UK Sadiq Khan blocks late Queen statue in Trafalgar Square until 2030 - Instead the first six month exhibit will be casts of the faces of 850 cross-dressing prostitutes

Sadiq Khan has been criticised for effectively blocking a statue of Queen Elizabeth II in Trafalgar Square until 2030 at the earliest - with "woke art" going there instead.

The London Mayor has signed off on the empty Fourth Plinth, where campaigners hope to erect the statue of the beloved late monarch, for "woke" art until the end of the decade.

The first piece to go up for six months will be a fixture of 850 faces of trans people who were mostly sex workers.

It is understood that if Tory mayoral rival Susan Hall defeats Mr Khan on May 2, she will reverse his decision and find an alternative site for the items - while organising for a new statue of the late Queen to be commissioned and erected on the empty plinth.

Ms Hall was outraged by Mr Khan's decision, which goes alongside his plans to give "woke" Left-wing names to London Overground lines.

Last week, Mr Khan approved £1million of Londoners' money to fund Fourth Plinth installations in 2026 and 2028. It means a new statue of the late Queen would not be able to go up before 2030.

The Labour London Mayor has never ruled out a statue of the late monarch but has not supported the project in regards to Trafalgar Square.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor wants to ensure we have a fitting memorial to our longest serving monarch. He supports the creation of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, which is being supported by the Royal Household and chaired by the former Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. The Mayor stands ready to support the recommendations of the committee, whatever they are.”

The mayoral decision also confirms that Improntas, the winning entry from the 2024 commission, will be installed on the plinth this August.

A Tory source said: "Susan has committed to working with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee and the Royal Family to offer a permanent memorial to the late Queen on Fourth Plinth.

"The Improntas sculpture and any future commissions would have to be moved to accommodate that."

As well as depicting the faces of trans sex workers, the totem will be “infused with their hair and skin cells” and left to “deteriorate” in London’s weather, according to the official description.

Adverts have been sent out inviting trans people to participate and cast their faces, with most being "marginalised" sex workers.

The artwork is costing £140,000 to produce, plus a £30,000 artist’s fee, which is paid for by London taxpayers. For the 2026 and 2028 installations, yet to be announced, it is understood this will be increased to £200,000 of production costs.

Less than a quarter (23 percent) of Londoners approved of the totem, while 42 percent said they disliked it, according to YouGov polling from when it was first shortlisted in 2021.

When the work was first commissioned, Mr Khan said the work would “encourage discussion about the fight for freedom and equality”.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/poli...e-art-queen-elizabeth-statue-trafalgar-square (Archive)

 

[Geoff Capes Vapes Apes]

I maintain 90% of Britbongistan's problems could be solved by annexing London from the rest of the UK. Ideally to the bottom of the fucking ocean.

From your lips to God's ears. If everything inside the M25 was to disappear overnight I would mourn the loss of historical buildings and artefacts but it would still be a net gain for the rest of the country.

 

[pikachudidnothingwrong]

You get what you vote for.. What you tolerate.. what you allow in!

 

[bortherman]

This slimey cunt has been paying millions for a study into a pay per mile system for driving in London.
But when asked about it he doesnt know anyting about it.

 

[AssignedEva]

Jesus Christ, the whole plinth should be removed with how post modern bullshit it accumulated over the years. It's endless support current thing/muh niggers/we should hate our history. If the makena queen statue on it, it would be her getting a vax and blowjobing St. Floyd. Total Artist Death

They've actually just announced the shortlist for the next two sculptures that will go on the fourth plinth (after the trans tzompantli) in 2026 and 2028. The maquettes are currently on display in the National Gallery (the domed building behind the plinth)
The Smile You Send Returns to You by Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE - "Uniting mysticism, imagination, history and culture to convey the story of migration"

Spoiler

It tells of the artist’s own lived experience, and her father’s voyage on the HMS Battory from India to the UK. It is a story of resourcefulness and entrepreneurship, amid the struggle of adapting to a new life elsewhere. A journey that took him from Calcutta’s Dunlop factory, where his magic tricks earnt his transfer overseas, to Liverpool’s Dunlop factory.

At the centre of this piece sits Burman’s father’s Ice Cream Van ‘The Rocket’. This has been a recurring motif throughout her works over the last 40 years. It is a metaphor for a childhood memory belonging to the broader economic, political, and social history of migration from India to Britain, and a symbol of optimism.

