Today marks the Election Artists Launch in Parliament, which will celebrate stories and individuals who were present in the historic 2019 General Election.
Nicky Hirst - the Official Election Artist of the 2019 General Election – this morning unveiled her final piece, a brightly coloured suspended sculpture, which will now hang in the atrium of Portcullis House in Parliament.
The Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art has commissioned an election artist for each general election since 2001, with the resulting artwork being acquired for the Parliamentary Art Collection.
The latest addition by Hirst, entitled There Was A Time 2019-20, is the result of the artist’s election experience as she followed the campaign trail and attended related events such as hustings and manifesto launches. The sculpture is intended to represent the “carousel” of stories and people at the election, and the 64 colourful shapes reflects politicians and voters, and to celebrate the diversity of the election.
In his capacity as Chairman of the Works of Art Committee, Dean said, "I am very proud to have been elected as Chairman of this important committee which will celebrate key people who contributed to public life between 2019/20. The artwork captures the class of MP's from 2019 which have been labelled as the most diverse so far. The work celebrates and captures this using shape, movement, and colour.
"The colours reference the branding of all the 2019 political parties. Each figure is either one solid colour or a combination of colours. They represent data and analysis which was gathered during the election cycle and will subtly shift, drift, spin, disappear and reappear. Considerable care was taken to ensure there was political neutrality, with the committee ensuring no piece of artwork was accepted if this wasn't the case. I am looking forward to future work being considered by the committee, with a real focus on engagement with constituents."
