Above is "Kristina" (2022), a sculpture by the artist Mark Jenkins that's on display in London's Laz Emporium gallery. Visible in the gallery window, the sculpture freaked out a passer-by so much that they called police who forced their way into the locked gallery. From Artnet:
"[Gallery employee] Hannah [Blakemore], who was working in the gallery that day, had just locked up and gone upstairs to make a cup of tea,"
Lazarides said in a statement. "She came down to find the door off its hinges and two confused police officers!" […]
- image: Mark Jenkins via Laz Emporium
She said they told her that "somebody reported that the woman here has not been moving for the last two hours" and that the officers assumed the figure had "a heart attack or she's overdosed."
The sculpture, which can be seen publicly through the gallery's window, has surprised people before. When the work appeared at London art and design fair Decorex in October, paramedics were called, according to Blakemore.
Blakemore said the officers lectured her about having such a realistic figurative sculpture on display.
More posts about Mark Jenkins here.
