King Kong statue
King Kong statue | |
---|---|
Fibreglass | |
Subject | King Kong |
Dimensions | 550 cm (220 in) |
Weight | 890 kg (1,960 lb) |
Owner | Lesley Maby |
A statue of King Kong by
The
History
Birmingham
Modelled on the fictional giant gorilla
The statue is 5.5 metres (18 ft) tall[1] and weighs 890 kg (1,960 lb).[6] It was constructed at the artist's studio at Hungerford.[7] Monro's brief was to make something "city orientated" and he says that he "immediately thought of King Kong".[7]
The statue was displayed in Manzoni Gardens (previously the site of
After the statue had been on display for four months,[2] Birmingham City Council was offered the opportunity to purchase the work at a reduced rate of £2,000,[7][9] but decided not to retain it,[1] and so in September 1972,[2] it was sold for £3,000[10] to a local used-car dealer,[1] Mike Shanley,[11] who changed the name of his dealership to King Kong Car Co.[12] and displayed the statue at his sales lot[1] on the A34 Stratford Road, next to the former Holy Trinity church in the Camp Hill area of the city.[11] While there, it was dressed up as Father Christmas in season, and it also survived a fire in June 1974.[13]
During 1975 it was loaned to
By 1976, the statue had moved to a new location on Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook, close to the Clifton Road junction. It stood at the rear face of the Clifton public house. It was still being used to advertise a King Kong cars dealership at this location[15] and Mike Shanley was still the owner of this business.[2]
Edinburgh
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/King_Kong_statue_by_Nicholas_Monro_at_Ingliston_Edinburgh.jpg/220px-King_Kong_statue_by_Nicholas_Monro_at_Ingliston_Edinburgh.jpg)
In 1976, it was sold for £12,700 to Nigel Maby's Scottish company Spook Erection Ltd[16] and displayed at Ingliston Market in Edinburgh.[1] During that period, it was falsely reported destroyed,[1] and repainted several times, including once in tartan,[16] and, in 2001, in shocking pink.[6] Before removal from Edinburgh on the closure of that market in 2005,[17] the statue suffered damage by vandals to its back, and a broken arm, requiring repair.[6]
Penrith
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Kong_%282%29.jpg/220px-Kong_%282%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/KK-lying-1.jpg/220px-KK-lying-1.jpg)
It was subsequently displayed at Skirsgill Auction Mart, a market site in Penrith,[17] and was still there in January 2011[16] albeit lying down,[17] in a car park near its former position. There were calls for it to be returned to Birmingham,[16] but the owner, Lesley Maby[17] (wife of the late Nigel[17]), refused to sell it.[16]
Leeds
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/King_Kong_statue_-_Leeds_-_Derek_Horton_-_05.jpg/220px-King_Kong_statue_-_Leeds_-_Derek_Horton_-_05.jpg)
In November 2016 the statue, which had been repainted in its original colours, was moved to the
Cumbria
The statue left Leeds on 28 February 2017 and was returned to owner Lesley Maby's garden in Cumbria where it has remained ever since.[2]
2022 recreation
In 2022, a second, 7-metre (23 ft) tall version of the statue was created, with the blessing of members of Monro's family. It was unveiled in a pop-up park on Great Hampton Row in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter in July, to coincide with the Commonwealth Games held in the city.[19] Plans have been submitted for it to be relocated to the Chung Ying Plaza development on Thorp Street in Birmingham's Southside quarter, at a later date.[20]
In media
The comedian and entertainer Victoria Wood wrote a song about the statue, in 1973, as part of her studies at the University of Birmingham. Part of it was broadcast in a 2020 BBC programme about her career.[21]
The music journalist Peter Paphides wrote in his 2020 autobiographical work Broken Greek that his childhood phobias included:[22][23]
worms, biting into mushrooms, insects, the fibreglass King Kong which stood next to a ring road in Birmingham city centre...
Images of the statue feature extensively in the 2020 documentary film King Rocker.[24]
Locations
Point | Coordinates (links to map & photo sources) |
Notes
|
---|---|---|
Manzoni Gardens | 52°28′40″N 1°53′42″W / 52.477682°N 1.895131°W | 10 May 1972 |
King Kong Car Co. (Camp Hill) | 52°28′17″N 1°52′40″W / 52.471475°N 1.877836°W | September 1972 |
Birmingham School of Architecture | 52°29′15″N 1°53′18″W / 52.4874156°N 1.8883999°W | On Loan - June 1975 |
King Kong Car Co. (Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook) | 52°27′18″N 1°52′39″W / 52.454989°N 1.877578°W | 1976 |
Ingliston Market | 55°56′33″N 3°22′59″W / 55.942555°N 3.382936°W | 1976 |
Skirsgill Auction Mart, Penrith | 54°39′13″N 2°45′59″W / 54.653538°N 2.766318°W | standing location - April 2008 |
Skirsgill Auction Mart, Penrith | 54°39′07″N 2°46′01″W / 54.651820°N 2.766822°W | recumbent location - January 2011 |
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds | 53°48′00″N 1°32′51″W / 53.7999301°N 1.5475642°W | November 2016 |
Cumbria | Current location - February 2017 |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-85323-682-8.
- ^ ISSN 1366-2724.
- ^ a b c "City Sculpture Projects 1972". Henry Moore Foundation. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
- ^ "University of Warwick Art Collection - Artists - Nicholas Monro". University of Warwick. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ISBN 0-902063-09-X.)
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ a b c Anon (4 October 2005). Edinburgh Evening News.
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(help) - ^ a b c Radio Birmingham interview with Munro, 11 May 1972, transcribed in part in Towers, Alan (July–August 1972). "Birmingham: Nicholas Munro". Studio International. 184 (946): 18.
- ^ "The Two Building Workers Staging Their Sit Down Demonstration On The Stock Photo, Royalty Free Image: 20204860 - Alamy". Almay. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ Everitt, Anthony (28 August 1972). "Is a gorilla a bargain at £1 a lb?". Birmingham Post.
- ^ Varma, Anuji (23 January 2011). "We reveal what happened to Birmingham's iconic King Kong statue". Birmingham Mail.
- ^ ATV Midlands. Archived from the originalon 9 April 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ "Nicholas Monro". Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Baking Kong". Birmingham Post. 1 July 1974.
- ^ "King Kong becomes festival VIP". Birmingham Post. 30 June 1975.
- ^ King Kong at this location can be seen in the second episode of the first series of the BBC TV series 'Gangsters'. 21 minutes into this episode, one of the characters is shown walking down Ladypool Road passing King Kong Kars Ko and the statue of King Kong.
- ^ a b c d e "King Kong statue could be heading back to Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ^ Cumberland News. 28 January 2011. Archived from the originalon 24 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Gallery discussion - City Sculpture Projects 1972". Henry Moore Foundation. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
- ^ "King Kong returns to Birmingham after 50 years". BBC News. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "King Kong to return to Birmingham for the 2022 Commonwealth Games". Birmingham World. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
- ^ "Episode 1". Victoria Wood: The Secret List. 25 December 2020. BBC Television. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (5 May 2020). "Dave Greenfield: putting beauty at the rotten heart of the Stranglers". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-1529404432.[page needed]
- ^ "TV tonight: the story of Brummie punk Robert Lloyd". The Guardian. 6 February 2021.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Film interview with Monro filmed by ATV in Manzoni Gardens, Birmingham, in 1972
- Birmingham mail article with photos Archived 4 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- Flickr group for pictures of the statue