Public Art in Birmingham
Public art in Birmingham ranges from mosaics, reliefs and friezes to statues of bygone monarchs, entrepreneurs and popular heroes. There are also many modern sculptures that celebrate the city's industrial heritage and its continuous process of change and regeneration.
Ancestor1 (1970) is a sculpture created by Barbara Hepworth in bronze with black, green and blue patina dressings. It is the centrepiece of University Square on the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham and forms part of Hepworth's "Family of Man": a sequence which explores human relationships through texture, form and shape.
The Chamberlain Memorial is the centrepiece of Chamberlain Square in the Business Quarter. Unveiled in 1880, it commemorates Joseph Chamberlain - the mayor of Birmingham from 1873 to 1876 - who, amongst other things, improved the water supply, thereby significantly reducing infant mortality. Designed by J.H. Chamberlain (no relation), the twenty-metre-high monument, built in Portland stone, consists of a fountain beneath a crocketted spire whose corner pinnacles are flanked by gable arches decorated with reliefs by S. Barfield of Leicester and mosaics by Salviati & Burke of Venice. There is a medallion portrait of Chamberlain by Thomas Woolner on the south side. The pool at the base was added in 1978 after the original basin was lost in the 1960's.
A statue of Charles Gore, the first Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, stands outside the west door of Birmingham Cathedral in the Business Quarter. Charles Gore (1853-1932), the third son of the Earl of Arran, was an Oxford Don and influential theologian who championed the adoption of Roman Catholic principles within the established Church of England. He held the bishopric from 1905 until 1911 during which time he presided over the expansion of the Anglican church into the newly-created inner city through the formation of the "Biretta Belt": a ring of parish churches whose rituals were essentially Roman Catholic but which remained under the authority of the Church of England.
The tympanum of the arch enclosed by the central portico of the Council House features a mosaic by Salviati of Venice. The mosaic, which depicts "Britannia rewarding the Birmingham manufactures", consists of a feminine allegory of Britannia awarding scrolls of Stability and Power to three female figures on her left and three on her right who collectively represent the city's trades and manufactures.
The Cube Fountains are a water feature, designed by the landscape architects Gross Max, in Saint Martin's Square at the Bull Ring. Installed in 2003, the fountains consist of a five metre, three metre and two metre cube arranged in ascending order. The cubes are glazed and contain light boxes that constantly illuminate their sides in ever-changing shades of pink, blue and orange. Water trickles down the cubes, creating a shimmering effect, and collects in slate pools at their bases.
This life-size statue of King Edward VII (1841-1910) stands in Highgate Park. It was sculpted by Albert Toft from a single block of Carrera marble and formerly stood in Victoria Square where it was unveiled by the Duchess of Argyll on 23 April 1913. Edward is depicted in Field-Marshall's uniform with garter robes standing on a sandstone plinth whose drapery niche contains a figure of Saint George & the Dragon. Three bronze allegorical figures of Education, Progress & Peace, which once formed part of the monument, have been stolen.
The Faraday Monument is on Vincent Drive near the western entrance to the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham. Designed by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, it is a 5-metre-high bronze sculpture which portrays Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electricity, in a seated position with force lines around his torso representing light, sound, magnetism and electricity. The base is inscribed with a quotation from T.S.Eliot's "Dry Savages" which states that the purpose of a university education is "to travel, listen, think and change".
The Flame of Hope is a beacon above a revolving globe on Centenary Square in the Convention Quarter. The beacon was donated in 2000 by a group of local churches with the intention that it should remain permanently lit as a symbol of world peace. However, it was later extinguished because the gas bill was too expensive. The beacon is now only lit whenever sponsorship is available.
The Golden Boys is a gilded statue of Mathew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch on Broad Street, alongside Centenary Square, in the Convention Quarter. These three men were partners in the firm of Boulton & Watt that manufactured the world's first commercially viable industrial steam engines at the Soho Foundry in Smethwick. Boulton was the financier whilst Watt and Murdock were the inventive geniuses. The Golden Boys - made by William Bloye in 1956 - depicts the trio examining their latest designs. However, the figures could just as easily be mistaken for a trio of carpet salesmen.
The "Great Blondin" was a French trapeze artist who crossed Edgbaston Reservoir on a tightrope on 6 September 1873. This legendary feat is celebrated by a sculpture on the central reservation of the Ladywood Middleway in Birmingham. Created by John Richardson in 1995, the three-metre-high sculpture is a caricature of the Great Blondin. It is made from patinated and metallised welded-steel plates and stands on a 4.5-metre-high pedestal that carries a sign to the local shops.
