A GIANT thumbs-up has become the 11th sculpture to feature on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth.
The seven-metre black statue, which features a fist sticking up an elongated thumb, was unveiled on Thursday morning by London mayor Sadiq Khan and its creator, Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley.
Simply named Really Good, the mayor also described the piece as “really good”.
Adding that it was the first piece of public art he had unveiled so far in his role as the city’s mayor, he joked: “I am 5ft 6(in), so of course we wanted to find the tallest piece of art – and the tallest artist – we could.”
He said the sculpture’s positive gesture of a thumbs-up would help bring a sense of positivity to the city, particularly in the wake of the EU referendum result.
“I am an optimist, but we have to recognise there has been some doom and gloom after Brexit, so this speaks to everyone.”
But Shrigley was less certain about the message in his piece.
He said: “I first said it was a piece to make the world a better place, which in a way is a ridiculous proposition because art is an inanimate object, it can’t change the world. Originally it was an ironic statement, but when I come to analyse it, you’ve got to imagine that your work will make the world a better place.
“It’s a very ambiguous work of art because with just that general gesture of approval you’re invited to imagine what it’s approving of – is it an approval to change things or is it an endorsement of the status quo? The debate that surrounds it will inform what the work is.”
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