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Renowned sculptor Lorenzo Quinn's sculpture
'Vroom Vroom', a black Fiat 500 grasped in a
child's hand, has been placed in the middle
of Park Lane. The artwork, which features
the artist's actual first car, is intended
to evoke 'the child within'. |
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Park Lane, better known
as one of Monopoly's most expensive streets and home to many of
London's most famous hotels, has been brightened up with
a 4.6 m sculpture of an oversized child's hand pushing a
Fiat 500, as part of a project to promote art across the
city ahead of the Olympics.
Renowned sculptor Lorenzo
Quinn's sculpture Vroom Vroom, a black Fiat 500
grasped in a child's hand, has been placed in the middle
of Park Lane. The artwork, which features the artist's
actual first car, is intended to evoke 'the child
within'. At 15 feet (4.6m) high the sculpture is meant
to be a playful comment on a pastime Quinn, son of the
late Hollywood actor Anthony Quinn, believes many
people, and he claims especially men, never grow out of.
On 25 June 2010 Vroom
Vroom was first unveiled, located outside the
Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, the oldest contemporary
art museum in Spain. Most recently, last November, it
was shown at the Abu Dhabi Arts Fair. The statue is part
of the council's City of Sculpture Festival - with
installations donated for free by some of the world's
leading galleries and artists - to highlight the diverse
cultural offer of Westminster.
Cllr Alastair Moss,
chairman of the planning applications sub committee
which gave the artwork the go-ahead, said: "I think that
many people feel a fondness and love for their first car
which stays with them for a lifetime, and I hope this
artwork brings a similar feeling of excitement to the
many people visiting the West End. This will further
enhance Westminster’s reputation as the home of some of
the world’s most famous art, which can be viewed not
only in our vast array of galleries but also in the
public art on our streets."
The sculpture’s Italian
creator Lorenzo Quinn has produced work for the United
Nations and the Vatican, as well as playing the part of
surrealist painter Salvador Dali in the 1990 film Dali,
directed by Antoni Ribas. Many of Quinn's sculptures
feature the symbol of the human hand because he explains
in the planning papers: 'The hand holds so much power -
the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy.'
Speaking about Vroom
Vroom Lorenzo Quinn said: "Each and every one of my
art works is a little part of me, they are my
experiences, thoughts, desires, feelings. Vroom Vroom
represents part of my independence, my freedom, my
personal growth. This was the first car that I bought
with the money I made from my early works. It was hard
work, but the purchase was satisfying. I had obtained
something I really wanted through my own effort. I did
not depend on my parents anymore, I was grown up. This
car has been my talisman. One day a client visiting my
studio said 'that car is so small, it looks like a toy.'
This comment made me think: often the only difference
between a child and an adult is the price of the toy.
Actually, this car was a toy to me, I worked hard to get
it, and once I had it I enjoyed it like a child would. I
think that over the years, social pressure makes us lose
our innocence and excitement about the little things. We
end up forgetting the child within. This sculpture
represents the innocence and excitement about the little
things that make us happy."
The council’s City of
Sculpture Festival is seeing the heart of the capital's
outdoors transformed by up to sixty pieces of world
class art, encompassing contemporary and traditional
sculptures from a wide range of international artists.
The ambitious project, organised by Westminster City
Council, to showcase art in the city, is seeing a series
of world class sculptures installed at prominent sites
which people can view for free. The City of Sculpture
Festival is supported and paid for by a number of
galleries, including Halcyon - which has supplied the
Quinn sculpture - as well as a family of jelly babies by
Mauro Perucchetti at Marble Arch.
Paul Green, President of
Halcyon Gallery, said: “This sculpture, Vroom Vroom,
which this summer was placed at The Institute of Modern
Art in Valencia and...the Abu Dhabi Art Fair, is now
coming home to London, the heart of the art world. This
is extremely important for Lorenzo Quinn, and
Westminster Council’s scheme enables a great piece of
art to be placed in one of the most prestigious and
unusual sites in the world. We are really looking
forward to seeing the public’s reaction.” Some of the
sites which will display pieces of sculpture for a
temporary period from 2010 – 2012 as part of the rolling
arts programme will include Berkeley Square, Hanover
Square, Golden Square, Soho Square and Leicester Square.
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