Ever since the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square became the location in 1999 for a succession of temporary artworks, many of which have conveyed a progressive political message, it’s been the source of controversy and outrage. Among its most infamous installations have been a marble torso-bust of an artist born with no arms and shortened legs, and a memorial which consisted of plaster casts of 726 trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people. In the wake of that work comes Lady in Blue, the creation of the black American artist Tschabalala Self.

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The ten-feet tall bronze statue presents onlookers with a representation of a curvaceous, exaggeratedly muscular black woman in a capacious sky-blue dress bowling along confidently. As the plaque below the conspicuous structure explains: ‘She is not an idol to revere or a historic figurehead to commemorate. She is a woman striding forward into our collective future with ambition and purpose. She is a Londoner, who represents the city’s spirit.’

While the London mayor’s press office called it ‘a symbol of confidence and purpose’ upon the occasion of its official unveiling last........

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