From Thursday 9 June to Sunday 26 June 2005, the Solomon Gallery hosted a major outdoor exhibition Sculpture in Gardens, featuring over 40 Irish and International sculptors.  The exhibition took place in the beautiful two-acre garden setting of Clonlea Studios in Blackrock Co. Dublin and was formally launched by the well-known Irish gardener and TV presenter Diarmuid Gavin.  
 

Marking this occasion, the Solomon Gallery has collaborated with Dublin City Council to temporarily install Lady Hare holding Dog II by the prestigious London-born artist Sophie Ryder on a landmark site at the top of Grafton Street. This 10ft 2inch bronze sculpture is an edition of nine of which the first cast was installed at a prestigious new development in Paddington, West London.

Sophie Ryder studied at Kingston Polytechnic (1980-81) and the Royal Academy Schools, London (1981-84).

Individual animals and groups of them, fashioned in wire and in bronze, some realistic and some fantastical, have featured in Sophie Ryder's sculpture and colourful collages since her student days. Her technique of manipulating and winding metal wire to shape her creatures is physically demanding, but it endows her beasts with great dynamism. Human attributes may be found in some of her creatures, but in others innate animal qualities are underlined, particularly in some of the group and pair compositions.

Sophie Ryder and her husband have now started their own foundry next to her studio. This enables her to monitor the proceedings of her work at every stage, as she demands perfection in all aspects of her work. She is also a marvelous draftswoman equally at ease in two dimensions, her charcoals and pastels complement her sculpture admirably.

Since 2000 Sophie Ryder has exhibited widely in public exhibitions in the UK, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. In Europe the spectacular 10 foot wire Torsos was exhibited at The Hague in Holland, sited in an underground chamber. A major show of indoor and outdoor work went to the Veranneman Foundation in Belgium. Shows in North America included substantial exhibitions in Montreal and Vancouver and recently Sophie participated at the Eigse Arts Festival in Carlow, Ireland.