FOURTH PLINTH (2026)

 


    The unveiling of a new work of art on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth always invites controversy - and this is no exception ...

   

    

     Lady In Blue is by Tschabalala Self.  According to the artist, "My work will bring to Trafalgar Square a woman that many can relate to. She is not an idol to venerate or a historic figurehead to commemorate. She is a woman walking forward into our collective future with ambition and purpose. She is a Londoner, who represents the city's spirit."

    I think I would have preferred her to say "It's just a bit of fun" and leave us to form our own opinions. One also wonders what the reaction would have been had Lady in Blue been created by a white man rather than a black woman. 


     Anyhow, I prefer it to the previous effort by Teresa Margolles ...
    
... plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming Mexicans on a Mesoamerican Tzompantli (skull rack).

     And the big blue Cockerel remains my favourite ...
Each one remains for two years.

     Lady in Blue is the 16th commissioned artwork for the Fourth Plinth programme, which was launched in 1998 to showcase temporary contemporary sculptures. The plinth, in the northwest corner of Trafalgar Square, was originally intended to carry an equestrian statue of King William IV but remained empty because of insufficient funding. Reuters

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