Fourth Plinth Commission: One Plinth, Six Ideas

Interesting exhibition National Gallery presenting the new shortlist of sculptures for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

I always try to get to this show and am slightly obsessed by the Fourth Plinth commissions. This time I found all the entries a bit woke and you seemed to have to know a lot about what they meant to appreciate them. It is of course good if there is depth to the work, but I think first and foremost it needs to work in the space and either make an obvious statement or be beautiful, or preferably both.

This time I voted for Teresa Margolles “850 Imprints”, shown here, imprints of faces evidently mounted like a Central American skull rack or Tzompantli around the top of the plinth The plan is that the faces will be those of transgender people and will be infused with their hair and skin cells which I must admit is slightly creepy. It is planned that it will weather during the year it would be on the plinth and I like the idea that there is built in change.

My other two favourites included Ibrahim Mahama’s “On Hunger and Farming in the  Skies in the Past” which is based on concrete grain silos in Ghana which would be planted in terraces and it would be nice to bring foliage into the sculpture. I also like Goshka Macuga’s “Go No Go” which was a massive space rocket, I’m not sure what it means but it would look amazing in the square.

Closes 4 July 2021


Vote on the Mayor of London's website 

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