Title: `Oh Beautiful World` Artist: Eleanor Lakelin Date of Work: 2020 Medium: sculpture: burred horse chestnut Dimensions: h 1310 x d 470 mm   Caption: On leaving Reading Gaol in 1897 Oscar Wilde declared `Oh Beautiful World`. Using timber from trees that had stood by the Gaol since Wilde`s time Lakelin made a sculpture that is as enigmatic as Wilde`s words. It refers to his love of Beauty and Classicism and, being made from an endangered species in a time of great uncertainty, it also speaks of human fragility and resilience. It was the first Contemporary Art Society Rapid Response Fund commission made during the pandemic.   Object Number: 2020.90.1 Acknowledgements: Presented by the Contemporary Art Society, 2020/21, supported by Reading Foundation for Art Copyright: Image: Reading Borough Council/ Intellectual: The artist   Back