Prophet in the park
THE Elisabeth Murdoch Sculpture Foundation commissioned a 4m-high nude bronze from sculptor Peter Schipperheyn, to be exhibited in the McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park in Melbourne. It is the largest nude bronze in Australia, says gallery director Simon Ambrose. It was initially named after the prophet Zarathustra, but Zoroastrian members objected, saying the nude denigrated the prophet. So the name has been changed to Thus Spake, in time for the opening on Saturday night by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. The work is described as “a single male figure representing a metaphorical struggle between the forces of dark and light, good and evil, locked in tormented pose, with his hand held aloft, the figure gazing skyward for redemption.” Go figure.
