Visitors in attendance at this year’s Manchester Art Fair Preview were left seeing double as the Mayor of Greater Manchester stood alongside a bronze bust created in his name.
The sculpture, which sees every fine detail of the Mayor captured in cast iron form, is the work of acclaimed artist Anthony D Padgett, and designed to address the representational imbalance of political leaders in national art collections.
It took the Morecambe based artist over 40 hours to create and weighs 18kg.
Speaking at the unveiling, the Greater Manchester Mayor said: “I’m a little lost for words, which doesn’t always happen, but I am, because it’s quite a thing to be confronted with a piece as powerful. It’s quite an emotional reaction to it in some ways. It’s a strange thing to come face-to-face with. I look very intense, like Everton has gone one nil down in the Merseyside Derby is what I look like.”
Adding on what it means to him, the Mayor said: “I’m truly honoured by what Anthony has done. No one has ever approached me with anything like this before and it was something that moved me quite a lot when he said he wanted to do it, and the reasons why he wanted to do it.
“To see the finished thing…the way Anthony puts it, as an artist of the North doing something on me, who has tried to dedicate my career to the North of England, it kind of matters. That partnership between us both spoke to me a little bit, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to do it”
The Strong Agency was delighted to lead the communication around the unveiling, working with all parties to ensure a successful launch. Effectively navigating a number of complexities, extensive national and regional coverage was enjoyed including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The i Paper, LBC, Global Media, Manchester Evening News, About Manchester and Manchester World.
It was complemented by wider nationwide event coverage including aspirational titles Marie Claire and i Weekend. Work to collate all coverage is ongoing with over 85 features captured. All featured in the client’s core target media.
Speaking on the decision to unveil the work at Manchester Art Fair, the Mayor said: “This [Manchester Art Fair] is an amazing event, walking in at the opening and seeing the crowds coming in and wandering around. What an incredible celebration of Northern art. To be at such a prestigious event, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
The Strong Agency is proud to offer extensive expertise in art and cultural PR. For further details on our work with Manchester Art Fair, one of the UK’s largest and most significant art fairs, see our case study, found under Strong Work.