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When the shortlist for the next Fourth Plinth commissions was announced last month, it got some stick. I felt that was unwarranted: aside from Ruth Ewan’s ridiculous arched black cat, the list appeared strong, with a merited critical tailwind behind almost all the included names.
And, following the announcement of the winners, I can’t wait to encounter the brilliant Romanian-American sculptor Andra Ursuta’s mysterious Untitled, a shrouded, hollow rider, cast (intriguingly) in “slime-green” resin, which should initially, and pleasingly, tantalise, while interacting intelligently, and provocatively, with the equestrian statues elsewhere in Trafalgar Square. Surely, it will prove to be sophisticated and sculpturally literate.
Yet, I have less time for Lady in Blue by the American artist Tschabalala Self: a striding black “everywoman”, with a tiny head but powerful, body-positive physique of cartoonish, Beryl Cook proportions, dressed in a Marian blue frock, with earrings, necklace, and high heels to match.
I assume Self’s figure is meant to be a glamazon marching forth to seize her destiny, following centuries of oppression suffered by enslaved ancestors: a strong, simple statue of don’t-stop-me-now conviction, if not liberty, beaming out you-go-girl good vibes. This, I have no doubt, is why Self’s easy-to-get and uplifting proposal was chosen by the commissioning group.
But isn’t Lady in Blue also a little, well, basic and Pollyannaish? Zippy and zesty, yes, but, fundamentally, a one-note essay in black “visibility”? As for its conceptual component – that Self’s bronze Lady will be “patinated” with lapis-lazuli blue (“a rare and refined pigment that has been used since antiquity”) – it strikes me as confused.
Lapis lazuli is associated with historical religious painting, not sculpture; by linking her heroine with the Virgin Mary (although, seemingly, this Lady in Blue doesn’t have a Child in tow), what, exactly, is Self’s point, other than to valorise black women in general, by giving this one a glow-up?
I’m surprised that the group didn’t go for other proposals by black artists on the shortlist. Thomas J Price’s monumental golden-bronze head promised to radiate the inner stillness and authority of classical sculpture. Personally, I loved Veronica Ryan’s surreal vision of a gigantic, sprouting sweet potato.
These artists, moreover, have a track record when it comes to public sculpture in Britain’s capital. I live in east London, where Price and Ryan both recently unveiled sculptures that are extremely effective. Neither lacks a public profile, but each has reason to feel disappointed.
The new Fourth Plinth commission is a confused, hollow exercise in ‘visibility’
The committee has chosen two new statues to stand in Trafalgar Square – and they’ve chosen badly