I love “Flight of the Langoustine,” at Hove Plinth, a production of Hove Civic Society. It was created by Pierre Diamantopoulo MRSS. It was inaugurated in September 2023. The location is on the Hove Promenade. This is public sculpture. It’s brilliant as sculpture, and it’s brilliant as a public-driven project to add art to the spaces we inhabit. Funded by public donation.
It is made of four life-size bronze figures flying through a steel grid. It was inspired by a discarded and mangled lobster pot that the artist had found on Brighton beach. In his imagination, the washed-up object that had seemingly helped the lobsters escape, translated itself into a wider story of human exodus and release – a dash for freedom. Diamantopoulo describes the figures as “at once profound, frivolous and boisterous, occupying the air like a flock of birds and inspired by modern dance choreography”. Bronze casting at Milwyn Foundry and fabrication of the steel grid and assembly by Art Fabrications. The sculpture weighs 2.2 tonnes and measures approximately 3.5 metres high and 3 meters wide. (Text from HovePlinth.org.uk)
The sculpture that formerly sat on Hove Plinth has been moved to the grounds of the local museum.
Congratulations Hove Civic Society.