Coping with Evil. 'Peaceful Warrior' by Rik van Rijswick, Kop van Weerd, Venlo, Limburg, The Netherlands
A large project of town renovation along the Meuse River in Venlo is coming to completion. Public sculpture has recently been placed, and this fine Warrior is part of it all.
This is Rik van Rijswick's (1972-) 'Peaceful Warrior'. Van Rijswick has long been intrigued by the struggle against evil, and he intended first to make a St. George and the Dragon for Venlo's 21st Century. But then he realised that putting an end to evil in the way of killing a dragon is not possible. The most that we can do is to cope with evil, devise ways for keeping it at bay. He then decided on his 'Peaceful Warrior' theme. That figure, bigger than life, tries to ward off evil, as can be seen from his barehanded gesture.
This sculpture is placed on the very end of the Kop van Weerd (a spit into the Meuse River) which protects Venlo's harbor from the Meuse's sometimes very strong currents. In the Middle Ages, De Weerd was a fortified island in that river, but in the eighteenth century it was connected to the right bank where rises the proud Hanseatic town. For a long time De Weerd was a rather derelict parking lot, but in the new scheme of things it's been made into a pleasant park opposite a walking promenade with restaurants and cafes.
It's too bad that the town architects have managed to put up a lantern pole right next to this handsome warrior; look at the gracefully proportioned body. I photographed him as best I could... coping with utility-pole ugliness... admittedly not as bad as with evil, but still...
Coping with Evil. 'Peaceful Warrior' by Rik van Rijswick, Kop van Weerd, Venlo, Limburg, The Netherlands
A large project of town renovation along the Meuse River in Venlo is coming to completion. Public sculpture has recently been placed, and this fine Warrior is part of it all.
This is Rik van Rijswick's (1972-) 'Peaceful Warrior'. Van Rijswick has long been intrigued by the struggle against evil, and he intended first to make a St. George and the Dragon for Venlo's 21st Century. But then he realised that putting an end to evil in the way of killing a dragon is not possible. The most that we can do is to cope with evil, devise ways for keeping it at bay. He then decided on his 'Peaceful Warrior' theme. That figure, bigger than life, tries to ward off evil, as can be seen from his barehanded gesture.
This sculpture is placed on the very end of the Kop van Weerd (a spit into the Meuse River) which protects Venlo's harbor from the Meuse's sometimes very strong currents. In the Middle Ages, De Weerd was a fortified island in that river, but in the eighteenth century it was connected to the right bank where rises the proud Hanseatic town. For a long time De Weerd was a rather derelict parking lot, but in the new scheme of things it's been made into a pleasant park opposite a walking promenade with restaurants and cafes.
It's too bad that the town architects have managed to put up a lantern pole right next to this handsome warrior; look at the gracefully proportioned body. I photographed him as best I could... coping with utility-pole ugliness... admittedly not as bad as with evil, but still...