Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,516
Any thoughts on this?
LONDON (Reuters) - A monumental statue of a naked pregnant woman born without arms and with stunted legs will be unveiled on Thursday in the centre of London.
The 3.6-metre-tall statue, "Alison Lapper Pregnant", will sit for 18 months in the north west corner of Trafalgar Square on a plinth largely bare since it was built in 1841.
Carved from a single block of white Italian marble and weighing twelve tonnes, the statue will share one of London's most famous open spaces with the 56-metre-tall Nelson's Column and the classical facade of the National Gallery.
The specially commissioned work was designed by British artist Marc Quinn and was carved in Italy.
It shows disabled British artist Alison Lapper when she was eight and a half months pregnant.
"Nelson's column is the epitome of a phallic male monument and I felt that the square needed some femininity," said Quinn.
"It is rare to see disability in everyday life," said Lapper, "let alone naked, pregnant and proud."
The statue was one of two works selected for Trafalgar Square from a six-strong shortlist by the Fourth Plinth Commission.
The second work, Thomas Schuette's "Hotel for the Birds", a multi-coloured perspex statue in the form of an architectural model, will take over the plinth in April 2007. END
When asked this morning how she felt about having her image in Trafalgar Square she said "At least I didn't get here by slaying people"!!
LONDON (Reuters) - A monumental statue of a naked pregnant woman born without arms and with stunted legs will be unveiled on Thursday in the centre of London.
The 3.6-metre-tall statue, "Alison Lapper Pregnant", will sit for 18 months in the north west corner of Trafalgar Square on a plinth largely bare since it was built in 1841.
Carved from a single block of white Italian marble and weighing twelve tonnes, the statue will share one of London's most famous open spaces with the 56-metre-tall Nelson's Column and the classical facade of the National Gallery.
The specially commissioned work was designed by British artist Marc Quinn and was carved in Italy.
It shows disabled British artist Alison Lapper when she was eight and a half months pregnant.
"Nelson's column is the epitome of a phallic male monument and I felt that the square needed some femininity," said Quinn.
"It is rare to see disability in everyday life," said Lapper, "let alone naked, pregnant and proud."
The statue was one of two works selected for Trafalgar Square from a six-strong shortlist by the Fourth Plinth Commission.
The second work, Thomas Schuette's "Hotel for the Birds", a multi-coloured perspex statue in the form of an architectural model, will take over the plinth in April 2007. END
When asked this morning how she felt about having her image in Trafalgar Square she said "At least I didn't get here by slaying people"!!