The northeast has its “Angel of the North”, Somerset its “Wicker Man” and Saltash its modern Celtic cross. Lawrence House now has its own modern public artwork “P’s & Q’s”.
The sculpture has been loaned by the 1992 Turner Prize winning sculptor (when he beat, amongst others, Damien Hirst) former pupil of Launceston College, Grenville Davey, who is now based in Essex. He has exhibited all over the world and has been involved in prestige projects combining public art, architecture and design.
As an artist, Professor Davey is very interested in industrial processes and the craft of manufacture: the sculpture’s title comes from the printing industry (one of the many possible origins of the expression “Mind your p’s and q’s”) and is made from metal and timber.
Of the sculpture, the artist himself says it “does not move and all the letters are welded. The wooden handle suggests that it relates to the body and may move but it is held fast in an incomprehensible jumble. The spike through the centre is a woodworker’s clamp and it also holds a twisted metal bar which suggests the possibility of movement.”
Come and see the sculpture for yourself and make up your own mind.