Burman works across a wide range of mediums including printmaking, drawing, painting, installation and film. She calls herself a ‘Punjabi Liverpudlian’ and is celebrated for her radical feminist practice, which examines representation, gender and cultural identity.

Born in Liverpool, England in 1957, she lives and works in London.

Hornero by Gabriel Chaile - Inspired by the hornero bird, native to South America, which builds its nests on monuments.

Spoiler

The ‘hornero’ bird is native to South America and known for its unique mud nest. Each features a chamber construction that resembles an old wood-burning oven. The Rufous Hornero is also a national emblem of Argentina and Uruguay. Horneros build their homes on high surfaces, light poles, trees and, intriguingly, on monuments, and on bronze or marble sculptures.

These birds dare to build on public structures, which are meant to remember significant events, sometimes related to war. The materials they use stand in contrast with these spaces. This project will focus on this irreverent image. The bird’s behaviour will be mimicked by building an oven sculpture adapted to the shape of the Trafalgar Square plinth.

Chaile’s practice is informed by his long-standing exploration of impoverished communities, rituals, and artistic customs from his home in Argentina. His sculptures draw upon objects such as traditional pots and clay ovens that often take on humanlike traits.

Born in Tucuman, Argentina in 1985, he lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Believe in Discontent by Ruth Ewan - Drawing on symbolism of the black cat to explore ideas of ornament, rebellion and power.

Spoiler

Ewan’s work addresses ideas of power and representations of time, repression and rebellion.

The title of this sculpture quotes activist and suffragist Charlotte Despard. Suffragists were often portrayed as cats in popular media, and the word ‘catty’ is still used as a derogatory term towards women. The black cat is also a symbol of the occult, a bad omen, and yet conversely, also a good luck charm.

This black cat is based on a mass-produced ornament. The cat has been remodelled to have a gently arched back, its ears tilted and a slightly open mouth. Rather than friendly, it begins to look hostile. The sculpture addresses ideas of hierarchy in its form, challenging supposed differences between sculpture and ornament.

The artist is also interested in Trafalgar Square’s conflicted role, both as the picture postcard tourist landmark and as the platform for an often invisible social history. It has witnessed many public protests and the attempts to control them. As such, it is a battleground for what the writer EM Forster called ‘the fight that is never done’.

The sculpture would be made with sustainability in mind using recyclable, non-toxic casting material such as jesmonite. It will have a very smooth matt finish like the original ornament.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1980, she lives and works in Glasgow.

Ancient Feelings by Thomas J Price - A golden, fictional woman that challenges historic ideas of portraiture and monuments

Spoiler

Ancient Feelings is a monumental golden bronze sculpture depicting a fictional woman.

Amalgamated from multiple sources, the work does not depict a specific individual but instead serves as a symbol of collective community and universal human experiences.

Rooted in a rich tapestry of historical references, Ancient Feelings challenges conventional portraiture and our conditioned connection to monuments. Viewers are invited to engage in a deeper dialogue around the narratives that shape our understanding of the world and the common threads that bind us together.

Price’s multidisciplinary practice confronts preconceived attitudes towards representation and identity, foregrounding the intrinsic value of the individual and subverting structures of hierarchy. Celebrated for his large-scale figurative sculptures, Price draws our attention to the psychological embodiment of his fictional characters, highlighting nuanced understandings of social signifiers and predetermined value.

Born in 1981, he lives and works in London.

Sweet Potatoes and Yams are Not the Same by Veronica Ryan OBE RA - Sweet potato vines pass messages, reminding us of urgent and necessary dialogue between nations

Spoiler

The humble potato is eaten everywhere, and many countries claim it as their own. Yams and sweet potatoes are often thought of as the same vegetable. Yet yams are part of the lily family and sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae (ipomoea balatas). All potato varieties have their origins in the Andes, specifically Peru, where they are still grown.

Trafalgar Square is central to today’s global conversations. A site for demonstrations from the suffragettes to the climate emergency. At its heart sits Nelson’s column. It speaks to our current state, a zeitgeist of travel and congregation. Food, famine, and economic power structures define our interwoven histories over time, and space.

