Thomas J Price’s ‘Untitled (Icon 5)’ is the final work in the artist’s extraordinary 2017 ‘Untitled (Icon)’ series of five gilded portrait heads. To create the glimmering group of sculptures, Price used two impressive techniques: gilding and 3D modelling. This unique fusion of ancient and cutting-edge contemporary methods exemplifies the artist’s remarkable, thoughtful reassessment of the history and legacy of statuary. For almost two decades, Price has sought to dismantle the power structures propagated by traditional sculpture, prompting his viewers to question who society deems worthy of a monument. Using traditional materials and innovative digital sculpting techniques to create profoundly radical and highly original sculptures, Price inverts societal assumptions.
Gilded in 24 carat gold leaf with an Italian slate base placed on top of a quartzite plinth, Price’s fifth ‘Icon’ gazes into the distance as if lost in thought. Although based on a fictional, constructed character – Price deliberately chooses not to portray specific people – ‘Untitled (Icon 5)’ presents viewers with a subject that seems instantly recognisable. This is partially the result of what Price describes as his aim to create ‘psychological portraits’ by combining details borrowed from classical Greco-Roman sculptures with the subtleties of facial expression observed from life. A collage of elements variously inspired by classical statuary and the countenances of friends and strangers, Price’s portrait head reframes expectations about sculpture, as well as Black masculinity.
Growing up in London, Price was keenly aware of the kind of person deemed worthy of sculptural representation, both in museums and in public spaces. This was later reinforced during an influential fellowship in Rome, where he was not only conscious of the monumentality and composite nature of ancient sculptures, but also of the implications of the visibility and placement of statuary in civic areas. As Price has memorably explained: ‘Sculptures are the silent messengers. Even if we ignore them, they reinforce. They act. They are there. They exist, and they are official. I was very struck, when I was in Rome, by the fact a lot of these sculptures were just made up, basically. They found bits in an area and put these things together like Frankenstein's monster. … I have created fictional characters based on an emotional structure by trying to draw out reactions. I ask “Who is this person to you?”’ [1] Price prompts his viewers to reconsider what kind of individuals sculptures force us, often quite literally, to look up to. ‘Untitled (Icon 5)’ offers an alternative figure for immortalisation – a modern icon that paves the way for a new type of statuary.
