Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Big in Britain

September 1, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The Independent’s Arifa Akbar gives voice to the growing complaints that public sculpture in the UK has a case of gigantism. From Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North to Anish Kapoor’s forthcoming mirrored works to be installed in Kensington Gardens:

“Artists are more like architects, leading a team of people. They are the ones who will build these large sculptures. These sculptures, once they get to a certain scale, can’t be made by your own hand.”

Hunter believes that the trend towards large sculptures is a product of Tony Blair’s Britain, and that we might now see a reversal of the trend, given these recessionary times. “Maybe it’s got something to do with the culture of the Blair years, they spent a lot of money on… things that were not all that relevant. Having just come back from the Architecture Biennale in Venice, there was an art flash architecture group that had researched [this area] and at the end of 12 months, they found that people wanted pedestrian crossings and cleaner streets, not big sculptures,” he says.

Why Size is Everything in Public Art (Independent)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Did Pop Change the Artist's Role?Did Pop Change the Artist's Role?
  • Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale = $170mSotheby's Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale = $170m
  • Edelman Spars with EmigrantEdelman Spars with Emigrant
  • Christie's Imp/Mod Press Conf. (NY, May 2010)Christie's Imp/Mod Press Conf. (NY, May 2010)
  • The Secrets of the Auction Room RevealedThe Secrets of the Auction Room Revealed
  • Top Auction Houses Saw 40 Percent Drop in Q1 Sales Revenue Because of Pandemic: ReportTop Auction Houses Saw 40 Percent Drop in Q1 Sales Revenue Because of Pandemic: Report

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • British Modernists Draw Deep Bidding in Christie's $42 M. London Sales
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Christie’s to Sell Its First Fully Digital Work of Art in Test of Emerging Market
  • Collection of Texas Heiress Anne Marion Expected to Fetch $150 M. at Sotheby’s
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor