An Cailín Ban stands high on north Sandymount Strand. This was created by Mexican artist Sebastian, who was born Enrique Carbajal González in 1947 and took on his pseudonym after Botticelli’s painting of St. Sebastian.
Based in Mexico City where he has numerous sculptures, his work also features all over the world in places such as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Columbia, Japan and here in Dublin. His sculptures are monumental in stature and mainly made of steel and concrete.
The sculpture on Sandymount Strand is the first work to be permanently placed here by a Mexican artist. It was erected in 2002 by Dublin City Council and presented by the then-Lord Mayor of Dublin, Dermot Lacey. It was donated by the Mexican government president Vincente Fox as a gesture of friendship between Mexico and Ireland. Originally called Geisha because of its shape, Sebastian himself renamed it to An Cailín Ban (The Fair Haired Girl)
References
Statue gives D4 Nimbys an art attack – https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/statue-gives-d4-nimbys-an-art-attack-26243525.html
D4 Local Sculpture Explained – http://www.newsfour.ie/2013/12/d4-local-sculpture-explained
