'Lady in Blue' Divides Opinion as New York Artist's Statue Takes Its Place in Trafalgar Square

A 10 foot bronze sculpture of a young Black woman striding through London has set off a global debate within days of its unveiling, even as the artist behind it insists the work was never meant to please everyone.

Lady in Blue, created by New York based artist Tschabalala Self, went up on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth on 10 September, becoming the 16th work in a public art programme that has run since 1998. The bronze figure, patinated in lapis lazuli blue and dressed in a fitted gown and heels, stands roughly five metres tall and depicts what Self calls a contemporary metropolitan everywoman rather than a specific person. It replaces Mil Veces un Instante, Mexican artist Teresa Margolles's tribute to trans lives, and will remain on display until 2028.

Self has been clear that the piece was not designed as a monument to be revered. Speaking ahead of the unveiling, she said the figure was not an idol or a historic figurehead but a woman many people could relate to. She has also pushed back against readings of the work that centre solely on race, saying she does not want viewers to reduce the figure to identity politics alone.

The reaction has been anything but neutral. British conservative commentators have objected to the statue's placement in a square historically reserved for monarchs and war heroes, framing the choice as another example of what they call performative wokeness. Criticism has also come from some Black women, who argue the sculpture's exaggerated stride and voluptuous figure do not reflect a true representation of Black womanhood. Some social media users have gone as far as generating AI reworkings of the statue to suggest how they believe it should have looked.

Justine Simons, London's deputy mayor for culture, defended the commission, describing it as a bold contemporary sculpture of a confident young woman striding out with purpose. Self herself has said the point of putting the work in public is to invite exactly this kind of reaction, telling one interviewer that the piece needs to be seen to be completed and that she welcomes the feedback it generates.

The commission carries extra weight for Self given what happened to her last major public work in Britain. Her 2022 sculpture Seated, first shown at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross before travelling to the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea, was vandalised, making Lady in Blue her first UK public piece since that incident.

For now, the statue stands. Whether opinion softens before its scheduled departure from the plinth in 2028 remains, like the sculpture itself, a matter of perspective.