Doesn’t its striking red colour immediately grab your attention? We’re standing before the Head in the Wind sculpture here on Greenwich Peninsula. This impressive artwork is by Allen Jones RA.
Allen Jones is one of Britain’s most distinguished Pop artists. He was commissioned to create this site-specific piece. The artwork was inspired by The Tide.
Unlike most public sculptures the Head in the Wind is designed to be viewed from the ground and from above. It invites viewers to interact with the sculpture from a whole new perspective.
The Head in the Wind shares its name with an earlier piece Jones made 60 years ago. He was a student in London back then. Jones has found fame as a British pop pioneer during the intervening decades. Stanley Kubrick admired him. He also worked in New York. Jones believes Head in the Wind bookends his career.
Jones recalls his childhood memories of London. His family lived in west London in Ealing. He remembers the guns firing in the park during World War II. They had an anti-aircraft emplacement there. Canadian soldiers billeted in his house. They would leave their Enfield rifles in the hallway. Those guns were taller than him.
For birthdays they would go into the city. They took the underground from Ealing Broadway to Marble Arch. It was a glamorous place. His parents also took him to museums. They weren’t very interested in the arts. But they realised he had a talent for drawing. So they would go to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.
Jones moved to New York soon after graduating from college. He lived in the Chelsea Hotel. He remembers going ice skating in Central Park with Roy Lichtenstein. New York was the center of the art world back then. Going to New York was important. It was the place where you could test yourself.
Later Stanley Kubrick tried to commission Jones’s works for his film A Clockwork Orange. Jones offered to design something for them. But that didn’t work out. Kubrick thought he’d do the work for a credit but no monetary fee.
The primary thing about the Head in the Wind location is its accessibility. Some people live with it outside their apartment or office window. Passers-by might catch just a fleeting glance. To have something that would have some meaning from a distance helped establish the work’s size.
Cimolai worked with the artist in the moulding and fabrication of the sculpture. This vibrant red painted-steel piece encourages interaction. Visitors and residents alike observe it from all available angles. This gives different perspectives on this huge artwork. You can find Head in the Wind near the O2 Entertainment complex and the River Thames.
Jones says that artworks can be a bit like children. They’re yours. But they grow up and become their own entities. It is a fitting sentiment for this piece. The Head in the Wind stands tall offering different perspectives to everyone who passes by.