Cathy's Art Diary

Touching new sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square by Teresa Margolles. I say touching as it is made up of the plaster casts of faces of trans people from the UK and the artists home country of Mexico. From a distance they create a pleasing shape that compliments the Plinth. Close up they look out at you and seem to watch as you pass despite the fact they are concave. They are arranged to resemble a Mexican tzompantli or pile of skulls. I like the idea that, being made of plaster, it is planned that they will weather and potentially disappear over the course of their two year display but do worry what they might look like by that point. Reading the website it says the artist did every cast herself talking to the sitters for the couple of hours it took about their experiences. It would be wonderful to have an accompanying book of those stories. After living with them for two years I think we will want to know more. I’m always intrigued by the sculptures on the Pli...

Fascinating exhibition at the National Gallery introducing the shortlisted candidates for art works for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2026 and 2028. I always try to see this show and vote for my favourite and love seeing how the ideas translate into a finished work. You have to remember that the maquettes are just concepts and not the detail of how they will be achieved or will finally look. In previous years you have voted for two and I picked two only to find this time you got one vote. My vote went to Thomas J Price’s “Ancient Feelings”, a dramatic, huge, gold head of a woman. I love Price’s with and would love to see it writ large in a public space. I was disappointed not to be able to vote for Andra Ursuta’s untitled work which presented a   hollow, life-sized equestrian statue covered in a shroud. It would be decided at a future date with statue would be used as the base. I thought it set up an interesting dialogue with other works in the square. I was unsu...

Effective sculpture on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square by Samson Kambalu. I’m always excited to see the new installations on the Fourth Plinth and this is a surprisingly effective one. I’d not liked it in the exhibition of shortlisted works but scaled up and looked at properly from below and from many angles it works really well in the space. It restages a photograph of Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley taken in 1914 at the opening of Chilembwe’s new church in Nyasaland, now Malawi. Chilembwe has his hat on, defying the colonial rule that forbade Africans from wearing hats in front of white people. A year later, he led an uprising against colonial rule.   Chilembwe was killed and his church was destroyed by the colonial police. In making the figure of Chilembwe larger Kambala elevates the man and his story and makes a comment on underrepresented figures in the history of Colonial Africa. However it is clever in that...

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...

Funky new public sculpture on the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square by Heather Phillipson. I always love seeing the new Fourth Plinth works. I hadn’t been convinced by this one when it was in the competition for new ideas back in 2017, thinking it was a bit twee and simple, however in situ I love it. It benefits from being so big and is perfectly proportioned to the plinth. I love the way you can see the ice cream realistically dripping off the base and the hidden weirdness of the fly and drone on the other side. I liked the fact the drone is broadcasting live footage over the web although I couldn’t get it work when I was there. I’m going back to try again so I can wave at myself! It gives the work an immediacy which we’ve not seen from it since the Antony Gormley piece “One & Other”, which I became slightly obsessed with, when members of the public applied to occupy the plinth for an hour. Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard  

Lovely new sculpture on the Forth Plinth in Trafalgar Square by Michael Rakowitz.   It is a recreation of the Lamassu, a winged bull and protective deity that stood at the entrance to Nergal Gate of Nineveh, near modern day Mosul, from c 700 B.C, until it was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. It is part of a larger project to recreate 7000 works looted from the Iraq Museum in 2003 or destroyed at archaeological sites across the country in the aftermath of the war.   Rakowitz has decorated it with empty Iraqi date syrup cans to represent an industry destroyed by the war and to mirror the fact that the reliefs on the base of Nelson’s Column are made from canons salvaged from the wreck of a ship lost at the Battle of Trafalgar.   I think this is one of the more successful works on the plinth. It fits it well and the colours mirror the colours of the square around it. It is also an important statement to shop a work of art destroyed by war outside our own National Gal...

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery of the five shortlisted sculptures in the next round of the Fourth Plinth Commission. I always enjoy seeing new works unveiled for the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square. It’s interesting to see them on a small scale and try to imagine how they will scale up and fit in the space. It’s good that the public can vote and fun to wait to see if the world has agreed with you and how the piece works in reality. My vote went to Michael Rakowitz’s “The Invisible Enemy Should not Exist” a reproduction of the winged bull which stood at the gate of Nineveh and was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. I loved Assyrian art so would really enjoy seeing this in the square. I love the fact it was partly chosen as it’s was the same dimensions as the plinth. The plan is to create the colour on it using old Iraqi date syrup cans and that industry has also been destroyed by the fighting. This mirrors the idea that the panels on the base of Nelson’s Column are made ...

The latest installation on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is a large, elongated thumbs up by David Shrigley. I popped to see it on the day it was unveiled and was a bit underwhelmed by it however it has bedded in well and is a nice edition. It fits the space well and the thumb is quite striking. The colour blends it in with the other statues and the shape mirrors Nelson’s Column and lines up well with it.   You have to love the British public who have voted for a big blue cock and phallic shaped thumb to sit in this spot in recent years. Boaty McBoatface I cry!   I don’t think it is a particularly profound piece and I have preferred others, but I think I can live with it! Reviews Telegraph Independent Evening Standard  

The fabulous new sculpture on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square by Hans Haacke. I voted it for it in the competition a year or so ago and now it’s up I love it! The scale works really well on the plinth and I like the nod to the idea that it was designed for a man on a horse. I was worried that the ribbon on its leg with a feed from the Stock Exchange might not work but it does and it is lovely to have that little bit of colour and movement on it. It works well in daylight and at night. I’m not hearing it being talked about as much as the big blue cock on the bus as I pass though. I think it may not be quite so accessible plus being bronze, it doesn’t stand out quite so much so I think passersby who aren’t looking for it don’t see it which is a shame. I am looking forward to seeing it in all lights over the next year or so and seeing how it changes in different conditions. Review Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard    

