Northwestern sculptor unveils new work atop the Fourth Plinth
For the past six months, a team in London has been working with Northwestern artist Michael Rakowitz to construct a 14-foot Assyrian winged bull with a human head, or Lamassu, created from 9,000 steel cans of date syrup made in modern day Iraq.
On March 28, the sculpture, entitled “The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist,” was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth in London’s iconic Trafalgar Square, one of London’s top attractions.
Video: Watch the unveiling ceremony
Founded in 1998, the Fourth Plinth Program is the most popular public art project in the UK. Funded by the Mayor of London’s Office with support from the Arts Council England, the program commissions world-class artists to make astonishing new works for the center of the capital city.
“The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist” will be on view on the Fourth Plinth until 2020.
The Lamassu will stand in Trafalgar Square 'with wings raised, still performing his duty as guardian of Iraq’s past and present.”
Michael Rakowitz
On the 14-foot sculpture made of 9,000 steel cans
An artist, teacher and scholar in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Rakowitz discusses his Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition, the Fourth Plinth commission and his vision of a world where his artwork is obsolete.
Highlighting the tragic cost of conflict in the Middle East, sculptor Michael Rakowitz's recreation of an ancient Assyrian sculpture will be featured in one of the world's most jam-packed locations - London's Trafalgar Square.
In the ragged outreaches of south-east London, the ghost of a 3,000-year-old winged bull with a human head is waiting for its moment.
As the child of immigrant parents from distinctly different cultures, Michael Rakowitz knows exactly what it’s like to live in a place where different cultures meet.
For Michael Rakowitz, a family visit to London when he was 10 years old was "a primal scene in my life and in my art-making."
How does “Backstroke of the West,” the Michael Rakowitz exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, break the rules for an art show?
Published: March 19, 2018. Updated: March 28, 2018.
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