London’s newest sculpture is not another White man

A new sculpture has been unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square, where it will stand for the next two years. “Lady in Blue,” by New York-based artist Tschabalala Self, is a bronze statue of an anonymous young Black woman wearing a form-fitting blue dress, matching heels and glass beaded jewelry. She’s strong and she’s going places.

It is the 16th statue to be installed on the so-called Fourth Plinth, as part of an ongoing public art commission first launched by the Royal Society of Arts and today supported by the Mayor of London, Arts Council England and Bloomsbury Philanthropies.

“Lady in Blue” stands out against the 19th-century historical landmarks that already occupy the square, namely Nelson’s Column and Landseer’s Lions. Instead of commemorating the past, Self wanted to represent the contemporary everywoman. “I wanted to direct everyone’s attention to the future,” the artist said during an interview at Pilar Corrias gallery ahead of the statue’s unveiling. “I don’t think there are enough monuments that are about our shared future to come.”

It is also one of the rare statues in the UK depicting a Black woman. Out of around 1,500 statues in London, just a handful represent women of color. Self, who is known for her distinct depictions of the Black female body that generate discourse around intersections of race, gender and sexuality, is not surprised by this statistic. “I really want people to take away from the sculpture the feeling that they can feel free to exist as they are without explanation,” she said.

But, she adds, representation should not be the sole purpose of her sculptures. “It’s not that speaking about blackness minimizes the work, because I don’t believe that to be the case. It’s just that I don’t think that’s the focal point of the project,” Self said. “I also feel like when people enter the work through that framework, they’re already starting a process of reduction because they have come to name and define the figures by their identity politics.”

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This is Self’s first public sculpture in the UK since 2023, when her sculpture “Seated” was defaced after being installed in the English town Bexhill-On-Sea. Vandals spray painted the skin of the sculpted Black woman white. “I was very upset when the sculpture was vandalised, but ultimately that experience turned out being one that was very edifying for me,” Self said. “It highlighted how real people, not just figurative sculptures, experience these same kind of aggressions and acts of violence and intimidation in real life. So I feel like for those reasons, the sculpture did its work.” A community clean-up day was organised following the incident and the white paint was removed. “Through the restoration of the sculpture, it also showed people’s willingness and desire to overcome the societal ills.” With “Lady in Blue,” she feels prepared for more conversations about the importance of figuration and representing all identities in public art, “even if the conversations take a dark turn, because I know ultimately, it would be for the greater education of all parties involved,” she said.

“Lady in Blue” is a striking addition to the London landmark with her jewelry, braided hair and matching lapis lazuli outfit —a shade which was inspired by the rare rock used as a pigment since antiquity. But more important is the statue’s powerful stride: “She’s not static,” Self said. “She has a desire to move, and in her having this courage to be optimistic and move forward, I hope that is going to be inspiring to all people who encounter her to know that this is something that’s also available to them — the ability to stride and to move forward,” she continued.

With thousands of people walking through Trafalgar Square everyday, in one of the most diverse cities in the world, Self wants the public to see themselves reflected back in “Lady in Blue.”

“I want her just to become a Londoner at the end of the day,” she said.

一座新的雕塑在伦敦特拉法加广场揭幕，并将在此展出两年。这座名为“蓝衣女士”的雕塑由纽约艺术家查巴拉拉·塞尔夫创作，是一尊青铜雕像，描绘了一位身份不明的年轻黑人女性，她身着贴身蓝色连衣裙，脚踩同色高跟鞋，佩戴玻璃珠首饰。她坚强自信，前途无量。

这是在所谓的第四基座上安装的第 16 座雕像，这是由皇家艺术学会发起的一项持续进行的公共艺术委托项目的一部分，如今得到了伦敦市长、英格兰艺术委员会和布卢姆斯伯里慈善基金会的支持。

“蓝衣女士”雕像在广场上已有的19世纪历史地标——纳尔逊纪念柱和兰西尔狮子雕像——的映衬下显得格外醒目。塞尔夫并没有选择纪念过去，而是希望展现当代普通女性的形象。在雕像揭幕前夕，艺术家在皮拉尔·科里亚斯画廊接受采访时表示：“我希望引导大家关注未来。我认为，关于我们共同未来的纪念碑还不够多。”

这也是英国为数不多的描绘黑人女性的雕像之一。在伦敦约1500座雕像中，只有寥寥几座代表有色人种女性。塞尔夫以其对黑人女性身体的独特刻画而闻名，她的作品引发了关于种族、性别和性取向交叉议题的讨论。她对这一统计数据并不感到惊讶。“我真心希望人们能从这座雕塑中感受到，他们可以自由地做自己，无需解释，”她说。

但她补充说，作品的意义不应仅仅在于展现黑人形象。“谈论黑人身份并非贬低作品，因为我不这么认为。只是我觉得这并非项目的重点，”塞尔夫说道。“我也觉得，当人们从这个角度解读作品时，他们实际上已经开始了一种简化的过程，因为他们已经用身份政治来命名和定义这些人物。”

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这是塞尔夫自2023年以来在英国的首件公共雕塑作品。2023年，她的雕塑作品《坐着》在英国贝克斯希尔镇安装后遭到破坏。破坏者将雕塑中黑人女性的皮肤喷涂成白色。“雕塑被破坏时我非常难过，但最终，这段经历对我来说却意义非凡，”塞尔夫说道。“它凸显了现实生活中，不仅仅是具象雕塑，真实的人们也会经历同样的侵犯、暴力和恐吓行为。因此，我觉得这件雕塑达到了它的目的。”事件发生后，当地组织了一次社区清洁日活动，清除了白色油漆。“通过修复这件雕塑，也展现了人们克服社会弊病的意愿和决心。”她说：“有了《蓝衣女子》这幅作品，她感觉自己已经准备好就具象的重要性以及在公共艺术中展现所有身份认同展开更多对话。即使对话走向黑暗，因为我知道最终，这将有利于所有相关方的更深入学习。”

“蓝衣女士”雕像以其珠宝、编发和与之相配的青金石色服装，为伦敦地标增添了一抹亮丽的色彩——这种颜色的灵感源自自古以来就被用作颜料的珍稀宝石。但更重要的是雕像充满力量的步伐：“她并非静止不动，”塞尔夫说道，“她渴望前进，她拥有乐观和勇往直前的勇气，我希望这能激励所有与她相遇的人，让他们知道他们也拥有这种能力——昂首阔步，勇往直前。”

每天都有成千上万的人穿过特拉法加广场，在世界上最多元化的城市之一，塞尔夫希望公众能在“蓝衣女郎”中看到自己的影子。

“我希望她最终能成为一个真正的伦敦人，”她说。