The Wild Table of Love

I had to visit Bart's Hospital today for more treatment for my osteoarthritis (this time in the hip!) and walked over to St Paul's Cathedral afterwards via Paternoster Square - which is where I came across The Wild Table of Love

The Wild Table of Love in Paternoster Square, City of London

The Wild Table of Love

I came home and looked it up on the Internet. You can read more about it on this page on the website of Gillie and Marc who created this extremely large bronze sculpture.

This public sculpture experience is an invitation to join the best banquet in the world. Expertly crafted in bronze, the table is set and the animals are already tucking in, all that is left is for the public to take their seats.

Rabbitwoman and Dogman, the internationally beloved hybrid characters who have travelled the world spreading messages of love, acceptance, and adventure, play host to the party. They sit at a huge banquet table, six metres long, adorned with some of the most delectable foods imaginable. Their guests; ten of the world's most endangered animals. Rabbitwoman and Dogman have opened their table to the animals as a symbol of love and support, welcoming them into their family and promising to protect them in every way they can.

The Animals
The ten endangered animals include; a hippo, Masai giraffe, African elephant, Bengal tiger, koala, chimpanzee, Grevy’s zebra, Northern white rhino, lion, and mountain gorilla. They have each been invited to the table as representatives of some of the best-known species in the world. And yet they all are dangerously close to the same threat, extinction.

A closer look

Copyright Making A Mark Publications

Another perspective

Gillie and Marc - creators of public art

Gillie and Marc Schattner are an Australian collaborative artist couple. This is what it says about them on their website.

Gillie and Marc have been called “the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s History” by the New York Times. Creating some of the world’s most innovative public sculptures, Gillie and Marc are redefining what public art should be, spreading messages of love, equality, and conservation around the world. Their highly coveted sculptures and paintings can be seen in art galleries and public sites in over 250 cities. They’re Archibald Prize Finalists and have won the Chianciano Biennale in Italy, together with winning 2 years in a row People’s Choice Award in Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea, among many other notable awards and accolades.

You can follow Gillie and Marc on 

• https://gillieandmarc.art/
• https://www.facebook.com/gillieandmarc and 
• https://www.instagram.com/gillieandmarcart/ 

Copyright Making A Mark Publications

By way of counterbalance - Jerry Salt said....

Jerry Saltz - the art critic , who won a Pulitzer Prize for Art criticism in 2018 - wrote about a work they created in 2018 in an article in Vulture titled The New Astor Place Rhino Sculpture Is a Kitschy Monstrosity - and below are some extracts which articulate his feelings further

It is an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap. Thank goodness this crap is only temporary.

The artists may be ditzy and clueless when it comes to sculpture, but their hearts are in the right place.

The sculpture is bad burlesque recklessness, a travesty that theatricalizes calamity.

As an art critic, I also feel compelled to add that if you like the sculpture, I’m afraid it means that you have pretty bad taste.

I'm not quite sure where my feelings lie. I much confess that although I found it interesting I'm also glad it's only temporary!