Equestrian Statue was made in 2015 during Jesse Darling's residency at Wysing Arts Centre in South Cambridgeshire. Constructed from bent pieces of steel rod, metal chain and a set of found, used pram or toy wheels, its first appearance is one of abandonment. Placed on a low-level plinth, Equestrian Statue ironically challenges the historical tradition of celebrating (usually male) military or political leaders and achievers in monumental public statues of bronze or marble, elevated from the street on high plinths – such as Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. In contrast to these historical sculptures erected to symbolise power (almost always patriarchal power), Darling's sculpture shaped into a small horse, has the pathos and vulnerability of a broken child's toy.
The forlorn rough appearance and unfinished state of Equestrian Statue contrasts with the more familiar heroic representations of leaders and rulers. This work is part of the artist's ongoing investigation into institutional structures of power. The simplicity of its form and its spindly steel frame that has an almost graphic linear appearance recall the stylistic forms of early to mid 20th century European Modernist art, particularly Picasso's sculptures and drawings of animals. Situating this work within the broader consideration of dominant Modernist aesthetics in European and American art, Darling’s practice deftly challenges another kind of power structure, that of the cultural dominance of artists, dealers and tastemakers throughout the history of modern art.
In an interview with Tate in 2018, Darling commented on the revisited themes in his work: I think the consistent thread is that everything is connected and everything is vulnerable. The connection engenders violence as well as support. The interconnectedness of things is full of trouble but it’s what there is; nobody gets out of here alive and nothing is too big to fail.
