Two Liverpool sculptures voted onto list of UK’s top 20 pieces of outdoor artwork

Two sculptures in Liverpool have been voted onto the list of the top 20 pieces of outdoor artwork in the UK.

The ranking was compiled from a nationwide poll conducted by Sky Arts to celebrate the launch of its new series, Landmark.

The channel initially asked 1,000 UK adults to share their favourite pieces of free-to-view outdoor artwork, before the list was whittled down to a top 20 by curator, Clare Lilley, one of Landmark’s expert judges.

Two thousand adults then voted for their favourites.

Sir Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ on Crosby Beach came in sixth, while Taro Chiezo’s instantly recognisable ‘SuperLambanana’ in the city centre ranked 18th.

Top of the list was Ray Lonsdale’s 2014 statue ‘1101’. It’s a 1.2 tonne metal sculpture of a soldier reflecting on the horrors of World War One, located in Seaham, County Durham.

Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ in Crosby consists of 100 life-sized iron figures spread out along three kilometres of coastline.

Each one the ‘iron men’ is a cast of the artist’s own body and stands silently looking out to the horizon line as they stretch out almost one kilometre into the sea.

The installation is now a permanent fixture at Crosby - having previously been seen in Germany, Norway and Belgium - although work is currently underway to clean up the figures meaning a number have been removed for restoration before being returned.

Chiezo’s bright yellow sculpture SuperLambanana was commissioned back in 1998 but remains one of Liverpool’s most popular pieces of artwork.

The Japanese artist said he aimed to “represent both a sense of humour alongside the serious contemporary issue of genetic engineering” when he merged a banana with a lamb.

The eight tonnes, 5.2 metre high SuperLambanana now stands on Tithe Barn Street, but other smaller Lambanana sculptures can be seen throughout the city.

Sky Arts ‘Landmark’ series will help produce a new wave of public art in the UK as the country’s best artists compete for the chance to create a brand-new national landmark.

Top 20 pieces of outdoor artwork:

1. Tommy statue, Ray Lonsdale, Seaham

2. The Kelpies, Andy Scott, Falkirk

3. Uffington White Horse, Unknown, Oxfordshire

4. The Angel of the North, Antony Gormley, Gateshead

5. Women of Steel, Martin Jennings, Sheffield

6. Another Place, Antony Gormley, Crosby Beach

7. Hands and Molecule, David Barnes, Ramsgate

8. The Millennium Sculpture (The Tinnies), Maurice Harron, Strabane

9. Cerne Abbas, Unknown, Dorset

10. Marcus Rashford mural, Akse, Manchester

11. The Scallop, Maggi Hambling, Aldeburgh beach

12. Girl with the Pearl Earring, Banksy, Bristol

13. Bottle of Notes, Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, Middlesbrough

14. Kielder Art & Architecture, Various, Northumberland

15. People Like Us, John Clinch, Cardiff Bay

16. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan, Toby and Gideon Petersen,  Landovery

17. Verity, Damien Hirst, Ilfracombe

18. Superlambanana, Taro Chiezo, Liverpool

19. Conversation Piece, Juan Munoz, South Shields

20. Reaching Out, Thomas J Price, London

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