Interesting exhibition at St Martin in the Fields of the latest six contenders to occupy the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. I liked all the works this time and have now learnt that the scale may vary slightly in the finished work to make sure the work fits esthetically onto the plinth. I voted for Hans Haacke’s “Gift Horse” a large skeleton of a horse which would have a ribbon round it’s leg which would show live stock market reports from the Stock Exchange. I liked it because the plinth was destined for a man on a horse so this uses the horse idea plus I liked the idea of something on it which changes. My least favourite was Ugo Rondinone’s “Moon Mask” which I thought was very effective from the front but the back was quite dull and the object needs to work from all sides. Reviews Times Guardian  

The latest public sculpture on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square by Katharina Fritsch.   I am not too sure what its saying and have read the reviews which talk about it being a masculine statement about French pride in a square which commemorates a French defeat. I just know I like it! I wasn’t sure about it in the exhibition which showed the contenders but as with the boy on the rocking horse I was wrong. Once produced on this enormous scale and when you see the detail and almost feel the colour it is wonderful!   I saw in on a lovely sunny day with the blue zinging off a blue shy but look forward to seeing how it works on darker days.   Only the British though could erect a big innuendo in one of its main squares! Reviews Guardian Telegraph  

The latest sculpture to be added to the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. I must admit I was dubious about this one and did not vote for it in the original exhibition . However now it is up I really like it. I think it helps that I first saw it on a sunny day so the bronze made a lovely blocked contrast to the sky. The proportions work well so it imitates the corresponding general on a horse on the other plinth well. I assume it is saying something about innocence and war but I’m not too sure or too convinced but it works well as a piece of public sculpture. Reviews Times Guardian Daily Telegraph

Exhibition to show the six shortlisted finalists for the next competition to find an art work for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square held at St Martin in the Fields . I love the idea of using this Plinth for modern public works of art so rushed to the exhibition on its first weekend. It was a small exhibition in a nice space and it was great to hear people talking about the works and enthusiastically voting. I’d seen press coverage of the finalists the day before and made my mind up which one I liked best. But on the day I changed my mind and voted for “It’s never too late and you can’t go back” by Mariele Neudecker . This was a mountainscape on stilts. From the press coverage I had though it would look dull from below as all you would see would be the bottom however I’d not appreciated that the plate of the bottom was a map of Great Britain . As one of the two winners will be in the Square during the Olympics I felt this was appropriate. Reviews Times Guardian Daily Tel...

The newest public art work to be put on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is a model of HMS Victory in a bottle with African inspired batik sails by Yinka Shonibare. I went up to see it on the day it was unveiled and it’s great! The shape and size fit the plinth well and it is lovely to have some colour in that space. From a distance it is sometimes difficult to see the ship for the reflections on the bottle and having read some of the reviews it is a shame it is hard to see the wonderful detail on the ship from below. However all in all it is a wonderful addition to the Square and I look forward to seeing it every day on my way form work to Charring Cross. Reviews Times Guardian Daily Telegraph Independent

One and Other has now ended and I am finding I am missing it. There is nothing to pop to look at after work! Anyway I’d better finish my blog on it! Saturday 10 October at 2pm was Hannah G1 who blew up balloons to raise awareness for Action Aid. Monday 12th at 5pm was Marcus G who promoted Fairtrade chocolate. Tuesday 13th at 6pm (my last visit) was Digital JEJ who dressed as two other Antony Gormley work, the iron man on Crosby beach and the electroplated suit made for Aquascutum which I actually saw earlier in the year at an exhibition at Somerset House. This seemed an appropriate place for me to end!

Oh dear I am playing catch up! This entry is for the week beginning 21 September! In fact all on one day Tuesday 22nd! 5pm was an anonymous person possibly called Kaylou , raising awareness for Huntingdon’s disease. 6pm was Gary_H who worked on his laptop, made phone calls and took photos from his wheelchair. 9pm was JaneGauntlett in a striking bright pink coat communicating with the crowd via flash cards.

OK two week’s worth in one! Monday 7th September 6pm to 7pm was Lucy Richards had a good sound system and sang to the crowd. Tuesday 8th between 5pm and 6pm was Molekilby who was giving out books to raise awareness of the Bookcrossing movement. Wednesday 9th at my usual time was Okey who made sausages! Monday 14th from 6pm to 7pm was Ben S who ran a pub quiz calling his pub the Plinth of Wales! He had people handing out question papers. I saw me again on the video, closing up my camera and walking away! Friday 18th at usual time was Tricia who asked friends to write her letters to read out on the plinth.

Definitely slowing down a bit! Wednesday at my usual time, between 5pm and 6pm, was 2621 who was doing a soduko when I passed but he had had a flip chart and display of pictures which were significant to him. Friday usual time was Ralph who was supporting the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. No very exciting.

I think I’m slowing down a bit! Wednesday from 5pm to 6pm was a woman with a flip chart who I assumed was sending messages to friends however as she is anonymous on the website I’ll never know! Thursday at the same time was Oliver L who was a text machine for an hour. He wore his mobile number so people could text him and he read them out through a megaphone. Saturday saw two visits. 3pm to 4pm was Dousty who raised awareness and collect funds for The Rural Libraries of Peru by having a banner and hitting leaflets into the crowd with a badminton racket. 4pm – 5pm was Lois P who dressed as a pigeon.

Tuesday 5pm to 6pm was Fast Eddie , a man in wellies with a cone on his head riding a hobby horse. Well why not! Wednesday in my usual slot (5pm to 6pm) was Helen B raising awareness for Fibromyalgia in a bright yellow dress. Friday at the same time was Robert I who used his time to discuss climate change. A shade tedious but nice big banner!