A Selfie of One’s Own With Virginia Woolf
If you could take a selfie with an author, would it be…Virginia Woolf?
A full-size bronze statue of the 20th-century English writer of classics Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One’s Own has been installed on the banks of the river in Richmond-on-Thames, and passersby are encouraged to, yes, take a selfie with it. This article in the Guardian gives a quick overview of the intent of the piece (“I was keen to show her happy, to challenge the stereotype,” according to someone who organized a fundraiser for the work) as well as initial objections to its placement near the river given that Woolf died by drowning.
This is what sculptor Laury Dizengremel says: “There are so few women represented in sculpture…I find it quite remarkable that [Woolf] will be situated where so many people will walk past, where so many women and girls will be inspired.”
Public art depicting and honoring individuals can sometimes be a tricky proposition (see: Civil War-era sculptures). What this article does, however, is share a bit about how contemporary artists are exploring and playing with the notion of interpreting another artist (albeit one who uses words, not bronze) and his or her work with the public in an accessible and informative way. (Shout out to a quick bit about Dublin and how Dubliners “enjoy a particular rapport with their authors’ statues” of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and WB Yeats.)
Great quote in the piece: “Like [Woolf sculptor] Dizengremel and many modern sculptors, [Lucy] Branch [author, bronze-restorer, and host of the podcast Sculpture Vulture] is a fan of relatable heroes without pedestals.” It’s bringing a different entry point or level of accessibility to an important writer…love that.
originally published on instagram