Six giant carved stone sculptures of heads by renowned UK sculptor Emily Young were unveiled in London’s Berkeley Square this week. The installation is part of Westminster Council’s City of Sculpture festival to promote public art in the capital.
In an undertaking which is set to be the largest and most complex of Young’s career, ‘The Metaphysics of Stone’ installation will be the first time all six individual sculptures will be presented together.
The heads, weighing up to 3 tonnes, will be grouped in a circle, clearly visible to all those passing through or around Berkeley Square.
Westminster Council’s City of Sculpture project was launched in 2011 to transform the city into an open air gallery in the build up to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games and Diamond Jubilee.
Some of the previous projects have included the Jelly Baby Family by Mauro Perucchetti in Marble Arch, four life size sculptures in Soho Square by Bruce Denny, and Core Femme by Jill Berelowitz in Cavendish Square, which featured a structure of a spine made up of female torsos.
Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Robert Davis said: “Westminster City Council’s City of Sculpture festival has been a fantastic success, bringing some of the most exciting and imaginative pieces of art into the capital for the public to engage with. Emily Young, who has been described as Britain’s greatest living female sculptor will be an exceptional addition to the festival, and I am delighted that her works will be exhibited in Westminster’s Berkeley Square for all to enjoy.”
The Metaphysics of Stone will now be exhibited at Berkeley Square until Wednesday 25 April 2012.
