SCULPTOR Ken Raff is thrilled his work The River, which once sat outside Albury’s public art gallery has re-emerged 500-metres further west in Dean Street.
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The 2.6-metre high plate steel sculpture has been installed on the Caltex corner of the intersection of Dean and Creek streets.
It had sat on the ground in the open at Albury Council’s Wodonga Place depot for the past four years after being removed as part of the MAMA development.
“I’m pretty ecstatic,” Raff said at his work’s new home on Friday morning.
“I think it’s a much stronger piece here than it was outside the regional gallery.
“It hasn’t been dwarfed by its surrounds, all the shapes and forms come to the fore.”
“I was never happy with that,” Raff said.
“It was meant for Dean Street and if it couldn’t go outside the gallery I wanted to find somewhere similar.”
The council’s urban and public art officer Danielle McMaster spotted the corner garden and after consultation with Raff it was decided last November it would be suitable.
“It’s the perfect place,” Ms McMaster said.
“I think it sits perfectly in the little green spot.”
Raff said the work was intrinsically tied to Dean Street because the three metal shapes reflected the city via circles (cafe tables), angular rises (buildings) and a ribbon (Murray River).
The River, which cost $10,000 and has a weight of three-quarters of a tonne, was launched in August 2003 but taken down in 2014 to not impede access to MAMA.