A 4-meter bronze statue signed by Thomas J Price in the Piazza della Signoria

From March 14, the artist arrives in Florence and will also be featured in a major exhibition at Palazzo Vecchio

A 'celebration of the ordinary' by world-famous British artist Thomas J Price, who will bring a giant bronze of a woman to Piazza della Signoria, is being staged in Florence in March. Here all the artists who have left their mark on the square. Through Price's works we reflect on the power, representation, interpretation and perception of the individual in art as well as in society. By making enormous common images, Price brings our gaze to the ordinary represented on a grand scale or with noble materials that we are not used to associating with the everyday, the ordinary. In doing so, his sculpture unhinges those social preconceptions that have a centuries-long history and that lead us to associate certain shapes, sizes and materials with power, according to a hierarchical logic that we have not established.

Thomas J Price ©Thomas J Price, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Ollie Adegboye

“By monumentalizing the ordinary we are able to critique what we consider important, what we consider valuable within our communities, and what we collectively choose to give public space to. I want my sculptures to immediately connect with the viewer and interrupt how we construct a narrative for someone else, how our perceptions develop and our attitudes toward representation,” the artist says.

Installation view, Rotterdam Centraal, Rotterdam, 2023 Photo: Jannes Linders ©2023 Jannes Linders (creditline mandatory)

The works become vehicles for highlighting the intrinsic value of the individual, subverting hierarchical structures. The works, inspired by diverse sources, are developed through a hybrid approach between traditional sculpture and intuitive digital technology. Thomas J Price's research in fact crosses various disciplines, from film to photography, but sculpture is the British artist's favorite field.

The exhibition designed for the rooms of Palazzo Vecchio will feature sculptural works of varying scales set within the permanent collection of the civic museum. Central to the exhibition are the two outdoor bronzes, one in the courtyard of the Museo Novecento and a 3.6-meter-high gilded sculpture that dialogues with historical works in Piazza della Signoria.