King of Kings
Agnes Jones
King of Kings
Agnes Jones
Reference
SAS0158_001
Year
2020
Dimensions (cm)
Height: 300
Length: 400
Depth: 50
Length: 400
Depth: 50
Materials
Steel
Current Location
Mount Florida Studios, Glasgow
Suitable Locations for the Work
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Floor-based
- Freestanding
- On a plinth
Background, history, commissioner of the work
These are four pieces commissioned by the Office of National Works for an exhibition in Dublin where 25 artists responded to the work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. It was shown partly in the Dublin Castle and partly in the Casino Marino, a building commissioned by James Caulfeild, Earl of Charlemont, who was briefly Piranesi’s patron. The show was due to be in 2020 but was postponed to 2022 and has recently closed.
Thematic/contextual information
These four sculptures intended to recreate a Piranesi scene in 3D. Referencing the poem Ozymadias by Shelley, particularly the line “Look at my works, ye mighty, and despair” I made sculptures of four pieces left by a ruined Kingdom, each with symbolic meaning. A broken column shows a life cut short, the column capital fallen, a half submerged upside-down bust, and the feet of a colossal sculpture. Together, they describe a lost kingdom, and the viewer can walk around a giant print.