A sculpture by internationally-renowned artist George Rickey has a new home in Queen’s Park - 26 years after it was thought to have gone missing.
The stainless steel kinetic piece - named Three Right Angles Horizontal - was removed from Festival Park on the banks of the River Clyde in June 1994, after just one month on display.
The three large L shapes that make up the sculpture revolve 360 degrees but, after just 24 hours, the decision was made to immobilise the artwork - and with local children then using it as a climbing frame, it was removed within the month.
Rickey, an American who spent much of his childhood in Helensburgh, later worried his sculpture had been smashed up, and the myth that the artwork had been lost started to spread.
In fact, the ‘Triple L’ was in storage in Bellahouston Park, and then moved to a facility in East Kilbride.
A recent audit meant that Glasgow City Council rediscovered its whereabouts, and a survey was launched to find a suitable place for it.
That new home is now Queen’s Park duck pond, allowing it to be shown as it was intended; as a water feature.
The south side pond was fully drained to erect a plinth for the artwork, and the council are now refilling it before removing safety fencing.
Councillor Anna Richardson, City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, thanked George Rickey’s son, Philip, who visited Glasgow in 2019 to help with early work to restore the sculpture.
Councillor Richardson said: “It’s fantastic that this wonderful sculpture is back where it belongs – on show for everyone to see. Queen’s Park is a great location for the Triple L sculpture and I’m sure it will prove a huge amount of enjoyment for all visitors to the park.
“We are very hopeful where it is sited will help address the issues that led to it being placed in storage in the past. 26 years is a long time for the sculpture to out of sight, but everyone involved in the project has done a tremendous job to ensure Triple L can now be seen as was always intended by the artist.
“We are also very grateful to the Rickey family, who have been directly involved in the work to ensure Three Right Angles Horizontal is treated with the care that befits an artist of George Rickey’s stature.”
Three Right Angles Horizontal was part of a major 1982 exhibition, on the year of the artist’s 75th birthday, and more than 50 pieces were shown at the former St Enoch Exhibition Centre. It was originally made of wood, but had to be replaced in 1988 - that version was purchased by the Glasgow District Council in 1991.
Mr Rickey later received a Lord Provost’s Award for Service to the Visual Arts in 1996 before he passed away in 2002, aged 95.
