Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed by Gerry Judah
18/07/2018.
[West Sussex] UK 12.07 > 15.07.2018
metalocus, JUDIT OTERO, ANA MENÉNDEZ
metalocus, JUDIT OTERO, ANA MENÉNDEZ
Annual Festival of Speed at Goodwood House in West Sussex celebrates its 25th anniversary this July. To celebrate the event, the British artist and designer Gerry Judah was commissioned to create the spectacular sculpture of the centerpiece.
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
Porsche Sculpture: Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018. Photograph by David Barbour
The sculpture stands in front of the Goodwood House at 52 meters high, rising above the entire event. Despite the size, as high as the Nelson Column, the sculpture as a whole is incredibly light and supports 6 tons of cars.
This July marks the 25th annual Festival of Speed at Goodwood House in West Sussex.
The Festival of Speed is a major event in the world motorsport calendar, featuring the latest racers, championship drivers and incredible displays of classic cars.
For these 25 years, British artist and designer Gerry Judah, has been commissioned to create the spectacular centrepiece sculpture for the event. This year celebrates 70 years since the Porsche 356 was first introduced in 1948.
The sculpture stands in front of Goodwood House at 52 metres high, towering high above the entire event. One single narrow spine, starting at only 98 millimetres wide on the ground, shoots vertically to explode into seven pointed spindles, on which six iconic Porsches sit dramatically at each end, with the seventh spindle pointing sharply into the sky.
This July marks the 25th annual Festival of Speed at Goodwood House in West Sussex.
The Festival of Speed is a major event in the world motorsport calendar, featuring the latest racers, championship drivers and incredible displays of classic cars.
For these 25 years, British artist and designer Gerry Judah, has been commissioned to create the spectacular centrepiece sculpture for the event. This year celebrates 70 years since the Porsche 356 was first introduced in 1948.
The sculpture stands in front of Goodwood House at 52 metres high, towering high above the entire event. One single narrow spine, starting at only 98 millimetres wide on the ground, shoots vertically to explode into seven pointed spindles, on which six iconic Porsches sit dramatically at each end, with the seventh spindle pointing sharply into the sky.
The cars displayed are as follows:
356 - the first Porsche produced in 1948
917 - an endurance racer as driven by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film “Le Mans”
959 Paris Dakar rally winner from 1987
918 Spyder—a hybrid road car from 2015
919 Le Mans Prototype from 2015
911R— a limited edition road car introduced in 2016 representing the latest in Porsche design.
917 - an endurance racer as driven by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film “Le Mans”
959 Paris Dakar rally winner from 1987
918 Spyder—a hybrid road car from 2015
919 Le Mans Prototype from 2015
911R— a limited edition road car introduced in 2016 representing the latest in Porsche design.
Despite the sheer size—as high as Nelson’s Column—the sculpture as a whole is incredibly lightweight—just 21 tonnes of steel to support 6 tonnes of cars. The geometry is based on a regular truncated octahedron, this shape giving positions to display all six cars, with a stem at the bottom and a spire on top. All parts are hexagonal tapered tubes, giving strength and rigidity, and fabricated entirely from laser-cut steel plate.
Gerry Judah’s installations can be seen in the Imperial War Museum, St Paul’s Cathedral and the India High Commission as well as international locations such as Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and an entrance sculpture outside the Porscheplatz Museum in Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart.
More information
Design
Gerry Judah
Client
Porsche
Engineering
Diales
Fabrication and Installation
Littlehampton Welding
Gerry Judah
Gerry Judah was born in 1951 in Calcutta and grew up there before his family moved to London when he was ten years old.
Judah left Whitefield Secondary Modern School, London in 1969 and worked in a number of jobs from a kitchen porter at Blooms Restaurant, to an architectural draughtsman at T.P Bennett & Son, Richard Seifert & Partners and Douglas Scott – the designer of the Routemaster bus. He then went on to study Foundation Art and Design at Barnet College of Art (1970–1972) before obtaining a degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London (1972–1975) and postgraduate Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (1975–1977).
After college, Judah set up his studio in Shaftesbury Avenue, the centre of theatre in London’s West End. In order to finance his large-scale sculptures, he took casual work around the corner in many theatres as a stage hand, prop maker and scenic artist. This included work at the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Royal Festival Ballet, London Contemporary Dance, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.
Judah was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in London to create a large model of the selection ramp in Auschwitz-Birkenau for the Holocaust Exhibition opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Returning to his fine art beginnings he began to make art born of his reflections on historical and contemporary events, creating a body of large three-dimensional paintings exploring the devastations of war and the ravages man has made upon the environment caused by recent conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East with solo exhibitions: FRONTIERS at the Timber Yard, London in 2005, ANGELS at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London in 2006 and the British High Commission, Delhi in 2007, MOTHERLANDS at the Louise T Blouin Foundation, London in 2007, COUNTRY at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2009, BABYLON at Flowers East Gallery, London in 2009, COUNTRY at the Fitzroy Gallery, New York in 2010, THE CRUSADER at the Imperial War Museum North, Manchester in 2011, BENGAL as part of TIPPING POINT at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2013 and two sculptures in St Paul’s Cathedral, London commemorating 100 years since the beginning of the First World War.
Judah left Whitefield Secondary Modern School, London in 1969 and worked in a number of jobs from a kitchen porter at Blooms Restaurant, to an architectural draughtsman at T.P Bennett & Son, Richard Seifert & Partners and Douglas Scott – the designer of the Routemaster bus. He then went on to study Foundation Art and Design at Barnet College of Art (1970–1972) before obtaining a degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London (1972–1975) and postgraduate Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (1975–1977).
After college, Judah set up his studio in Shaftesbury Avenue, the centre of theatre in London’s West End. In order to finance his large-scale sculptures, he took casual work around the corner in many theatres as a stage hand, prop maker and scenic artist. This included work at the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Royal Festival Ballet, London Contemporary Dance, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.
Judah was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in London to create a large model of the selection ramp in Auschwitz-Birkenau for the Holocaust Exhibition opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Returning to his fine art beginnings he began to make art born of his reflections on historical and contemporary events, creating a body of large three-dimensional paintings exploring the devastations of war and the ravages man has made upon the environment caused by recent conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East with solo exhibitions: FRONTIERS at the Timber Yard, London in 2005, ANGELS at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London in 2006 and the British High Commission, Delhi in 2007, MOTHERLANDS at the Louise T Blouin Foundation, London in 2007, COUNTRY at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2009, BABYLON at Flowers East Gallery, London in 2009, COUNTRY at the Fitzroy Gallery, New York in 2010, THE CRUSADER at the Imperial War Museum North, Manchester in 2011, BENGAL as part of TIPPING POINT at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2013 and two sculptures in St Paul’s Cathedral, London commemorating 100 years since the beginning of the First World War.
