Artists taking the lead: North West

Anthony McCall with a model of Column, Matthew Andrews 2011

Anthony McCall, Column        

Anthony McCall's Column will form a slender, sinuous, spinning column of cloud rising into the sky from the surface of the water in Merseyside on East Float in the Wirral. 

Column is part of Artists taking the lead, a series of 12 public art commissions across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Arts Council England is delivering the project in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Wales.

Extending upwards as far as the eye can see, and visible on a clear day from up to 100km away, the column will disappear and re-appear in slow structured sequences, punctuating the skyline whilst connecting it with the city and its docks.

Column will see science and art collide to form an ever changing, hypnotic spiral of vapour, visible for miles around. The ambitious piece will measure 20 metres in diameter and will rise from Wirral Waters in Merseyside, standing taller than Blackpool Tower and looking across the water to Liverpool's landmark Liver Building.

This seemingly 'living' artwork will be responsive to both the weather and light conditions that surround it, appearing as a slim white column on a summer's day, as a dark line in overcast skies, and bending according to the winds.

A six foot scale model of the piece was recently unveiled as part of Anthony's solo exhibition at Ambika P3, University of Westminster.

Read more about about Anthony McCall's Column.

Visit Column's website.

About the artist

Working in a zone between sculpture, cinema and drawing, Anthony McCall is well-known for his 'solid-light' installations, a series that began in 1973 with his seminal Line Describing a Cone in which a volumetric form composed of projected light slowly emerged in three-dimensional space. 

Solo exhibitions of Anthony McCall's work have taken place at Centre Pompidou/La Maison Rouge, Paris, 2004; Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, 2004; the Serpentine Gallery, London (2007-8); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2009; as well as with Sean Kelly Gallery in New York, and Galerie Thomas Zander in Cologne.

To find out more about the artist visit Anthony McCall's website.

North West Panel

All of the winning Artists taking the lead projects were selected by a panel of artists and producers.

The North West panel felt that Column would be a landmark project for the Cultural Olympiad and the North West and that it would attract audiences from far and wide. The panel also felt that, through contributing to the regeneration of the area, Column will act as a catalyst for change and like the Games themselves, will create a legacy for the region and the UK.

Read the Artists taking the lead, North West panel biographies.

Visit the Artists taking the lead page to find out about the other projects taking place across the UK.