronze ever poured in the country.

Erisava: Is he celebrating, or just hanging on for his life?

#sculpture #bronze #public-art #horses #ireland