Past Art Installations

WILD WORCESTER: SKY LIONS AND OTHER ANIMALS

BY TARRAGON KELHAM – WWW.TARRAGONKELHAM.CO.UK

Generously Funded by The Elmley Foundation

The Worcester Plinth welcomes its latest arts installation ‘Wild Worcester: Sky Lions and Other Animals’ by Tarragon Kelham.

The work is inspired by the medieval misericord carvings of amazing animals in Worcester Cathedral, and the beautifully drawn, crazy, composite creatures of medieval bestiaries.  Some of these medieval bestiaries, of which the Cathedral has an extensive collection, contain ‘combination’ animals like the ‘Cockatrice’: a two-legged dragon or serpent with a cockerel’s head. 

Tarragon states ‘These creations provoked me into thinking about the incredible composite creatures that do exist in nature. Evolution seems to have contrived creation in the manner of the children’s game, where one participant draws a head, another the neck and then so on until amazing animals are born.’  

The work was created following community engagement workshops at Worcester City Museum and Worcester Library where the artist encouraged children to explore the amazing animals in their imaginations. These were then incorporated into the work.

Tarragon Kelham (b.1996) is an internationally exhibited artist having shown in Canada, Scotland, England and the Netherlands.

Hendrix in Worcester – by Iona Rowland www.ionarowlandart.com

Commissioned by The Worcester Plinth

Generously funded by The Elmley Foundation

A large ‘billboard’ style artwork that draws on Iona’s 2021 mural ‘Hendrix in London’ commissioned by the Handel & Hendrix Museum for the window facade of 23 Brook Street (Jimi Hendrix’s former Mayfair home). ‘Hendrix in Worcester’ focuses on Hendrix’s iconic 1967 performance at the Gaumont in Worcester.

Composed of a myriad of layers and motifs – all hand rendered using oil paint, spray paint, pencil, pen and screen-printing methodologies and reproduced digitally before being printed onto vinyl and adhered to aluminium dibond. The composition will feature portraits of Hendrix, architectural motifs linked to the Gaumont, and
references to the set Hendrix played on April 2, 1967.

‘Hendrix in Worcester’ was unveiled on 30th November 2022 which would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 80th birthday.

‘Pelicans’ by Frans Wesselman – www.fwstainedglass.co.uk

Commissioned by The Worcester Plinth

Generously funded by The Elmley Foundation

The piece is inspired by both the unique arts space but also by the artists love of birds. The work has been created to represent a squadron of birds following the wind as they fly along the River Severn. Built from wooden forms the pelicans are designed to turn with the wind, creating movement and change with the weather.

About Frans Wesselman and Pelicans

Frans is from the Netherlands and is a printmaker and stained glass artist who works occasionally in other projects such as “Godiva awakes” in Coventry as part of the 2012 Olympic games.  Frans commented ‘After meeting the Plinth team I thought it was such a good idea. I originally thought of Japanese style fish kites, but had concerns about their movement in the relatively restricted space. Then remembered the formations of pelicans seen in India and having a eureka moment in the middle of the night on the ferry back from France, worked out how they could be done.’

The piece is inspired by both the unique arts space but also by the artists love of birds. The work has been created to represent a squadron of birds following the wind as they fly along the River Severn. Built from wooden forms the pelicans are designed to turn with the wind, creating movement and change with the weather.

‘The Return of the Mayfish’ by Alan Ross

www.artinsteel.co.uk.

Commissioned and funded by Canal & River Trust.

Return of the Mayfish on installation day

This shoal of three shining steel shad was commissioned to celebrate the completion of Unlocking the Severn, a once in a lifetime river restoration project. Hand crafted by artist Alan Ross, the fish provide a visual reminder of life usually hidden underwater and marks the huge achievements of the project including the construction of four fish passes to reconnect the River Severn for one of the UK’s rarest migratory fish, the twaite shad.