Battle of Britain Monument Home THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN LONDON MONUMENT Battle of Britain London Monument
The Battle of Britain London Monument "Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed
by so many to so few
."
Site of Battleof Britain London Monument Work in Progress London Monument Site Drawing of Battle of Britain London Monument
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Monument sculptor

The sculptor for the monument is Paul Day.
Having first studied art at Colchester and then Dartington art schools, Paul Day completed his training at Cheltenham in 1991. It was there that he turned his attention from painting to sculpture and where he first started to explore the representation of the figure in architectural space using high relief, an art form that combines drawn composition and fully rounded sculpture.

Upon finishing his education Day began working professionally at once, aided by a grant from the Prince of Wales Business Trust. There followed a commission from the Gloucestershire authoress Jilly Cooper to make a large scale relief-sculpture for her home. This, coupled with a commercially successful show at the Cheltenham Museum Art Gallery, enabled Day to move to France and establish a base there for himself and his French wife.

Since then, Day has developed a form of art singularly difficult to categorise in terms of contemporary artistic idioms. His high relief sculptures in terracotta, resin and bronze depicting all manner of subjects, have been exhibited widely in Europe and are appreciated not least for their peculiarly personal approach to perspective. His exhibitions attract considerable interest from both the public and media alike; his Paris Exhibition in 2000 had over 8000 visitors and another in the Brussels the following year, 5000. This appeal of an artist who is unquestionably of his time but whose work links up with a long standing tradition is rare. Day has replaced the themes of Urbanity and the City at the heart of his artistic practice and, in order to represent them, has elaborated a 'perspective of subjectivity'. Early on, his work attracted the attention of the Pompidou Centre's architectural curator and a collaborative relationship has sprung up between the two, leading to various events and exhibitions.

Since his first solo show in Paris in 1995, Paul Day has undertaken many commissions and exhibitions in France, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Perhaps the most notable of these to date is the 25 metre long terracotta frieze recently commissioned by the Royal St Hubert galleries. 'Brussels - an urban comedy' depicts life in the Capital City of Europe with acidity. The continuous image of juxtapositions and fusions, like a contemporary Bayeaux Tapestry, has captured the spirit of the place and contains a language for the initiated that addresses many of the complexities in Brussels' recent past.

It is due to an exhibition at the Foundation 'Sculpture at Goodwood' in 2001 that Paul Day was selected to compete in the competition for a monument to the Battle of Britain and for which he was chosen. This will be his first public monument to be sited in Britain.

Click here for a interview with Paul Day

The sculptor's vision and ideas behind the monument

Description of the monument scenes by Paul Day

Click here to go directly to the Sculptor's web site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle of Britain Monument