Here's a second writing sample based on a new appearance in my neighbourhood...
Public Art: Mysterious beggar sculpture
captures attention in Kensington Market
This sculpture appeared recently in front of St Stephen in
the Fields Church on College St at Bellevue, at the north end of Kensington
Market. The sculptor, Tim Schmaltz, has given the anonymous figure stigmata on
its palms to suggest that this is Christ at his most humble, asking the onlooker
to serve Him by caring for the destitute. Even for the non-Christian, its
presence creates a powerful experience for those who pass it. It is just as easy to walk past a real
person, as so many Torontonians do every day.
And yet, even as pedestrians can pass the inanimate beggar with a clear
conscience, it calls to mind all the living ones encountered on the street and
silently demands whether it’s really okay to pass them too. Schmaltz calls it a “visual representation of
charity” and designed it to make passersby take a second look.
“Whatsoever You Do” (the name refers to
Bible passage Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”) was
inspired by a trip Schmaltz took to Mexico, where many of the indigent sat
downcast with palm outstretched. The
hooded and hidden face was inspired by Flemish Gothic sculptor Claus
Sluter. This fiberglass cast is on loan
to Stephen’s; smaller versions of the sculpture are available on order from the
artist.
 |
Claus Sluter, Tomb of
Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1390-1406)
(Archeological Museum, Dijon) |
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