History’s greatest people have long been immortalised in statue form, from Julius Caesar to Admiral Lord Nelson. Now, a Birmingham artist has rendered four of his own city’s men in bronze.
Local artist Tat Vision unveiled a statue of “four lads in jeans” outside Birmingham New Street station on Saturday – in reference to a viral internet meme sparked from a photograph taken a few years ago.
The picture of Kevin Rooney, Alex Lacey, Jamie Phillips and Connor Humpage was taken before they enjoyed a night out in 2019, but went viral the year after.
The photo of the four men clad in skinny jeans and posing awkwardly spawned multiple parodies and even an animation appearing to show them singing a sea shanty.
The artist said he hoped to pay tribute to the four men, “inspired by them Greek statues of old”, though his bronze was put together using mannequins and papier-mache.
“It took me a few weeks, on and off, to make,” Tat Vision told BirminghamLive.
“I used four women mannequins, which I covered in tight-fitting ladies jeans and tops. The heads are made from papier-mache and all of it was painted to have a nice, shiny bronze effect.”
The artist said he was inspired by the much-ridiculed bust of Cristiano Ronaldo and the statue of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and William Murdoch that stands near Birmingham library.
The sculpture was unveiled outside All Bar One in the city, close to the spot where the original picture was taken.
It was built as part of the Birmingham Weekender arts event in the city.
