PRESS RELEASE

A public sculpture in place from November 2005

In his work Graham Fagen harnesses and investigates the metaphorical power of plants and flowers by uncovering their intricately inscribed social and cultural codes. With True Love, a new public sculpture, Fagen also uncovers some of the codes inscribed within the practice of public art.

True Love takes the form of a bronze replica of a buddleia plant, attached to the roof of 46 Brooksby’s Walk in Homerton, East London. At a distance the sculpture is indistinguishable from a real weed and as such is at once sensational and utterly banal. Unbothered by wind or the seasons, the weed stands resolutely still and preposterously proud. Made of bronze, the stuff of monumental sculpture, True Love is at once a (questionably) generous gift to the community, in the tradition of municipal public sculpture, and an enigmatic, portentous symbol of the intensive, large-scale regeneration projects sweeping through this part of East London.

Graham Fagen lives and works in Glasgow. His recent projects include Clean Hands, Pure Heart, a major installation and book commissioned by Tramway, Glasgow (2005) and solo exhibitions at CRAC, Alsace (2004/05); Nuova Icona, Venice (2004); and Chapter, Cardiff (2003). Recent group exhibitions include Art of the Garden, Tate Britain, London (2004) and Zenomap, 50th Venice
Biennale (2003).