Client
Terrace Hill Group PLC and Tees Valley RegenerationArtistBenedict CarpenterCommissioning Advisor
Commissions North, Arts Council England, North East
Location
Middlehaven, Middlesbrough
Budget  30,000 Installation date
September 2005 40,000 Years of Modern Art is a plaster maquette for a large public sculpture. The title comes from the Roland Penrose curated exhibition of the same name, held at the ICA in the late 1940's. This sculpture is made with a specific location in mind, and is intended to present four main angles of composition, two principal (front and back), and two secondary (the sides). These four views are contrasting, though they do not contradict the sculpture's organic unity. It is not reductively figurative, but it is reminiscent of figurative experience: it is intended to engage visitors in a game of recognition. People will want to interpret the sculpture's content in the same way as they try to recognize forms in random patterns. The sculpture is near symmetrical, symmetry having the effect of forcing the desire to recognise on the spectator, a desire that is frustrated. But the sculpture is not a blank cipher. It is a deliberately shaped and balanced composition that conveys a set of shaped physical experiences, including humour and sensuality. The sculpture will be sited near the Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesborough FC, on the forecourt of a new mixed use development. UPDATED 22 December 2006New images of the sculpture in situ added to the website.  Leaflet celebrating Benedict Carpenter's sculpture (PDF 204kb)
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