Untitled (Icon 3)

Thomas J Price’s ‘Untitled (Icon 3)’ is part of the artist’s 2017 ‘Untitled (Icon)’ series of five gilded portrait heads. To create the group of sculptures, Price combined two distinct techniques that were cutting edge at their inception: gilding and 3D modelling. This unique fusion of ancient and contemporary methods exemplifies the artist’s remarkable, thoughtful reassessment of the history and legacy of statues. 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.

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.