The latest work of art to grace the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is 850 Improntas created by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles.
The sculpture is made up of plaster casts of the faces of transgender, non-binary, and gender-non-conforming people who have been victims of violence. The casts, made in London and Mexico, were applied directly to the participants’ faces. They are arranged in the shape of a skull rack the like of which was used in Mesoamerican civilizations for the public display of human skulls, typically those of prisoners of war.
Resilience and humanity
Margolles created the sculpture to promote trans rights and to signal the murders and disappearances of trans people, especially in Latin America. It is a reminder of the resilience and humanity of the trans community, and a call for awareness of their freedom and rights.
The sculpture is intended to deteriorate and fade with the affects of time and the capital’s weather – acknowledging the realities and harshness of life.
King George IV, Major General Sir Henry Havelock, and General Sir Charles Napier are featured on Trafalgar Square’s other plinths.
Taking the fourth
Margolles’ work is the 14th installation that has appeared on the fourth plinth. The first was in 1999 and depicted a life-sized figure of Christ, naked apart from a loin cloth, with his hands bound behind his back and wearing a barbed wire crown. The work by Mark Wallinger was followed at intervals by equally celebrated artists such Rachel Whiteread (2001) and Antony Gormley (2009). The full list of works and their creators, in reverse chronological order, is:
- Antelope by Samson Kambalu
- The End: Heather Phillipson
- Really Good: David Shrigley
- Gift Horse: Hans Haacke
- Hahn/Cock: Katharina Fritsch
- Powerless Structures, Fig. 101: Elmgreen & Dragset
- Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle: Yinka Shanibare MBE
- One & Other: Antony Gormley
- Model for a Hotel: Thomas Schütte
- Alison Lapper Pregnant: Mark Quinn
- Monument: Rachel Whiteread
- Regardless of History: Bill Woodrow
- Ecce Homo by Mark Wallinger.
Antelope by Samson Kambalu
