Tschabalala Self’s Lady in Blue takes its place on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth

A new figure is striding above Trafalgar Square, as Tschabalala Self’s Lady in Blue becomes the latest artwork to take its place on London’s Fourth Plinth.

Unveiled on 10^th September, the bronze sculpture depicts a young metropolitan woman, conceived by the New York artist as a contemporary “everywoman” reflecting the people who move through the capital every day. Rather than commemorating a famous or historical figure, Self wanted to give an everyday Londoner a monumental presence in one of the city’s most prominent public spaces.

The figure wears a vibrant blue painted dress, while her jewellery recreates the colour of lapis lazuli, the rock that has been used as a pigment since antiquity.

“She is not an idol to venerate or a historic figure to commemorate,” Self said. “She is an everyday person much like the many who occupy the square daily.” The artist added that the figure is “striding forward into our collective future with ambition, purpose and optimism”.

Lady in Blue is the 16^th Fourth Plinth commission and succeeds Teresa Margolles’s Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant). Self was selected for the commission in 2024 alongside Andra Ursuţa, whose work will follow in 2028.

The sculpture will also form part of London Sculpture Week later this month, joining public art across the capital from 19^th to 27^th September. Once its time overlooking Trafalgar Square comes to an end, Lady in Blue will move permanently to Fornebu, Norway.

For visitors passing through central London in the meantime, Self’s larger-than-life Londoner offers a new reason to look up.

The editorial unit
Photo: Jeff Spicer