Tamas Jovanovics (www.contemporary.hu)

Monumental sculpture of an over-scaled sitting nude woman in the Thames River in London. Project presented for the ‘London 2012’ Cultural Olympiad ('Artists taking the lead', London)

Commission brief: Artists taking the lead is the UK Arts Councils' flagship project for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Twelve extraordinary public art commissions are being created across the country, one in each nation and region of the UK, to help celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Site: London, River Thames, approx. Battersea Bridge Status: non short-listed

Project description:

This monumental sculpture of a sitting woman would be placed in the River Thames, slightly outside the Center of London, preferably close to a bridge, in the neighborhood of an industrial area (for example next to Battersea Bridge).

It should be quite monumental (about 50 feet high) in order to be easily seen from far away (airplanes, London Eye) and in order to have a strong, surprising effect viewed from the bridge nearby. It would be sculpted in a realistic, classical style and made of artificial stone.

I do not consider this sitting woman as communicating sadness, but rather intimacy (though without giving up its privacy and anonymity as the face is hidden). Its intimacy transforms even transcends the impersonal character of the context (the river and the urban constructions).

Its monumentality has a paradoxical relation toward its intimate, introverted position. Also, it has a paradoxical relation towards the history of monumental sculpture; generally, monumental statues are related with political or religious themes (dictators, heroes, gods, sphinxes), whereas this one simply represents a sitting woman. Instead of being rhetorical and magniloquent, its message aspirers being metaphysical and poetic.

It is important to underline that the plinth is under the water, hence invisible. Therefore, the statue will always change depending on the water level; and more importantly, it will not be an object per se, but rather a sort of catalyst that generates a poetic perception of the river and the surrounding urban landscape.

This statue might also evoke the relationship between water and feminine figures which finds beautiful examples in British literature and myth. Shakespeare’s Ophelia and the Lady in the lake within the Arthurian legend are just the first two that come to my mind.

Allusions with the spirit of the Olympics can be envisaged through the classical, Greco-roman inspired formal language. Interestingly many classical Greek statues have been found in waters.

This project aims to become one of the brand marks of The Cultural Olympiad as well as a longer-term landmark promoting contemporary art and culture within London and the UK.

Therefore it also aims to give a buzz to the urban surroundings in terms of boosting further local investments and attracting touristic interest – making sure that in London the communication between diverse cultures and nations continues to expand also after the end of the Games.

Further information about the artist: Realized public art projects can be seen at: http://www.contemporary.hu/_urbanprojects/index.html