Cityscape with Sleeping Dog

View map

Isabel Nolan, Cityscape with Sleeping Dog, is a new public artwork for Temple Bar Square. 

Cityscape with Sleeping Dog, Nolan’s gentle response is a counterpoint to the bustling, and night-time hi-octane energy of Temple Bar. Cityscape with Sleeping Dog features a black and golden-brown lurcher curled up on a tripartite geometric ‘rug’ design. Small in scale and fabricated with a variety of stone, it is a nod to the recurrent presence of dogs in the history of painting. Working since late 2016 in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Nolan is very familiar with the shifting crowds, the frenzied activity and moments of lull that characterise the location. Reminiscent at times of the festive bustle and tumult featured in the works of Breughel, Nolan playfully inserts into the location, the customary motif of a sleeping sighthound, oblivious to human activity, taking a moment to nap. Nolan has a wide and interesting use of materials in her arts practice. 

In the NE corner of the square, close to the newly installed granite and iroko timber benches and a Betula Costata (Korean Birch) tree, Cityscape with Sleeping Dog might well act as meeting point. It offers the daily pedestrians, the overseas visitor or the late night revellers a moment of connection to something calm, to the much loved and familiar form of a sleeping dog. Symbolic of loyalty, protection and the domestic, Nolan’s work creates a moment of pause, it interrupts the busy square with an image of rest, a dreaming mongrel based on her own beloved rescue pet.

The sculpture combines limestones, granites, sandstones and schist, ranging from dark grey, rich reds to light delicate pinks. The footprint of the work is approximately 127 cm x 121 cm. Embedded into the new paving scheme by a skilled team, Cityscape with Sleeping Dog follows in the tradition of thoughtful and engaging public artworks integrated in the city, such as those by Rachel Joynt and Grace Weir.