The Reimagining: New Public Sculpture Unveiled in Whitworth Park
The University of Manchester’s Whitworth unveiled a new public sculpture by internationally acclaimed British artist Anya Gallaccio in Whitworth Park. The sculpture, commissioned exclusively for the Park, is the second permanent public sculpture of Gallaccio’s career, as she reimagined in steel a tree removed from the park during the Whitworth’s £15 million redevelopment by architects.
During the redevelopment of the Whitworth it was discovered that one of the London Plane trees on the south side of the building had died of natural cases and would need to be removed. Gallaccio, noticing the tree’s absence, chose to provide an artistic response to the park’s loss through a permanent and ghostly sculptural commission, based on an architectural scan.
Director of the Whitworth, Dr Maria Balshaw stated, “The redevelopment of the Whitworth was designed to open the gallery to the surrounding park and community, so I was delighted when Anya suggested creating a piece that reflected both. It’s so exciting to see the commission come together and know what this timeless artwork will be enjoyed by visitors all year know.”
Gallaccio’s work engages with the dualities of nature and transience versus the fixed, traditionally making use of materials such as fruit and flowers that degrade and change over time. The sculpture is a departure from her usual practice, as she reimagines the missing tree out of stainless steel using a 3D digital architectural scan of the area.
Gallaccio said, “Usually I would take an existing object and transform it; not making a copy but a new unique object determined by the form and material properties of the original. I am interested here in using the data to produce a sculpture that is a ghost of the real tree, being a replica."
Image: Anya Gallaccio, Untitled 2016 unveiled at the University of Manchester’s Whitworth. The commission has been supported through a major Exceptional Arts Award from Arts Council England and by the Oglesby Charitable Trust, Art Fund and The Karpidas Foundation.
