The mayor of Brighton and Hove formally inaugurated the second sculpture to grace the plinth on Hove seafront this afternoon (Sunday 17 September).
Mayor Jackie O’Quinn was joined by Hove MP Peter Kyle and a number of councillors to mark the installation of Flight of the Langoustine by Brighton sculptor Pierre Diamantopoulo.
The 2-ton work was put in place on Thursday, replacing the first sculpture on the Hove Plinth, Constellation by Jonathan Wright, which was lifted off two days earlier.
Constellation will undergo a restoration, having been exposed to the elements on the seafront for more than five years, before being housed in Hove Museum of Creativity, in New Church Road.
Flight of the Langoustine depicts four life-size figures leaping for freedom through broken steel bars and becomes the second work to stand on the Hove Plinth.
The idea for the piece of art was born after the sculptor found a discarded and mangled lobster pot on Brighton beach.
Diamantopoulo said that the figures were “an absurdist response to a profound sense of unrest”.
He said: “Faceless and inspired by the anarchic articulation of modern dance choreography, they flee or fly in defiance, challenged by a chaotic or shifting stage.
“Their fate is in the balance, up in the air or in the hands of a capricious nature or creator.”
He added: “My work is resolutely restive and energetic, moved by a sense of the uncertain and the bizarre, always tinged with wry humour and never afraid to be elegant or beautiful.
“I bring the strongly convergent lines and shapes of abstraction together with classical anatomy in an unsettling art of movement, where gravity and levity are at odds and the powerful forces of motion and emotion are at play.
“The opportunities for sculptors to engage in meaningful and well-placed public art are few and far between.
“The work that the Hove Civic Society has done to create the Hove Plinth as a conduit and focus for an even greater ambition, ‘Sculpture in our City’, has been a phenomenal undertaking and delivered against all odds.
“Many art facilitators, strategists and local bodies would do well to learn from their vision and achievement.”
Hove Civic Society chair Helmut Lusser said: “Cities need public art for all of us to enjoy.
“I am delighted that the society for the second time has been able to contribute a major piece of public art to our city.
“Let this be the start of an open air art gallery for all of us who live, visit and work in this wonderful city.”
How much did that cost and why was it not used on stuff that matters in brighton like the homeless epidemic or the pot holes everywhere?
Why don’t you ask the Hove Civic Society who paid for it.
There’s always one person who makes a silly comment about things that aren’t related. Today Mark, you are that person.
Or clearing the weeds like all other councils do?
We’ve had Gay pride now we want Civic pride.
Love it,
Absolutely stunning. Well done.
This spot could be used for real affordable housing
Hove Seafront? Ironically an idea for senior housing, that would have also released a load more social was just shot down fairly recently.
However, beautification and the enjoyment of arts also have a place in this world, otherwise we’d just be surviving, and that’s not worth living, in my opinion.
I like it. This reminds me that we need self-actualisation just as much as our core needs in balance.
What?
Life is more about basic survival.
What? What on on earth are you talking about.?
By the way, did your mum drop you on your head when you were a baby?
More than* – made a grammatical mistake. Thought you’d pick up on that, seemed pretty clear. Hadlow Hierarchy of Needs and all that.