Hare Bell on Portland Stone Piers

Barry Flanagan's romance with the hare began shortly after his wife acquired a 'Lurcher', a hunting dog that was traditionally used by poachers to hunt hares. He began to study the customs and myths of English country life, and as a result discovered a deep-rooted connection to pagan and nature worship. Flanagan uses a model, often his oldest daughter, Samantha, for the poses of his hare sculptures, giving them their extraordinary human presence.
"(The) hares can be understood as mocking the extreme intellectualisation which has characterised the art of our era. And that is why his attitute is still radical, whilst many other Post-Minimalists' works have acquired an academic appearance. In fact, Flanagan is not detached from "more advanced"aesthetic debates, as proved by the inclusion of his work in many of the main programmatic exhibitions held internationally over the past twenty-five years. With his hares he has managed to maintain his interest in open work (the hare is an animal with a huge number of transcultural symbolic implications: a symbol of life for the Egyptians, the Chinese and various primitive European peoples), dealing with transcendental subjects, but requiring more our commitment as viewers than relying on heavy symbolism. (E. Juncose, 'Barry Flanagan', London, 1994, p.6)