Holger C. Lönze - Sculpture

Holger Lönze is a sculptor working in bronze. His sculpture is a poetic response to Europe's Atlantic seaboard: its rich maritime culture, early literature, archaeology and coastline. The inspiration for his sculpture, lithographs and drawings often comes directly from his sea journeys in self-made canvas boats: the iconic curachs of Ireland. His rich experience in the arts and crafts have led him to produce work that is rooted in traditional techniques and materials while being contemporary in concept and context. The importance he places on sustainable living and working is reflected in his use of low-carbon, experimental Bronze Age casting methods and the use of regenerative and recycled materials

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New Public Sculpture marks 50 years of Westhill

A two-part sculpture composition was unveiled in the Aberdeenshire town of Westhill to celebrate fifty years since the first houses of the planned town were built, transforming a traditional crofter farming community into a community that served Scotland’s growing oil and gas industry. Commissioned by the local community council WECC, the 2.4m high bronze references the old Croft’s and cottages as well as standing stones and the notion of growth while its texture and patina both reflect the sea and furrows. The mound is inspired by local Bronze Age burial mounds.

   Weaver and textile artist Sheila Oakeshott, resident in Westhill for over sixty years, cuts the ribbon. 

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The Daring Vessel is Afloat

May 1st saw the official launch of the public sculpture Árthach Dána in Waterville, Co. Kerry. More than fifty members of the local community followed the speeches of Cllr. and TD Norma Moriarty, Pat Everett (IRD) and John O’Connor as well as an introduction to Amergin by the acclaimed poet Paddy Bushe. The 6.4m high repoussé bronze sculpture is the largest sundial in Ireland and is a monument to seafaring and navigation in prehistoric times. The prow of a boat turns into breaking waves of the Atlantic, then into the beak of a gannet and the gnomon of the sundial, casting its shadow on the bronze markers in the large beach-like semi-circle of the dial. As a tribute to Amergin and the mythological Milesian seafarers from Galicia who, according to legend, brought the celtic/Gaelic language to our shores, the first poem in the Irish language The Song of Amergin, is set in cut-out bronze into the wall over 12m and lit at night. The sculpture was commissioned by Kerry County Council under the Per Cent for Art Initiative to mark the completion of the Waterville Water Scheme. More information is available at www.arthachdana.eu 

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Poetry Day Ireland 2019

Poetry Day on May 2nd was a little taster for things to come at the Amergin Solstice Poetry Gathering in June! Heading out with boats and a naomhóg to Inis Uasal or Church Island on Lough Currane near Waterville, thirty people enjoyed readings by various poets, including Paddy Bushe. Sean Garvey played a replica of the fidula reconstructed by Billy Mag Fhloinn, inspired by the carving on the island. This year’s Amergin Solstice Poetry Gathering in Waterville from 20th-23rd June will have an environmental angle and includes poets from Ireland and Galicia: Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Thomas McCarthy, Martín Veiga, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Paddy Bushe as well as musician Steve Cooney and a talk by Prof. John Carey on Amergin. The full programme of readings and workshops is now available on www.amerginpoetry.com

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The Alchemy of Sound - Umha Aois 2018 in Kerry

It’s going to be an exciting Umha Aois gathering in Dromid, Kerry over the next eight days! Over twenty experimental archaeologists, sculptors, craftspeople and musicians will come together at Dromid Community Centre trying to solve the mysteries surrounding the making of Irish Bronze Age and Iron Age horns. The international group will demonstrate the complex processes involved in making the iconic prehistoric artefacts, from smelting to casting and repoussé sheet metal work every day from 10am till 6pm. Visually spectacular night casting sessions will take place on the Thursday and Friday nights till 10pm, accompanied by music sessions with traditional and ancient instruments.

The event forms part of Heritage Week 2018 and is open to the public and free of charge thanks to the kind funding by The Heritage Council of Ireland and Kerry County Council Arts Act. Dromid Community Centre, Cillín Liath, Kerry is c. 10km from Waterville on the Glencar road. Sun. 26th August - Saturday, 1st September 10pm - 6pm, the demonstrations are outdoors, please dress accordingly.

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Intersection sculpture installed in Winchester

The 2.7m high bronze and steel sculpture Intersection has just been installed in Winchester’s George’s Street. Intersection marks the ancient and current history of the site - It’s flying buttress references the long demolished church of St. Ruan, while the post and beam architecture of the 1960s Casson Block is represented in the crossing steel framework. Standing on the site of the Roman middle Brooks - part of the concealed ancient Itchen Marshes drainage scheme - the water context is referenced in the texture and Patina of the work.

