Thomas J Price's Tallest Sculpture Rises Outside London's V&A East

"A Place Beyond jives with Price's established style. Once again, the woman he's immortalized in timeless bronze isn't a real person, but a mash-up of found images, 3D scans, and the artist's own observations. She wears a quotidian ensemble-another one of Price's calling cards. Her demeanor is casual, her form unidealized. Like this, Price aims to critique classical sculpture and confound, or perhaps expose, viewer biases."

"Price grew up in London, and works out of east London-the gritty, gentrifying neighborhood where the V&A East is situated. A Place Beyond marks his fourth sculpture in the area: Reaching Out appeared on the Line, London's first public art trail, in 2013, followed by Network in 2020 and Warm Shores, installed outside Hackney Town Hall since June 2022."

"A Place Beyond features the sole figure not staring at hers. Its title seems to reference getting offline and out into the real world-or, in this case, the art world. This latest installment follows Price's U.S. outing last year, when he landed another large sculpture in Times Square in New York."

Thomas J Price has created A Place Beyond, his largest sculpture at 18 feet tall, installed outside London's V&A East ahead of its April 18 opening. The bronze figure depicts a woman composed from found images, 3D scans, and the artist's observations, wearing casual clothing with an unidealized demeanor. Price's work critiques classical sculpture traditions and exposes viewer biases about representation. The figure notably does not stare at a smartphone, unlike Price's three previous east London sculptures. This marks Price's fourth major installation in the gentrifying neighborhood where V&A East is located, following works in 2013, 2020, and 2022.

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