4th Plinth

When I wrote a review on Trafalgar Square… I vowed to write a separate one solely on the plinths around the Square.
… A plinth is the base of, or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue or monument rests…
There are 4 plinths in the Square… Bronze statues… stand on three of them. All distinguish British Nationals…
1^st Plinth… General SirCharles Jermac Napier
2^nd Plinth… Major Gen. Sir Henry Havelock
3^rd Plinth… King George! V
4^th Plinth… The site that gives everyone the opportunity to present a sculpture… It was once empty from…1841– 1999… but when I was there in 2005 there was a marble torso… or bust of a very pregnant deformed woman with no arms and shortened legs… a very disturbing piece of art… Always wondered about it… I went back a couple of times and was really intrigued by the piece and noted the name of the sculptor. It was March Quinn… and the subject is Alison Lapper… a British artist still living in London… born in 1965 without arms and shortened legs. The result of a medical condition called phocomelia. .was institutionalized for most of her childhood… moved to London at age 19, got a driving license and a flat,…studied Arts & Architecture and graduated 1^st honors degree in Fine Artis in 1994… such a remarkable feat for a woman of her stature… I am so impressed with her achievements .her guts,… sheer determination… and positive outlook in life and not let her deformity be a setback on her dreams and her art… she uses photography, digital imaging and painting using herself as the subject… she paints with her mouth… she eventually gave birth to a son who is fully formed and they were both featured on the yearly documentary Child of our Time… Looking at the statue… I wondered whether she might not be right about this. Quinn says his inspiration came from the fact that there was“no positive representation of disability in the history of public art” .Lapper says that she hopes the scupture will «make a difference» It’s inspirational, it puts disability, femininity and motherhood on the map. It’s time to challenge people’s perceptions of these things.
There was a controversy over the statue… i myself was startled the first time I saw it… should there be a statue of a naked pregnant disabled woman in Trafalgar Square? Surely it wouldn’t fit in… The Square is such a traditional place. But I always thought it was exactly the right place for a statue like this. It makes a powerful statement about where we are trying to go in the 21^st century– a future with truyly equal opportunities for all.
Lapper just wrote a book… her autobiograhy, My Life in My Hands. published by Simon & Schuster… It’s all in the major bookshops… recalling painful memories from her childhood and shocking facts about he life…
Lapper nude and heavily pregnant occupied the 4^th plinth in Sept 2005 to late 2007…