The Green Man is a sculpture by Tawney Gray on Gibb Square in the Arts and Media Quarter in Digbeth. The 14-metre-high sculpture is made from stone and vegetation. The Green Man is an ancient mythological figure who symbolises the spring cycle of growth and rebirth. He is traditionally portrayed with greenery sprouting from his head and body.
The Guardian is a bronze sculpture of a turning bull in Rotunda Square at the New Street entrance to the Bull Ring shopping centre. Designed by Laurence Broderick, the sculpture was installed in 2003 and is modelled on a Hereford Bull. It is 2.2 metres high, 4.5 metres long and weighs over 6 tons. The bull symbolises courage, strength, potency, dynamism, movement and determination.
The Hancock Memorial, designed by Bruce Williams, is in Old Square in the Retail Quarter. It is a two-dimensional glazed sculpture, resembling a black-and-white television screen, which depicts the comedian Tony Hancock slouched over a cup of tea. Tony Hancock (1924-1968) was born at 41 Southam Road in Hall Green. His comic portrayal of an exaggerated version of himself as a down-at-heel resting actor was enormously popular on both radio and television in post-war Britain. The memorial was unveiled by Sir Harry Secombe in 1996.
Industry and Genius is a sculpture outside Baskerville House in Centenary Square in the Convention Quarter. Designed by David Patten, it reproduces the typeface created by the 18th century printer John Baskerville who lived on the site of Baskerville House. The sculpture, which is made in bronze and portland stone, measures 150 centimetres in width, 100 centimetres in height and 650 centimetres in length. The letters spell the name of the Roman poet Virgil whose works were published by Baskerville in 1757. The sculpture was financed under the "1% scheme" whereby 1% of the cost of building the ICC was spent on public art.
The iron horse sculpture at New Street Station was created by Kevin Atherton in 1987. It is one of twelve horse sculptures of slightly varying shapes and sizes on the Birmingham and Wolverhampton line. These sculptures symbolise the earliest steam locomotives which were called "iron horses".
The Iron:Man by Anthony Gormley stands outside Lloyds TSB in Victoria Square in the Business Quarter. Iron:Man pays hommage to Britain's industrial past and provokes questions about the future role of its blue-collar workforce. The sculpture has a slight lean and is designed to oxidise. The joints of its air-set mould have been left intact so that the sculpture bears the marks of the manufacturing process that created it.
A marble statue of James Watt, made by Alexander Munro in 1868, stands in Chamberlain Square, outside Birmingham Central Library, in the Business Quarter. James Watt made numerous adaptations to the steam engine in order to convert it from a device primarily for pumping water from mines into a dependable source of industrial power. Although James Watt was a Scot from Greenock, he had to move to Birmingham to obtain financial backing after his Glaswegian sponsor, John Roebuck, became insolvent.
Joseph Priestley Statue
There is a statue of Joseph Priestley in Chamberlain Square in the Business Quarter. It is a bronze cast (circa 1951) of the original marble sculpted by Francis Williamson in 1874. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a scientist, philosopher and political theorist who is credited with the discovery of oxygen. He is depicted holding the letter "O": the symbol of his greatest achievement. Priestley lived in Birmingham from 1780 until 1791 when a mob, angered by his support for the French Revolution, attacked his mansion in Sparkbrook.
This bust of Josiah Mason ("Big Joe") stands on a traffic roundabout at the junction of Chester Road and Orphanage Road in Erdington Town. Made by William Bloye in 1951, it is a bronze cast of a Victorian marble statue that was carved by Francis Williamson in the 1870's. Josiah Mason (1795-1881) was a pen-maker and a partner in the Elkington silver electro-plating works. Born a pauper, he became immensely wealthy, and not only built almshouses and an orphanage in Erdington but also endowed Mason Science College - the forerunner of Birmingham University.
A bronze mermaid fountain, cast by William Bloye in 1960, stands in the courtyard of the Guild of Students on the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham. Bloye, who was particularly fond of the mermaid motif, also designed a sign for the Mermaid Inn in Sparkhill and carved a stone mermaid sculpture that is now now affixed to the exterior of the Guild of Students.
