Kate Moss in solid gold unveiled in British Museum in London

Oct 2, 2008, 11:19 GMT

British artist Marc Quinn\'s solid gold sculpture of British supermodel Kate Moss at the British Museum in London, Britain, 02 October 2008. Quinn\'s 50kg solid gold statue of Moss in yogic pose was unveiled to the public for the first time 02 October. Siren, a GBP1.5 million (1.9 million Euros) solid gold sculpture, is one of several contemporary sculptures in the exhibition Statuephilia. EPA/ANDY RAIN

London - A solid gold sculpture of British top model Kate Moss went on public display in the august surroundings of the British Museum in London Thursday alongside statues of ancient Greek beauties and works of modern art.

The 50-kilogram-statue, entitled Siren, was created by contemporary British artist Marc Quinn and is believed to be the largest gold statue made since the time of ancient Egypt.

The work, worth 1.5 million pounds (2.7 million dollars) is one of several contemporary sculptures in the exhibition Statuephilia, which is spread throughout the different galleries of the museum and placed among items from its permanent collection.

Described by the museum as an 'Aphrodite of our times', the golden Moss can be admired in the museum's Nereid Gallery, alongside its statues of famous Greek beauties.

Moss, 34, has been at the top of the international fashion business since she was spotted by a London model agency at the age of 14.

'I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who's the ideal beauty of the moment. But even Kate Moss doesn't live up to the image,' Quinn said of his creation Thursday.

Also a part of Statuephilia:

Damien Hirst will commandeer the historic wall cases of the Enlightenment Gallery and fill them with 200 specially created skulls. The resulting work, Cornucopia, will address Hirst’s perennial fascination with death, while also commenting on the very legitimacy of collection and display. These objects are the first of their kind for Hirst, and will premiere at the British Museum.

Antony Gormley’s Case for an Angel I – a precursor to his most celebrated public sculpture, Angel of the North – will fill the entire Front Hall of the Museum. Raised high on a plinth, and boasting a 9-metre wingspan, it is itself monumental, and will provide clear links with the Egyptian, Assyrian and Classical statuary that the Museum holds in abundance, and inspired Gormley to become a sculptor in the first place.  Antony Gormley is a Trustee of the British Museum.

Ron Mueck will show Mask II, his widely exhibited sleeping Self-Portrait, in the heart of the ‘Living and Dying: Wellcome Trust Gallery’ with the Museum’s monumental Maoi. The giant head, lying on its side, brings to mind Easter Island’s mysterious history, only recently solved after two centuries of speculation.

Noble and Webster have sculpted an entirely new phantasmagoric silhouette work inspired by the surroundings of the Museum’s world-renowned Egyptian Sculpture Gallery. “The work is assembled from our collection of naturally mummified animal parts, tiny little creatures teased and tortured by our feral farmyard cat, that when assembled will cast a shadow of our profiles onto the walls of the ancient Egyptian galleries”.

4 October 2008 – 25 January 2009
Across the Museum
Admission free