The latest “contemporary” sculpture to be unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square has sparked an uproar, with critics slamming the cartoonish figure as “hideous political trash.”
The square has been home to many art installations over the decades, with the Fourth Plinth featuring a rotating cast of artworks every few years since 1999. Detractors aren’t surprised that the sculpture has been changed, but that the latest replacement doesn’t appear to represent native Londoners.
Lady in Blue is a sculpture of a black woman with abstract proportions, including strangely long arms and very pronounced buttocks and legs. Artist Tschabalala Self said the piece pays “homage to a young, metropolitan woman of color” in a statement obtained by the Art Newspaper.
Self, an American from New York City, has enjoyed “meteoric success with her distinctive works depicting black and predominantly female figures,” the publication reported in 2020.
“Putting the obvious leftist race politics aside why is the proposal so ugly. It’s almost laughable how hideous it is,” wrote one Londoner on X.
Putting the obvious leftist race politics aside why is the proposal so ugly. It’s almost laughable how hideous it is. pic.twitter.com/1A0BwgBwqR
— Based London Jew (@Based_LDN_Jew) March 15, 2024
“Laughably, intentionally ugly so British people get the message,” complained another. “ChatGPT would have generated something better portioned. Maybe we will get lucky and someone will tear this one down too.”
Laughably, intentionally ugly so British people get the message. ChatGPT would have generated something better portioned. Maybe we will get lucky and someone will tear this one down too. pic.twitter.com/nPaj8Tdpzx
— Sgt_Cyber.exe 💾 (@SartorialCyber) March 15, 2024
More critics pointed out the odd proportions of the depicted woman, saying “the basic anatomy is all wrong.”
Not only is it hideously ugly, the basic anatomy is all wrong. Her legs are too long for her torso. which is shorter than her thigh. Her elbows reach to her hip and her fingers almost to her knees. She has the bodily proportions of an ape. Absolutely abysmal.
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerr1873) March 15, 2024
The new sculpture is set to replace the Antelope, a depiction of African anti-colonialist preacher John Chilembwe and his British missionary friend, John Chorley, in what is now the country of Malawi.
Lady in Blue will be on display on the Fourth Plinth in 2026.
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