The Nelson Monument in the Bull Ring was unveiled in 1810 during George III's Golden Jubilee celebrations. It depicts Admiral Nelson in naval uniform, his left hand on the prow of a miniature ship that incorporates timbers from the mast of the French flagship Orient which was sunk at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The statue, which was made by Richard Westmacott, was funded by public subscription. It stands on a plain plinth surrounded by iron railings; the original marble plinth having been lost in the 1960's. The monument provides a visual axis for the pedestrian boulevard that runs between the East and West Mall and terminates in a terrace above St Martin's Square.
The Old Square Mural is a brass, cast-iron and fibre-glass mural at Old Square in the Retail Quarter. Created by Kenneth Budd in 1967, it consists of interlinked panels that portray historical places, personalities and events associated with Old Square and the surrounding area. It includes, for example, a portrait of the 18th century lock maker John Wilkes, the original beehive logo of Lloyds Bank whose founder lived nearby and scenes from historical events such as the Priestley Riots of 1795 and a banquet held by the Duke of York in 1765.
There is a seven-storey granite pagoda on Holloway Circus in Birmingham Southside. The pagoda, which was donated by the Wing Yip grocery group in 1998, stands in a landscaped Chinese Garden complete with sculptures and street furniture.
A statue of Queen Victoria stands outside the Council House on Victoria Square in the Business Quarter. It is a 1951 bronze cast of the original marble sculpted by Thomas Brock in 1900. The statue was donated by William Barber, a successful property speculator, and unveiled in Council House Square on 10 January 1901. Queen Victoria died twelve days later whereupon Council House Square was renamed Victoria Square.
The River (circa 1992) is a water feature in Victoria Square in the Business Quarter. Designed by Dhruva Mistry, it consists of an upper and lower pool linked by stepped channels. The upper pool contains a sculpture of a reclining cross-legged woman - known locally as the Floozie in the Jacuzzi - who represents life force. The Lower Pool features two allegories of Youth and an inscription from T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton" which deals with the subject of fleeting youth in the context of eternity. Water cascades from the upper to the lower pool which is guarded by two stone sphinxes.
The Sentinel is a sculpture on the Chester Road roundabout at the entrance to the Castle Vale housing estate. Created by Tim Tolkien, it depicts three half-scale supermarine spitfires soaring skywards. The aircraft are cast in aluminium and supported by steel beams that represent their vapour trails. Castle Vale was built on the site of a former aerodrome where spitfires were tested. The sculpture was unveiled by Alex Henshaw, the chief wartime test pilot, in 2000.
Spirit & Enterprise stands outside the extension to the Birmingham Rep on Centenary Square in the Convention Quarter. It consists of a bronze fountain with three bowls: the first depicts a classical head on a coin supported by a stump-vice for minting coinage; the second features an allegorical figure of Enterprise leaping forward on a wave of optimism and the third contains a multi-ethnic allegory of commerce. Designed by Tom Lomax, the sculpture was created as part of the "percentage for art policy" whereby 1% of the cost of building the ICC was dedicated to public art.
The Sturge Memorial by John Thomas stands outside 1 Hagley Road at Five Ways. Joseph Sturge (1793-1859) was a Quaker corn merchant who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of the British working class. He created "Free Villages" in the Caribbean. The memorial, which was installed in 1862, portrays him as a preacher flanked by an allegory of Peace - holding a dove, olive branch and lamb - and an allegory of Charity, comforting two Afro-Caribbean children. These marble figures stand on a stone plinth. Three fountains that once formed part of the memorial have been lost.
The Sutton Coldfield War Memorial stands in King Edward Square outside Sutton Coldfield Town Hall. It consists of a life-size bronze figure of a soldier on a granite pedestal. The sculptor, Francis Doyle-Jones, agreed not to make a similar memorial for any other town in Warwickshire and only to repeat the design for two other war memorials in the whole of Britain. The memorial was unveiled on 1 November 1922 and restored in 1979.
Thomas Attwood (1783-1859) campaigned for political reform and was elected as one of the first two Birmingham MP's in 1832. He was a spontaneous public speaker, particularly at open air rallies. This sculpture, made by Siobhan Coppinger in 1992, is located in Chamberlain Square in the Business Quarter. It shows Attwood studying papers in a reclining posture, having descended from an empty plinth, presumably to address a crowd. In his haste, he has dropped his despatch box whose contents flutter in the breeze.
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