The artists between them represented a snapshot of current contemporary art practice and demonstrated the limitless range of sculptural thinking in the 21st century, from the urban, architectural works of Daniel Buren, the magic realism of Christopher Le Brun, Richard Deacon's monumental organic abstractions, Rachel Whiteread's emotional preservations of places, objects and spaces and finally Mark Wallinger's conceptual works that offer a commentary on the politics of identity.
In creating their proposals for the landmark, each artist became fascinated with the site's historical identity - the communities that have passed through and settled at Springhead over thousands of years, as well as the industrial importance of North Kent. The spectacular, sweeping Ebbsfleet Valley landscape also inspired and challenged them in equal measure. The outcome of this process was five important new sculptures.
Claire Owen, Curator, Futurecity