The new commission for the Fourth Plinth, Gift Horse by artist Hans Haacke, will be unveiled on Thursday 5 March 2015 in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Commissioned by the Mayor of London as part of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Programme, Gift Horse will be the tenth sculpture to be unveiled on Trafalgar Square’s celebrated plinth.
Gift Horse portrays a skeletal, riderless horse – a wry comment on the equestrian statue of William IV originally planned for the plinth.
Tied to the horse’s front leg is an electronic ribbon displaying live the ticker of the London Stock Exchange, completing the link between power, money and history.
The horse is derived from an etching by George Stubbs; the famous English painter whose works are represented in the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. Born in Cologne, Hans Haacke lives and works in New York.
For the last four decades Haacke has been examining the relationships between art, power and money, and has addressed issues of free expression and civic responsibilities in democratic societies in his work.
He works in many different mediums including painting, photography and written text. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2014); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2012); MIT List Visual Arts Centre, Cambridge, MA (2011); X-Initiative, New York (2009); and Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2006).
Haacke’s work has been included in four Documentas and numerous biennials around the world. He shared a Golden Lion Award with Nam June Paik for the best pavilion at the 45th Venice Biennale (1993), and in 2000 he unveiled a permanent installation in the Reichstag, Berlin.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: ‘Hans Haacke has produced a singular take on the traditional equestrian statue, based on an etching by the quintessentially British artist George Stubbs. Gift Horse is the tenth statue to occupy the Fourth Plinth and encapsulates the dynamic mix of history and the contemporary that makes London such an exciting and dynamic cultural capital. I am sure it will get people talking, as they have about the other nine statues that have gone before it.’
PRESS ENQUIRIES: Erica Bolton / Jessica Baggaley, Bolton & Quinn [email protected] / [email protected] +44 (0) 20 7221 5000
Notes to editors
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Related Events: Looking Gift Horse in the Mouth: A Symposium on Hans Haacke Institute of Contemporary Arts Saturday 7th March 2015 This symposium, co-organised by Jon Bird from the Middlesex University and Luke Skrebowski from the University of Cambridge, includes a conversation with Hans Haacke and presentations by international speakers on various aspects of the artist's work and art in the public domain. The seminar will include a special screening of the Hans Haacke documentary film 4 Decades by Michael Blackwood at the ICA on 6th March 2015. Presented in partnership with Middlesex University and the Institute of Contemporary Arts Supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The Fourth Plinth Programme is the most talked about contemporary art prize in the UK. Funded by the Mayor of London, the programme invites world-class artists to make astonishing new works for the centre of the capital city. An established icon for London, it has been referred to as ‘the smallest but most prominent sculpture park in the world’. The programme was initiated in 1998 by the RSA with the support of the Cass Sculpture Foundation. In 1999 responsibility for Trafalgar Square was transferred to the Mayor of London and the Fourth Plinth Programme is now led by the Mayor’s Culture Team, under the guidance of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group (FPCG). Its first commission was Marc Quinn's sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, unveiled in in September 2005. It was followed by Thomas Schütte’s Model for a Hotel in 2007 and by Antony Gormley’s One & Other in 2009. Yinka Shonibare MBE’s sculpture Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle remained on the Fourth Plinth until the end of January 2012 and now has a permanent home at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Powerless Structures, Fig 101 by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset was unveiled in 2012 and will be housed permanently at the Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn / Cock is the current commission, which was unveiled in July 2013. Previous commissions have been Ecce Homo by Mark Wallinger (1999), Regardless of History by Bill Woodrow (2000) and Monument by Rachel Whiteread (2001). Arts Council England has been a significant funding partner of the programme.
The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group
Jo Baxendale – Arts Council England Iwona Blazwick – Director of Whitechapel Gallery Mick Brundle – Principal, Arup Associates Jeremy Deller – Artist Tamsin Dillon – Independent Curator Ekow Eshun – Writer, Broadcaster (Chair) Grayson Perry – Artist Matthew Slotover - Co-director, Frieze Jon Snow – Broadcaster Justine Simons – Mayor of London (Director, Fourth Plinth Programme)
Hans Haacke’s Gift Horse is realised with thanks to Arts Council England and the Goethe Institute.
Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2010 and 2015, we will invest £1.9 billion of public money from government and an estimated £1.1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
Related Events: Looking Gift Horse in the Mouth: A Symposium on Hans Haacke Institute of Contemporary Arts Saturday 7th March 2015
This symposium, co-organised by Jon Bird from the Middlesex University and Luke Skrebowski from the University of Cambridge, includes a conversation with Hans Haacke and presentations by international speakers on various aspects of the artist's work and art in the public domain. The seminar will include a special screening of the Hans Haacke documentary film 4 Decades by Michael Blackwood at the ICA on 6th March 2015. In partnership with Middlesex University and the Institute of Contemporary Arts Supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.