Knife Angel sculptor Alfie gets involved in major new television series to create a landmark
Alfie Bradley, the artist best known for his Knife Angel sculptor, will feature in a new Sky Arts series, Landmark.
Each of six episode series produced by Primal Media (Jerk, Home Free), sees presenter, Gemma Cairney, spotlight three artists who are competing against each other to create local landmarks for their home region.
Airing from September 6 on Sky Arts - Freeview Channel 11, the series will see artists working across mediums varying from ceramics and bronze to LEDs and inflatables to pay homage to their own region.
Alfie, from Oswestry is one of three artists who will be representing the Midlands. While he is keeping his piece of art close to his chest, the Landmark producers have revealed that he was inspired by Charles Darwin.
At the end of each heat, the landmarks will be unveiled to the local community, who will join the judges to deliberate on which piece best sums up their area. The winning artist will gain a coveted place in the final where they will pitch for a national landmark which one of them will be commissioned to create. The final landmark will be on display in Coventry, UK City of Culture for 2021.
The Oswestry artist said he was absolutely delighted to have been asked to take part.
"Although I am best known for the Knife Angel, I have produced a wide range of artwork both in size and style," he said.
"I only had two weeks to put together the piece of work and it is something quite different. People may also think it is quite controversial," he said.
"All I can reveal is that I was working in multi-media."
The artists have been creating their pieces of art under the watchful eyes of two expert judges: Clare Lilley, curator and Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and artist Hetain Patel; as well as the celebrity guest judge
representing their region or nation.
Alfie and the other Midland artists, Luke Perry and Jason Wilsher-Mills are joined by celebrity guest judge, the poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Sky Arts will invest £700,000 in public art over the course of the series, with £250,000 dedicated to the final piece. This covers materials, artist fees and maintaining the regional and national landmarks for years to come.
To mark the launch of the series, research undertaken by Sky Arts found three quarters of UK adults think famous outdoor artwork is a great way to put a place on the map. However, 59 per cent say there isn't enough free outdoor
artwork within 10 miles of where they live.
