Fourth Plinth: David Shrigley’s giant thumbs up ‘Really Good’ unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square
The Turner Prize nominee hopes his sculpture will help ‘make the world a better place’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The 11th Fourth Plinth artwork has been unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square by mayor Sadiq Khan.
Macclesfield-born artist David Shrigley’s “Really Good” is a 7m-high elongated thumbs-up, described as the “tallest and most positive yet” and made in bronze to match the historical sculptures in the square.
Mr Shrigley, 48, was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013 and is acclaimed for his bold and opinionated drawings, animations and sculptures that explore the absurdity of 21st-century society. He currently lives and works in Brighton.
“I guess this is a work about making the world a better place or it purports to actually make the world a better place,” he said at the event on Thursday morning. “Obviously, this is a ridiculous proposition, but I think it’s a good proposition. Artworks on their own are inanimate objects so they can’t make the world a better place. It is us, so I guess we have to ask ourselves how we can do this.”
“Really Good” replaces German artist Hans Haacke’s “Gift Horse” and is the first piece of public art that Mr Khan has unveiled. “I wanted to make sure, because I’m five-foot-six, that we got the tallest artist we could, and we found him, and the tallest sculpture we could manage, and David’s managed it,” he said. “I wanted it to be really good, and it’s ‘Really Good’.”
Mr Khan went on to praise the Fourth Plinth tradition, which sees contemporary artists create sculptures to fill the empty plinth in the corner of the square. “The great thing about this is that we can all be art critics. David is looking forward to your criticism, or your compliments, or your comments,” he said.
“What this represents is so important: optimism, positivity, the best of us. Particularly post-Brexit, the three most important words I say are ‘London is open’. This sculpture shows Londoners, visitors to London, tourists, EU citizens, immigrants that London is open.”
Mr Khan counted down to the unveiling, when a black covering was unzipped to reveal the sculpture. “That’s a very large set of flies, isn’t it?” he joked.
Other Fourth Plinth artworks have included giant blue cockerel “Hahn/Cock” by German artist Kathaina Fritsch (2013), “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle” by Yinka Shonbiare in 2010 and “Alison Lapper Pregnant” by Marc Quinn in 2005.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments