現代女性テーマの像、２６年からトラファルガー広場に展示 　英

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英首都ロンドンのトラファルガー広場の４番目の台座「フォース・プリンス」に２０２６年から、現代女性をテーマにした彫刻が設置される。主催者が１５日、発表した。（写真は、英ロンドンのトラファルガー広場の「フォース・プリンス」で２０２６年から展示されるシャバララ・セルフ氏の「Ｌａｄｙ ｉｎ Ｂｌｕｅ」〈中央〉）
　青く彩色されたブロンズ像の「Ｌａｄｙ ｉｎ Ｂｌｕｅ」は、米ニューヨークのアーティスト、シャバララ・セルフ氏による作品。ロングドレスにハイヒール姿の「若く、都会的な有色人種の女性」が闊歩（かっぽ）している姿を描いている。
　長年にわたりロンドンからインスピレーションを得て作品づくりに生かしてきたと語るセルフ氏は、この像について、「あがめるべき偶像でも、顕彰すべき歴史上の人物像でもない」「この女性は、志と目的を持ってみんなの未来に向かって闊歩している。彼女はロンドン市民であり、この街の精神を象徴している」と説明。市民からの共感を得られるはずだと語った。
　ロンドン市長の統括の下、トラファルガー広場の一角にある「フォース・プリンス」に現代アートを展示する試みは１９９８年に開始され、アーティストに制作を委嘱するプログラムとして世界的に注目されている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/03/27-19:44）

A sculpture depicting modern women in the British capital will stand on the Fourth Plinth of London's Trafalgar Square from 2026, organisers said Friday.
Lady in Blue, a bronze patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue by the New York artist Tschabalala Self, depicts a young metropolitan woman of colour in a long dress and high heels striding forward.
Self, who credits the city with supporting her artistic development over the years, said her figure would be one that Londoners could relate to.
She is not an idol to venerate or a historic figurehead to commemorate, she said in a statement.
She is a woman striding forward into our collective future with ambition and purpose. She is a Londoner, who represents the city's spirit.
Self is best known for her depictions of female figures that use paint, fabric and discarded pieces of previous her works.
The sculpture is the latest in a rolling programme overseen by the mayor of London that began in 1998 to showcase contemporary art on the fourth plinth, which marks one corner of Trafalgar Square and has become one of the most coveted art commissions in the world.
Previous installations have included a giant ship in a bottle and a swirl of replica whipped cream, topped with a sculpted cherry, fly and drone.
The plinth currently features Samson Kambalu's sculpture Antelope, the 14th to occupy the spot, which the artist has said was designed to shed light on Britain's colonial legacy in southern Africa.
The bronze resin sculpture features Baptist preacher and educator John Chilembwe, who led an uprising in 1915 against British colonial rule in Nyasaland, which is now Malawi.
Fourth Plinth organisers also announced the winning work that will follow Lady in Blue in 2028.
Untitled by Romanian-born Andra Ursuta is a hollow, life-size person on a horse covered in a shroud and cast in a slime-green resin, according to the Fourth Plinth commissioning group.
Ursuta's work embodied multiple histories of public sculpture and commemoration at a time when there is increasing debate about the use of public space, the group said.
Mexican artist Teresa Margolles's Improntas (Imprints) has already been unveiled as the next Fourth Plinth sculpture, due to be installed in September 2024.