Freddie
BUTT loves figurative art. Especially Czech sculptress Irena Sedlecka's bronze statue — made at the height of her powers — of Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium during Queen's Live Aid show in 1985. The statue, which is almost 10 feet tall, is seen here looking out on Lake Geneva. Artist Aleksandra Mir would like to see him back in the UK and has created a proposal, 'Freddie on the Plinth', to bring him back.
Originally from Pilsen in the Czech Republic (‘Good beer is coming from there…’), Sedlecka had made several works in a socialist realist style before fleeing the Communist regime for England in 1966. It was in London that she received the commission from the remaining members of Queen and the executors of Mercury’s estate to create a larger-than-life memorial to the rock star after his death in 1991. Back then, the statue was sadly rejected by Westminster Council, but did find a home in Montreux, Switzerland (where Freddie had escaped to avoid the paparazzi and record in the band’s studio).
‘Freddie on the Plinth’ is an independent, unsolicited proposal by artist Aleksandra Mir to borrow the statue from its current home, and place it on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square for one year. Sign the online petition to bring Freddie back.