London, New York - Two Sculptures, Different Inspirations

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30 March 2017 | Updated 01 January 1970

Two very different sculptures got special treatment in the week ending March 30 - New York's famous Fearless Girl was sponsored to stay standing-up to fear & power and showing the strength to do what’s right. London got a gull vomiting-up plastic.

Marine sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor unveiled Plasticide, which has been produced in collaboration with Greenpeace and is installed outside the National Theatre. It seeks to bring home the stark reality of plastic pollution on our oceans and marine life.

The piece uses De Caires Taylor's signature pH-neutral concrete and weighs two and a half tonnes. It features life-size human figures, including a cast of the artist's daughter. The artist's previous works include The Rising Tide, installed in the Thames near Parliament last year, and Museo Atlantico, a sunken world populated by over 300 individual sculptures sunk off the coast of Lanzarote, Spain.

Plasticide will be situated outside the National Theatre for two weeks, 23rd March - 6th April.

Lisa Burger, Executive Director of the National Theatre, said:  “We are delighted to host Jason deCaires Taylor’s Plasticide in order to highlight the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans.”

Fearless Girl

A statue on Wall Street by Kristen Visbal, which was commissioned by asset management firm State Street Global Advisors, has been guaranteed pride of place by New York's mayor until next International Women’s Day. It was installed on March 8 this year.  The statue, depicting a girl facing a bull, has become symbolic of the fight women have to get on the boards of companies in the financial district.

Appearing next to the 4ft-tall (1.21m) statue in Manhattan on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blazio said: "This statue, the Fearless Girl, means so much to the people of New York City – and I’m saying all the people of New York City. I’ve been profoundly struck by what this statue means in particular to women, and to girls in this city and this whole country. But I think there’s an even broader symbolism of standing up to fear, standing up to power, being able to find in yourself the strength to do what’s right. I think this beautiful statue stands for all of those ideas and those values. She is inspiring everyone at a moment when we need inspiration

"So, I’m very happy to announce that our city Department of Transportation – our Art Commission at the DOT took a vote and has agreed to extend the presence of the Fearless Girl here in our city and she will be here all the way to next International Women’s Day."

More from the MYC Mayor

Mayor de Blazio continued: " I’ve heard this from women from all over New York City and around the country – the frustration they feel, the anger they feel at the way that women have been disrespected and their rights have been disrespected.

"You saw the most powerful expression of that on January 21st. The largest demonstration in the history of this country – women and their male allies all over this country – hundreds of cities and towns – coming out to say that regardless of the results of an election, no one was going to affront women and the rights of women. And right after that, this miraculous girl appears and created such a powerful sensation because she spoke to the moment – that sense that women were not going to live in fear, that women were going to teach their daughters and all the girls in their life to believe in themselves.

"You might have seen, a Girl Scout troop came up to me just a few moments ago, talking about how important the Fearless Girl was to them. So, sometimes a work of art captures the moment in history, and that’s what’s happened here. This small but powerful statue has really encapsulated the views and the feelings of so many people. This statue has crystallised this moment in history and has given a message of power and personal empowerment to women and girls."

Picture: The Fearless Girl & Mayor Bill de Blazio (main picture) and Plasticide the gull (below) 

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 30 March 2017

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