Less than a month after the shortlist was announced, and models put on display at the National Gallery, the next Fourth Plinth sculptures have already been chosen.
The first to take up residency, going on display in 2026, will be Tschabalala Self’s vast striding woman in blue. She’s meant to bring a contemporary ‘everywoman’ to the middle of London, ‘a walking icon of the everyday, rather than an idol representing the adulation of one.’ The idea is that public statues are usually of people we venerate and celebrate, so Self is asking why can’t we just venerate and celebrate normal people? Well, normal people aren’t 10 feet tall and made out of bronze, for a start.
Coming hot on big blue’s heels in 2028 will be Andra Ursuţa’s spectral horseman. Outwardly, the work plays on the history of public equine statuary – all those men in uniform on horseback given pride of place in town squares around the world – but this feels somehow more apocalyptic, darker and maybe even more morbid than that implies.
You’ll have to wait a while to see either of those in place, but in the meantime we haven’t even had 2024’s Fourth Plinth sculpture. That’s due to be unveiled in September, and is Teresa Margolles’s work made out of the casts of 850 trans people.
The next Fourth Plinth sculpture goes on display in September. More details here.
Want more? Here are the top ten exhibitions in London right now.
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