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The two winning Fourth Plinth artworks — which will appear on Trafalgar Square's ever-changing pedestal in 2026 and 2028 respectively — have been announced.
Tschabalala Self's Lady in Blue pays homage to a young, metropolitan 'everywoman' of colour — a bold, almost cartoonish figure full of pose and confidence, that was one of our favourites from the very strong shortlist. It'll be made of bronze, and patinated with the rare Lapis Lazuli blue refined pigment. It'll top the plinth sometime in 2026.
The second winner — which arrives two years later — could be somewhat more controversial. Andra Ursuţa's Untitled is described as "a hollow, life-sized person on a horse covered in a shroud and cast in a slime-green resin." Perhaps the photos don't do this artwork justice, but we think comparisons to Slimer from Ghostbusters are inevitable. Untitled is not the first unorthodox riff on an equine statue; the Fourth Plinth has previously hosted Hans Haacke's skeletal Gift Horse, and Elmgreen & Dragset's rocking horse-inspired Powerless Structures, Fig 101.
Anyway, Londoners had the chance to vote for their favourite artworks this time around — a list which also included works by Chila Burman, Ruth Ewan and Thomas J Price — which ultimately informed the judges' overall decision. So no squinnying please.
In the meantime, Teresa Margolles's 850 Improntas (850 Imprints) — made from the casts of the faces of 850 transgender people — is the next artwork to arrive on the Fourth Plinth, in September 2024.
