Artwork 'adopted' by people of Liverpool helps sculptor to major new prize

A major new Liverpool art prize was awarded to the sculptor behind a work "adopted" by the people of Liverpool.

His sculpture, titled ‘Ascension’, will be on display outside Liverpool Parish Church and aims to repurpose a component from Dunn’s previous work in Liverpool to talk about loneliness within society.

Glasgow-born artist Mr Dunn’s sculpture of a single white chair on a plinth is a component from a sculpture that existed on London Road for 27 years. The original piece, known as ‘RAY + JULIE’, was commissioned by the Furniture Resource Centre in 1995, the year Mr Dunn moved to Liverpool, and consisted of two low armless chairs facing each other that were only supposed to be there for six months.

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He said: “We sunk these two chairs in for six months and walked away. They stayed for 27 years." A piece of graffiti on the wall next to the chairs which wrote “Ray + Julie'' gave the name to the piece and gave life to the chairs, with people imagining a couple sitting opposite each other.

Mr Dunn said: "The people of Liverpool adopted these chairs, they’ve inspired songs, there’s a play at the Everyman Theatre about them, the Guardian chose them as one of Britain’s top ten secret sculptures so it became this mythical sculpture.”

After 27 years of the chairs having inspired songs, poetry and theatre as well as being case studies for public art maintenance; RAY and JULIE will now be separated.

Dunn had decommissioned the chairs and then took the opportunity to “create two new art works” by moving RAY to Liverpool Parish Church while JULIE now sits alone on London Road.

The lone chair on a plinth may prompt people to project meanings of loneliness and separation to the sculpture but Mr Dunn is keen to attach a strict meaning to the work.

He said: “I tend not to say this is about X, Y, Z. I just let the people of Liverpool decide what they make of this chair”.

Mr Dunn explained how his simple proposal for the competition of “single chair, make it white, elevate it” took both just 10 minutes and also almost 30 years.

He beat more than 30 other proposed sculpture proposals to win the opportunity to have RAY on display for 12 months in addition to £2,500 in prize money.

Julie Johnson, of Liverpool BID Company which was behind the competition, said: “This was a very competitive field with some incredible talented and visionary artists submitting their work for the prize. The work we have chosen is, we believe, one that is fitting for the first recipient of the Liverpool Sculpture Prize as it tells a rich story and is part of the fabric of the city’s folklore”.

Rector of Liverpool Revd Canon Dr Crispin Pailing MBE said: “Our ambition with the Liverpool Sculpture Prize has been that it creates curiosity and excitement in public and contemporary art … and this prize is designed to provide real support and ambition to promote artists who need it.”

We know RAY and JULIE will spend at least 12 months apart but Mr Dunn is unsure where both chairs will go after that.

He said: Dunn says “We’ve looked at many locations including the dugout at Anfield, by the beach or on the coast maybe. We’re not sure yet, we’ll keep that a secret."

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