Richard Wilson’s “Hang On A Minute Lads, I’ve Got A Great Idea” gets green light
Turner Prize nomininated sculptor Richard Wilson, best known for his interventions in architectural space which draw heavily on the worlds of engineering and construction, for their inspiration, is to put a bus on the roof of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. The work titled “Hang On A Minute Lads, I’ve Got A Great Idea…” is inspired by the last words spoken by Michael Caine and a homage to the classic 1969 film . The bus in the exhibition will be painted in the British team colours red, white and blue and form part of the London 2012 cultural Olympic commissions.
Comedian/actor Eddie Izzard, Honorary Patron of DLWP, is the principal sponsor of this daring and ambitious artist’s commission. Opening to the public on 7 July 2012, Hang On A Minute Lads, I’ve Got A Great Idea… is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.
Eddie Izzard says:“2012 is the year the Olympics & Paralympic Games return to the United Kingdom and I think this is a perfect time to hang a large bus off the edge of a building ina seaside town. As a huge fan of the classic film “The Italian Job”, I am proud to be the Principal Sponsor of artist Richard Wilson’s ‘Hang On A Minute Lads….’ By the end of 2012 I would hope that the word goes out from our country that not only do we run excellent world events, but also we balance coaches on the edges of buildings like no one else ever could”.
Ruth Mackenzie, Director, Cultural Olympiad & London 2012 Festival, says: “With an amazing programme like the London2012 Festival, I am not allowed
to have favourites, but if I were allowed, this commission would be a favourite.It says everything about the world class ambition and innovation of the UK’s
great artists and arts centres, and as well as being brilliant, it has a quirky humour that is Great as well as British”.
Wilson has exhibited widely nationally and internationally for over thirty years and has made major museum exhibitions and public works in countries as diverse as Japan, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Australia and numerous countries throughout Europe. Wilson has also represented Britain in the Sydney, Sao Paulo, Venice Biennials and Yokohama Triennal, was nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions and was awarded the prestigious DAAD residency in Berlin 1992-3. He was one of a small number of artists invited to create a major public work for The Millennium Dome and the only British artist invited to participate in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2000. Wilson’s seminal installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil, which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection, was described as ‘one of the masterpieces of the modern age’ by the art critic Andrew Graham Dixon in the BBC television series The History of British Art.
Wilson was appointed Visiting Research Professor at the University of East London in 2004 and Richard Wilson by Simon Morrissey was released by Tate Publishing as part of their Tate Modern Artists Book Series in the following year.
The De La Warr Pavilion is a Grade One Listed Modernist icon for contemporary arts on the sea-front in Bexhill on Sea. The magnificent building welcomes over 350, 000 people per year . In 2005 the De La Warr Pavilion received £9 million refurbishment and redevelopment. As well as being one of this country‘s architectural landmarks, it also has an enviable reputation as home to some of the best contemporary art and music on the international circuit today.
Our two beautifully restored galleries have seen exhibitions by artist such as Jeremy Deller, Tomoko Takahashi, Richard Wilson and Susan Collins and group shows that have included work by Grayson Perry, Sam Taylor-Wood, Alex Soth, Willie Docherty, Cindy Sherman and Mark Wallinger to name but a few. Retrospective exhibitions by Twentieth century artists that include Ben Nicholson, Joesph Beuys and John Cage.
The De La Warr Pavilion has developed and supported new commissions from regional artists and international artists. We have commissioned amongst others: Nathan Coley, Catherine Yass, Bridget Smith, Blast Theory.