‘Redressed’ statues stir fury on the Mersey
Dispute over whether project is ‘childish graffiti’ and ‘wokery’ or a chance to look again at public art
‘I would take exception to the idea that what they’ve done creatively is tantamount to putting a traffic-cone on … It absolutely is art’
‘Anybody who criticises this will be seen as fuddy-duddies or kill-joys. They won’t understand our outrage at the disrespect’
THE monument to Queen Victoria in Liverpool has cut an imposing figure in the city’s Derby Square since it was erected in 1906.
However a new art project, in which the statue was adorned with a brightly coloured cotton dress, has raised eyebrows in the art world, condemned by some as “childish graffiti” and no more artistic than students putting trafficcones on sculptures.
Statues Redressed invites contemporary artists to “creatively reimagine some of Liverpool’s most iconic statues” by “dressing” the existing works or creating new art around them. Thomas Brock’s 1904 statue of William Gladstone has been wrapped in a flag representing African countries by Larry Achiampong, as a response to the fact the former prime minister’s “family fortune came from plantations and slavery”.
Daniel Lismore, a designer, has draped Charles Bell Birch’s 1883 statue of Benjamin Disraeli with a “Pride-themed Empress of India dress” as a commentary on the Victorian statesman’s “reputation as a flamboyant dresser and a dandy who wrote love letters to men”.
The Queen Victoria monument itself was given a cotton and hessian dress by Karen Arthur, a designer, working with Laurence Westgaph, an historian. According to the project’s website, the material was chosen because during Victoria’s reign, cotton was crucial to Liverpool’s economic success, despite being picked by enslaved people in the United States until 1860. The piece is said to reflect “Liverpool’s complicity with slavery, and how Queen Victoria and Britain were beneficiaries of that as recently as 150 years ago”.
For some though, the interventions are a step too far.
Michael Sandle, a sculptor and Senior Royal Academician, believes the project shows a “total lack of respect” for the original statues, their artists and the individuals commemorated. “This is all wrapped up with tearing down sculptures and political correctness. Appalling decadence,” he said.
The fact that the Liverpool interventions are temporary does not placate him. “It’s like students putting trafficcones on sculptures. Anybody who criticises this will be seen as fuddy-duddies or kill-joys. They won’t understand our outrage at the disrespect.” Tom Murphy’s 1997 statue of Liverpool’s revered football manager Bill Shankly at the Anfield Stadium has been “redressed” by Nadia Atique, a designer and club fan, by draping “a cape fit for a superhero” on the statue.
But Murphy himself is unimpressed: “I don’t think enough thought went into it. I just felt it was nothing.”
Edward Young, who co-wrote an acclaimed biography of Disraeli, said: “They have missed the point. Disraeli would not have said he was gay. He was mainly in love with himself. It’s a bit of a stretch to say he was a warrior for Pride. He certainly wasn’t. It’s us translating our own labels on the past.”
Julian Spalding, former director of galleries and museums in Sheffield, Manchester and Glasgow, dismissed it as “childish graffiti given contemporary credibility by trivial wokery”. Liverpool was chosen because of its rich history, with the highest number of statues in the UK outside of London.
Liverpool city council gave permission for the project as it owns most of the statues. Robin Kemp, its head of creative for Culture Liverpool, said: “I would, on behalf of the artists, take exception to the idea that what they’ve done creatively is tantamount to putting a traffic-cone on… It absolutely is art.”
He added that for the organisers, the cultural service of the council and Sky Arts, the unveiling of each statue was an opportunity “to look again, think again, and question how we feel about the public art that surrounds us”.
For Ms Arthur, who worked on the Queen Victoria monument, the response is water off a duck’s back. She said: “I’m just thrilled we’re talking about statues that usually people walk past.”
A documentary will air on Oct 18 on Sky Arts.