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Fourth Plinth Awards for Benny boys

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 12th of May 2015

Three Upper Fourth (Year 9) pupils from St Benedict's School in Ealing have won awards in the 2015 Fourth Plinth Schools Awards Competition. Alex Szczech's 'The Pigeon of Trafalgar Square' scooped the Award for Best in the Borough of Ealing while Oscar Llinares-Perales and Jules Dehon with 'Cloud in a Box' have received an award in the 12-15 age category. They received their awards at a ceremony on 30th April and Nicola Bradley also received a prize for being an outstanding Art Teacher. Her award recognised the extraordinary commitment she has shown in helping her students realise their creative vision.

Alex Szczech's work expresses a controversial view of pigeons and banks: 'Banking is a profession which is thought of as important and affluent despite recent controversy, while pigeons are viewed as pests. Through this sculpture I am trying to show that bankers are no better than pigeon food. The pigeon is made of money showing the unnatural state of an organic being which so highly prizes something nonessential and superficial.'

Oscar Llinares-Perales and Jules Dehon tackled a favourite talking point of the British public: the weather: 'Encapsulating an element of the weather in a glass case like a research specimen will provide passers-by in Trafalgar Square with a never ending topic of conversation, encouraging interaction between people who would otherwise be strangers. The artwork also alludes to the ever present internet and the controversy that surrounds 'the Cloud' which seems to be privy to all our darkest secrets and seemingly able to expose them at any moment, creating a sinister juxtaposition to what on the surface is just a casual friendly comment about the weather.'

The Fourth Plinth is an annual competition providing an opportunity for students aged 5-15 to create an artwork inspired by the commissions for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. This year's competition, organised by the Mayor of London in partnership with Cass Art, was judged by award-winning artist Mark Wallinger, who praised young Londoners' creativity: 'The overall quality of the work submitted for the fourth plinth competition was extraordinarily strong. I was quite overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of imagination displayed and the enormous diversity of materials that were used to express the proposals.' The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'The Fourth Plinth Schools Awards are a fantastic way to showcase the artistic talents of young Londoners and give them a chance to connect to the capital's most famous square. A record number of youngsters entered this year and the inventiveness and talent they demonstrated was superb. By bringing some of our most celebrated pieces of contemporary art into schools, I hope we will inspire the next generation to tap into their own creativity.'
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Artwork from the Fourth Plinth Competition will be on display in an exhibition at City Hall from 30th April 3rd July 2015.

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