Presenting a sweet potato island, with growing vine leaf, on the plinth in an urban space speaks of possible transformation in the city. The tree-like vines will pass messages to each other through lateral root systems, and to Westminster itself. It reminds us of the urgent and necessary dialogue between nations and acts as a site for contemplation.

Ryan works primarily in sculpture and assemblage, using an idiosyncratic visual language. Her work investigates how everyday objects, particularly foods, elicit a wealth of histories and meanings. Ryan was awarded the 2022 Turner Prize.

Born in Monserrat, in the Lesser Antilles in 1956, she lives in London and New York.

Lady in Blue by Tschabalala Self - A modern 'everywoman' symbolising the ambition of equity for all

Spoiler

This sculpture pays homage to a young, metropolitan woman of colour, much like the many one might encounter in today’s London.

She is a symbol of our shared present and future ambitions – the aspiration of equity through representation, recognition, and action. A world where all global citizens are appreciated for their unique contributions.

It is inspired by a desire to bring a contemporary ‘everywoman’ to Trafalgar Square. A walking icon of the everyday, rather than an idol representing the adulation of one.

Made of bronze, the sculpture will reference the square’s existing monuments, but here patinated with the blue colour of Lapis Lazuli. This rare and refined pigment has been used since antiquity in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It has a global historical significance and was used by artists such as Titian and Vermeer.

Self is best known best known for her depictions of Black female figures using paint, fabric, and discarded pieces of her previous works.

Born in New York, America in 1990, she lives and works in New York.

Untitled by Andra Ursuţa - Shrouded equestrian statue to parody the history of public sculpture

Spoiler

The hollow, life-sized equestrian statue is covered in a shroud and cast in slime-green resin. It hovers at the edge of visibility. Is it yet to be uncovered? Or is it an already cancelled public monument – a ghost of history, a parody of itself?

The sculpture’s ‘sitter’ remains anonymous. It might be made from life. Alternatively, a shroud may cover a pre-existing equestrian monument, which would then be 3D-scanned and eventually cast. It embodies multiple histories of public sculpture, of commemorative ritual, of the specific circumstances that led to the plinth’s vacancy. At the same time, the work points towards an uncertain future. It is made in a hyper-fragmented, paranoid time when public space, consensus, and community continue to dissolve. The sculpture contains narratives that are irreconcilable.

Ursuța works to explore the nihilistic portrayal of the human condition, confronting darker issues of contemporary society with provocation and humour.

Born in Salonta, Romania in 1979, she lives in London and New York.

I like the cat and the shrouded equestrian statue because they've got the most dialogue with the space - the rest seem to boil down to "what if a black woman or something foreign was in Trafalgar Square! WoOoOoOoO" which is incredibly lazy at this point. I think they should also focus on artists who are either from London or live and work in London - I don't know why we'd be getting a random New Yorker to make a giant black lady statue whose main novelty is it's painted with a really expensive pigment (although as a sculpture by itself, rather than a fourth plinth statue, I do like it). I especially hate the ice cream van, because most of Chila Singh's work is pretty much "Did you know my Dad had an ice cream van when he moved here from India?".

Spoiler

Amusingly one of the first fourth plinth artists, Rachel Whitehead, is calling for the fourth plinth project to be retired because after the statues are on display they often end up in storage, and she was seething about not being super-duper-special.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I like the cat and the shrouded equestrian statue because they've got the most dialogue with the space - the rest seem to boil down to "what if a black woman or something foreign was in Trafalgar Square! WoOoOoOoO" which is incredibly lazy at this point. I think they should also focus on artists who are either from London or live and work in London - I don't know why we'd be getting a random New Yorker to make a giant black lady statue whose main novelty is it's painted with a really expensive pigment (although as a sculpture by itself, rather than a fourth plinth statue, I do like it). I especially hate the ice cream van, because most of Chila Singh's work is pretty much "Did you know my Dad had an ice cream van when he moved here from India?".

If there isn't an ugly statue thread in Art and Literature then this deserves to be the first post. It's ugly for the sake of being ugly, every one of the statues deserves to be abandoned afterwards.

 

[Unsane]

Khan isn't as stupid as he looks and hellbent on paving the way for Sharia law in the UK.

 

[Coldgrip]

Can't they behead him for this? Isn't that what you're suppose to do?

 

[LikeRivenIRL]

A commemoration to troon hookers, or a reminder that you are monarchist filth. Everyone in this situation deserves the guillotine.