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Memorial to mark the Siege of Jadotville

About four hundred people turned out in Waterville yesterday to pay respects to Pat Quinlan who commanded the UN peace keeping mission during the siege of Jadotville in the Congo in 1961. Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny unveiled the bronze memorial plaque with the portrait of Quinlan. In 1961, the newly established United Nations sent peace keeping troops to the Congo to protect the civilians of the young republic against rebel attacks  launched by the Katangan break-away region and the Belgian uranium mining companies.

 Several veterans of A Company attended and told the story of the 150 unexperienced Irish UN soldiers, some as young as 17, holding out against 3,000 Katangese militaries under the command of battle-hardened French Legionaires. Equipped only with outdated weapons (a single machine gun, two small mortars, old rifles and plastic UN helmets) and only limited ammunition and provisions, they faced four days of waves of overwhelming attacks, air assaults and shelling. Quinlan sensed trouble ahead and ordered his men to dig trenches, organise Supplies and to prepare ingenious perimeter defence tactics. While casualties on the aggressor side were heavy (as many as 400 dead and 800 wounded), there was not a single casualty amongst Quinlan’s men and only five injured. After four days with no water or ammunition left, Quinlan had no option but to surrender to save the lives of his men and they spent four weeks as POWs before returning to Ireland.

 The most shocking part of the tale is the aftermath of the siege. While abandoned and un-supported by the still unexperienced UN command and its envoy Connor Cruise O’Brien during the siege, they were treated as cowards for the rest of their careers by their colleagues in the Irish Defence Forces and by Irish and UN politicians. For political reasons this incredible event was totally ignored and all recommendations for medals denied until it was highlighted by Declan Power’s book and Richie Smyth’s authentic 2016 Netflix movie with Jamie Dornan The Siege of Jadotville (highly recommended!) as well as the relentless campaigning for recognition by Pat’s son Leo. The bronze low-relief portrait of Pat Quinlan who died in 1997, set in Valentia slate, now stands at the Com an Chiste viewing point between Waterville and Caherdaniel. On 2nd December the veterans of the siege will eventually receive their medals after fifty six years of being ignored by politicians and colleagues.

Jadotville veterans and former Taoiseach Enda Kenny with a replica of the bronze plaque during the ceremony in the Sea Lodge Hotel

The new Pat Quinlan’s monument on Com an Chiste 

With Pat’s son Leo Quinlan who made his research and photos available for the process. 

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Umha Aois faoi Sholais - Casting Light on Ireland's Bronze Age

 On Culture Night, Fri., 22nd Sept., Holger and folklorist/maker Billy Mag Fhloinn together with other Umha Aois members will cast replicas of archaeological artefacts and sculpture objects at Dromid Community Centre (Ionad na Dromoda, Cillín Liath, near Waterville, Co. Kerry) from 4pm-11pm.

Bringing the story behind Ireland’s archaeological artefacts alive, they will cast replicas of Medieval handbells, small sculptures and attempt to re-create the 2,500 year-old late bronze age Derrynane Horn. Molten bronze will be poured into clay/dung moulds in a charcoal pit furnace fuelled with hand bellows in an itinerant Bronze Age metal outdoor workshop – a spectacular sight. Come explore this three thousand year old process that connects contemporary art and archaeology. Bring musical instruments and dress according to the weather!

Fáiltíonn Holger agus béaloideasóir/déantóir Billy Mag Fhloinn romhaibh isteach i gceird agus ealaín an umha aois. Athchruthóidh siad ceardlann miotalóireachta amuigh faoin aer ina ndéanfaidh siad leagan cré umha do dhealbh beaga agus do chorn Dhoire Fionnáin ó 2500 bliain ó shin. Tabhair libh bhúr n-úirlisí cheoil agus bí gléasta in oiriúint don aimsir. Oíche Chultúir; Ionad na Dromoda, Cillín Liath, Máistír Gaoithe, An Cóireán.

The event is kindly supported by Ealaín na Gaeltachta, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Forbairt na Dromoda.

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Exhibition ‘Back to the Roots’ opens 2nd September

A group show of ten artists with their roots in Schmallenberg, Germany opens next Saturday, 2nd September in the Kunsthaus Alte Mühle at 4pm. I will be showing more than a dozen sculptures that were informed by living and working at Ireland’s Atlantic seaboard for the last ten years. The show runs till 3rd October, more info at www.kunsthaus-alte-muehle.de. 

