Fab sculpture in Berkeley Square - but what's the faceless nun all about?

[editor]

I liked it but can't find any info about it online. Anyone know?

More: http://www.urban75.org/blog/statues-sculptures-and-phone-boxes-in-berkeley-square-london/

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

are you sure that's a nun?

 

[editor]

are you sure that's a nun?

No idea. What else might it be?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

No idea. What else might it be?

No idea, but I'm looking, but not having much luck

Association with a film perhaps?

http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=5501

 

[colacubes]

My first thought was a suffragette due to the sash. A quick google later and I wonder whether it might be to do with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_Hearts_and_Coronets

ETA - this bit in particular:

Louis then murders suffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne (her hot air balloon pierced by an arrow followed by a fatal fall, with Louis remarking, "I shot an arrow in the air. She fell to earth in Berkeley Square.)

 

[maldwyn]

Is it Philip Jackson's Gale Force Nun?

 

[editor]

Doesn't seem to fit the manner of her deah though:

Louis then murders suffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne (her hot air balloon pierced by an arrow followed by a fatal fall, with Louis remarking, "I shot an arrow in the air. She fell to earth in Berkeley Square.)

 

[editor]

Is it Philip Jackson's Gale Force Nun?

Hooray! Thank you!

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I wonder if it's there because it's close to the original convent in the area (Convent Garden was the original name for Covent Garden).

 

[quimcunx]

http://www.philipjacksonsculptures.co.uk/Large_works/GaleForceNun_ii.htm#anchor

 

[quimcunx]

Is it Philip Jackson's Gale Force Nun?

Damn you.

 

[Orang Utan]

Looks like a Jesuit priest rather than a nun

 

[Orang Utan]

Or something from Bosch's Hell

 

[Mrs Magpie]

No, nuns, especially ones on the continent, have headgear like that.

 

[editor]

No, nuns, especially ones on the continent, have headgear like that.

It's not a real nun, you know

 

[krtek a houby]

Reminds me of Nemesis the Warlock

 

[Mrs Magpie]

It's not a real nun, you know

...but that starched paper aeroplane headgear is very reminiscent of my childhood and Mass in the French church, with attendant strange women with what looked liked Concorde on their bonces...

 

[maldwyn]

I wonder if it's there because it's close to the original convent in the area (Convent Garden was the original name for Covent Garden).

Maybe they shoved it there because he did the bomber command memorial in Green Park last month.

ETA

The Portland Gallery in London is hosting a major exhibition of Philip's work from 19th September to 28th November 2012.

 

[editor]

The more I look at the sculpture, the more I like it.

You can only see one of them in the pic, but there were two dogs taking a keen interest in me when I was taking the photos, barking at me, trying to chew on bits of me in a 'friendly' way and generally getting being a nuisance, while the owner chatted to his mate nearby.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

My first thought was a suffragette due to the sash. A quick google later and I wonder whether it might be to do with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_Hearts_and_Coronets

ETA - this bit in particular:

Louis then murders suffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne (her hot air balloon pierced by an arrow followed by a fatal fall, with Louis remarking, "I shot an arrow in the air. She fell to earth in Berkeley Square.)

I came across that and dismissed it

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

No, nuns, especially ones on the continent, have headgear like that.

That's why I dismissed the nun idea, although the headdress did seem familiar, but I wondered why there was a foreign nun there

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

No idea. What else might it be?

Julie Andrews...

you know my Dad's a nun...

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I must go and have a look at that someday. I think it is fabulous. Philip Jackson is a proper figurative sculptor - non of that conceptual stuff. With that Nun series as shown online he seems to have invented a new sculptural language based on nun style costumes. The one in the OP really looks like she is about to be lifted up by the wind.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Julie Andrews...

you know my Dad's a nun...

Yeah, I thought Mary Poppins had lost her umbrella and changed her hat

 

[editor]

I like the latest exhibit:

In photos: Berkeley Square and The Four Loves sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn, central London