Life in Bronze exhibition, my first solo show in three years, opened on Monday at Mall Galleries, London. This past week was a really complex logistics operation. Firstly, I had to stage manage the collection, then the delivery and finally the installation of 90 sculptures! Not to mention all the plinths. I did this with professional art handlers Aston Spinks, who must be now completely exhausted!
A number of sculptures in this show are on a one-to-one scale (life size). So this is obviously rather heavy when cast in bronze. The roe deer required two men each to position. Similarly, the leopard stalking and leopard climbing a tree both required five men to manoeuvre into place. The Monumental Owl is extremely heavy with its huge plinth. And finally the life size camel which weighs nearly half a tonne! It took us eight hours just to gantry hoist everything into Mall Galleries.
However, the highlight of my week has to be following my larger than life size Andalusian Stallion across London. I followed the Aston Spinks crane lorry where it stood, strapped on the back. We went past Buckingham Palace and down the Mall. It was almost like having our own parade! It was the perfect finale to this monumental sculpture’s tour of stately homes in 2016.
The Andalusian travelled from Blenheim Palace and will now take up residence on The Mall. It currently stands outside the British Council in a really prominent position. I feel so lucky to have this sculpture in a public space.
Back inside the Mall Galleries things are more domestic in scale. The smallest are a silver dung beetle and a scaled limited edition of my Goodman Fields Horses. It is quite thrilling to see all the sculptures together in one place. What’s more, I am very excited that so many of you are coming to see my work in October. I probably won’t need much prompting to tell you about some of the adventures I have been on! It has been quite a journey all in all. I want to thank the team at Lockbund Foundry and the many sponsors who made my field trips possible. And of course my incredible family who have supported me along the way.