A bit closer to home, there is some figurative work on exhibition in the Blue House Gallery, Schull, Co. Cork till Thursday, 31st.

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Medieval meets 1960s in Winchester

This new public sculpture project for Winchester links the 1960s Casson Block with the sacral architecture (buttress shape) of the nearby medieval Cathedral and the long-demolished Saxon church of St. Ruald's which once stood on this site. The abstract form will be worked with a water-like surface texture, referencing the adjacent Upper Brook which formed part of the Roman drainage scheme of the River Itchen marshes. The sculpture entitled Holmweard will be fabricated in repoussé sheet bronze while a stainless steel element references both the modernist post-and-beam architecture and the ancient Roman watercourse of the three brooks. The Anglo-Saxon word Holmweard translates as 'guard on an island' - a reference to ancient Winchester being sited on islands in the river Itchen. Winchester's High Street has been a thoroughfare since the Bronze Age and the ancient fording point is still visible as a dip in the road! Antony Gormley's Sound II is located in the Cathedral crypt within a short walk's distance of the site.  

The Architect of the Casson Block, Sir Hugh Casson (1910-1999), was a celebrated architect, artist and writer. The sculpture marks his life and work as well as the achievements of Winchester's medieval master masons who remain unknown.

More information on the project website www.cassonblock.com and the Facebook project page. 

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New Work to Celebrate the Architecture of Winchester

Delighted to start the first permanent sculpture commission in Britain - a piece that celebrates architecture past and present in the ancient city of Winchester in Hampshire. Located adjacent to its world-famous medieval cathedral (the longest in Europe!), it will reference structure and proportions of  both Gothic architecture and the 1960s buildings of architect, artist and writer Sir Hugh Casson (Festival of Britain, 1951). Still in the R&D phase, the steel and bronze sculpture will be the first work to be fabricated in the new studio near Portmagee in Co. Kerry!

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New Work in the Doswell Gallery

This joint exhibition at the Doswell Gallery, Rosscarbery, Co. Cork is still running till the 11th September, so last chance to see new work of Cóilín Murray, Karen Hendy and Holger Lonze. 

Three artists working in different media but all influenced by their surroundings in West Cork. Karen Hendy's textured work, full of chromatic contrasts, is influenced by her immediate environment around Schull in West Cork. Objets trouvée such as silage wraps or turf are transformed and find their way into her paintings. Contrasted with Karen but still influenced by the West Cork environment the artist Cóilín Murray returns to exhibit in the gallery with a new series of very colourful, spontaneous and energetic works on paper - two pieces are over 2 metres wide by 1 metre high. Holger Lönze, the sculptor who designed and made the 3.7m Bangor Bell - the largest bell in Ireland - is showing some of his smaller abstract bronzes with a maritime theme which were cast at Liss Ard estate as part of the Umha Aois Archaeology and Sculpture Symposium (mentioned in John P O'Sullivan's review in The Sunday Times, see below).

Images of the artists' work is on view at http://www.doswellgallery.com/

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Karen Hendy, Cóilín Murray & Holger Lönze at Doswell Gallery

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You are invited to the opening of an exhibition of new work by

Karen Hendy, Holger Lonze & Cóilín Murray  Doswell Gallery, Rosscarbery, Co. Cork  Saturday, 14th August, 7.00pm

Holger will present a series of new small scale work in bronze, developed during a residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co. Mayo and cast with Bronze Age methods at the recent Umha Aois symposium at Liss Ard Estate near Skibbereen. Nine maritime compositions explore the simultaneous existence of multiple incongruous sculptural forms in one single object: bird skulls and ship hulls transform into waves, waves penetrate sails and shipping containers merge into rock stacks. Their tactile quality and scale invites the viewer to handle and re-arrange the work. The series will be complemented by larger scale work, including an arrangement of repoussé bronze sails with stainless steel rigging that explores structural possibilities of pivoting the weight of multiple metal elements on a single pressure point and tensile members in sculpture.

Karen's work further explores her concern with texture and unconventional materials in painting. Surfaces torn by rope, singed and shrunk plastics and the build-up of of multi-chromatic layers create richly textured works that are structured by linear compositions. Large-scale work in a wide range of media is complemented by more experimental work on paper.

The exhibition continues until Sunday September, 11th.

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Ireland's Largest Bell celebrates Columbanus

The new public sculpture project for Bangor Fluctus Angelorum was officially unveiled with a beautiful ceremony on Monday evening. A service of dedication was held in Bangor Abbey by Rev. Ronnie Nesbitt and representatives of other denominations, opened by Bangor Women's Choir. Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council Debroah Girvan officially launched the work after a short procession to the sculpture, followed by speeches and refreshments in the hall. The bell celebrates the achievements of Columbanus who left Bangor Abbey in the 6th century to  bring Celtic Christianity to France and Northern Italy. No traces are left of his monastery and the bell sculpture marks the location of what would have been one of the most important abbeys in Ireland in its time.

The 3.8m high bronze bell-shaped work Fluctus Angelorum (The Wave of Angels) was installed on its 1m high stone base on Thursday after its long journey from West Cork. Six 1.8m high satellite pieces will soon be installed to complement the large main feature.

More images on the Bangor Bell page

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Ireland's Largest Bell celebrates Columbanus

The new public sculpture project for Bangor Fluctus Angelorum was officially unveiled with a beautiful ceremony on Monday evening. A service of dedication was held in Bangor Abbey by Rev. Ronnie Nesbitt and representatives of other denominations, opened by Bangor Women's Choir. Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council Debroah Girvan officially launched the work after a short procession to the sculpture, followed by speeches and refreshments in the hall. The bell celebrates the achievements of Columbanus who left Bangor Abbey in the 6th century to  bring Celtic Christianity to France and Northern Italy. No traces are left of his monastery and the bell sculpture marks the location of what would have been one of the most important abbeys in Ireland in its time.

The 3.8m high bronze bell-shaped work Fluctus Angelorum (The Wave of Angels) was installed on its 1m high stone base on Thursday after its long journey from West Cork. Six 1.8m high satellite pieces will soon be installed to complement the large main feature.

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Unveiling the Bell

On Monday, 13th June between 7 and 8.30pm we will be unveiling the large bell at Bangor Abbey, Co. Down and you are very welcome to join us if you are in the Bangor area! 

At 13ft (4.0m) height on a 1m granite base it is possibly the largest bronze bell ever made in Ireland and it will be quite exciting to see it in its outdoor location beside the Abbey! It will travel the whole length of Ireland on Wednesday on a Hiab, passing all its 8th Century sister bells in Cashel, Co. Meath and Bangor... Fluctus Angelorum - Wave of Angels - celebrates the spreading of Christian spirituality to Europe by Columbanus and his companions in the 7th Century.

 6.45pm - 7.00pm        Bangor Ladies Choir perform during arrival at Bangor Abbey

7.00pm - 7.30pm        Service of Dedication to mark the installation of the public art piece 'Fluctus Angelorum' by Reverend Ronnie Nesbitt at Bangor Abbey and Bell Ringers performance 

 7.40pm - 7.50pm       Unveiling of 'Fluctus Angelorum' by Mayor of Ards and North Down

 8.00pm - 8.30pm       Sculptor Holger Lonze on the thoughts behind the work. Light refreshments                                                 

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Farewell to the Bell

If you are in Schull this coming weekend, you are welcome to join us for two events: an exhibition opening at the Blue House Gallery on Friday, 3rd June, 6-8pm and farewell drinks for the Bangor Bell public art commission in our studio on Sunday, 5th June, also 6-8pm. 

The Blue House Gallery will feature new paintings by Karen Hendy and maritime sculpture by myself downstairs together with work by Lynda Miller upstairs. I will be showing some new work in COR-TEN® steel informed by intermodal shipping containers together with smaller maritime pieces in bronze.

After three months in the making, the 3.8m high bronze Sea Bell for Bangor will soon be installed and we mark the occasion with a farewell party and private view on Sunday evening at our studio workshop (at the entrance to the Centra carpark). Everyone welcome.

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New Work at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation

A series of twelve new sculpture compositions with a maritime theme is the outcome of another two week residency at The Ballinglen Art Foundation in Ballycatle, Mayo. Continuing the Atlantean theme, these sculptures deal again with the interaction of maritime nature and culture. Aspects of seascapes and costal environment intersect with shipping containers, charts, sails and ship hulls, resulting in abstract forms with a strong maritime character. The waxes were modelled alongside twelve digital iPad drawings that informed the conceptual and formal development.

The studio at the Ballinglen Art Foundation was shared with painter Karen Hendy and sculptor Don Cronin.