Cathy's Art Diary

Surprising statue in Waterloo Place off Pall Mall by Bansky. I say surprising as in true Bansky fashion it appeared overnight. I popped to see in it case it doesn't hang around and, as it's made of fibre glass, I'm not sure how well it will stand up to the elements. I joined about 50 people gazing and taking selfies. It looks impressive in the space and I took it as an anti-Reform comment and a warning against striding forward with a nationalist idea but blinded by that doctrine to the subtleties of the situation but that might just be me writing on the day of the local elections. From photos I had assumed it had a matt bronze like finish but in fact it had subtle white/grey highlights which make it more visible and distinct. Closes? Who knows! Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard

I was intrigued to see one of the statues which had been removed as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign and as I would blog a new statue thought I would blog my thoughts on one disappearing. The statue of Robert Milligan , merchant and slave trader, stood outside the Museum of London overlooking West India Docks which he helped to construct. I must admit I have never consciously noticed it but did on this visit go to see the effect of its removal. I generally feel that statutes should be left as we cannot change our history, but should have new labelling to explain who the person is, why a statue might have been erected to them in the first place and how their legacy might be viewed now. In this case slavery was a terrible thing but it won’t have gone away by eradicating references to it. It should not be lauded but equally it should not be forgotten, as it has made the world the way it is, but we should acknowledge the damage that has done and problems the effects of it stil...

Stunning new statue in Parliament Square of the suffragist Millicent Fawcett. The statue was designed by the contemporary artist Gillian Wearing and I was a bit worried that it would be a bit alternative but in fact it’s a wonderful, classic figure. I loved the detail on it even down to the pattern of her tweed coat being defined in the bronze and the wonderful way her shoes peep out from under her skirt. I also liked the touch of including photographs of named suffragettes etched on marble plaques round the base. I was interested to see that it was a suffragist rather than a more militant suffragette that made into into Parliament Square, however Emeline Pankhurst isn’t far away in Victoria Tower Gardens, so it actually strikes a nice balance of representing all aspects of the fight for votes from women. Review Telegraph

New statute of Nike at Royal Woolwich Arsensal presented to London by the Ancient City of Olympia to mark the Greek origins of the Games. My main interest in this is that it’s on the development I live on. I saw a strange block of stone arrive a while ago but the workmen putting it in didn’t seem to know what it was for but a couple of weeks later a poster appeared for an unveiling followed by a statue covered in a tarpaulin! Sadly I was away for the unveiling but got back to find an elegant statue of Nik so thank you very much Olympia! 

New statue which is temporarily in the courtyard of the Royal Academy for the duration of the Summer Exhibition. It is cheating a bit to blog this as a separate entry to the exhibition but it is so lovely I thought I should, plus I wanted to get it on the blog quickly and I’ve not seen the exhibition yet! The statue is a memorial to the Rainbow Division, the 42nd division of the US National Guard in the First World War. It will be placed at the site of a battle which took place in July 1918 at Croix Rouge Farm where 162 of the division were killed. It is a classic statue of a First World War soldier carrying a dead colleague by James Butler. There is a poignant contrast between the heavy uniform of the live soldier and the semi—naked loose form of the dead one. It looks lovely against the buildings of Burlington House and I am pleased it has been shown there for a short time before going to France.