"Digestion Haiku" by Richard Byrnes -- believed still in this region
The Orange Regional Art Gallery has made a new appeal for information on the Richard Byrnes sculpture which was stolen from the adjacent Civic Theatre in 2009.
The artwork, “Digestion Haiku,” made in brass and only 35 cms high, is one of only two in Australia – the other version is on display in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
It was part of the city council’s collection of artworks, owned by the regional gallery, which were on display at various venues at the time it disappeared.
Gallery director, Alan Sisley, says it’s believed “Digestion Haiku” is still somewhere in the Central West and is appealing to anyone who may have sighted it to contact the gallery.
He says the sculpture can also be returned anonymously “with no questions asked!”
“Because of its rarity, Orange gallery staff had expected it to be returned,” Alan Sisley says, adding it couldn’t easily be sold on the open market “as the police and art authorities are aware of the theft.”
Richard Byrnes has been producing sculptures for more than 20 years, rising to become one of Sydney’s most prominent artists.
Despite the small stature of “Digestion Haiku” he’s been noted for his large-scale sculptures, including a six-metre high piece, “Harbour Cycles,” sculpted in aluminium and standing on the corner of Miller and Berry Streets in North Sydney.
His art has also been exhibited at the acclaimed Sculpture by the Sea festival at Bondi.
Byrnes describes “Digestion Haiku” as “a small poem to the chemical tract of digestion and makes stylised references to teeth, orifices, the digestive tract and eating implements.
“It incorporates a brass tap and plumbing corners, again to make reference to our own internal plumbing.
“The totemic forms are balanced to suggest vulnerability and the piece as a whole was made within the vague recollection of laboratory equipment.”
Anyone with any information regarding the stolen sculpture is urged to contact the Orange Regional Gallery on 02 6393 8136.
"Harbour Cycles" by Richard Byrnes -- North Sydney