Your Space Or Mine
Artist Andre Williams answers the question, ‘Who’s next up on the pocket sculpture park plinth?’
BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s pocket sculpture garden – dubbed ‘Dancing in the Shadow of Henry’ – on the Camberwell New Road is now hosting its third dazzling artwork.
Installation of Andre Williams’ LET IT BE ME sees the permanent plinth temporarily coloured a bold carmine shade. Affixed to one side of this cuboid pedestal is a low relief portrait of the artist. This boldly rendered face painted on 3mm aluminium is truncated at the base, so it looks like it’s peeking out from the ground. The artist is wearing chunky glasses and sporting a cerulean cap, one that’s a little bit too small for the wearer by the looks of it. Electric purple strips of aluminium striate the red ground atop the plinth and topple briefly over one side, forming an odd sort of fringe above the portrait.
The artwork’s titular text elements sprout somewhat precariously from the bulky base. Again, formed from a layered mix of 5mm and 3mm laser cut aluminium, the four hand–painted words LET IT BE ME each have their own separate panels. Vibrantly contrasting coloured grounds and painted shadowed lettering lend the work an exaggerated cartoon-like trompe l’oeil effect. These are open, conversational words on the street, addressing the public with a quirky informality. Instead of being informational or didactic, Williams’ four words prompt a smiling curiosity. Why should it be you? What are you going to do if it is you? Why can’t it be me? Williams’ unpretentious folk aesthetic draws in, intrigues rather than confronts passersby.
09.10.24
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