Now it's Brazil's turn for Gormley's 'suicide statues': Police plagued by calls about rooftop 'jumpers' which are actually art

By Kerry Mcqueeney

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Perched high above the city on the edge of rooftops, they cut despondent and lonely figures as they stare down at the streets below quietly contemplating their fate.

Could these individuals really be considering ending it all by leaping from the top of a building? At least, this was what people in Brazil thought when a controversial art installation was unveiled.

Artist Anthony Gormley's 'suicide statues' have arrived in Sao Paulo and, predictably, the panicked calls to emergency services have already begun with reports of people trying to jump from buildings.

The 31 life-size body cast sculptures have appeared on rooftops in the city as part of the artist's first show in the South American country, being held at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil.

On the edge: A sculpture body cast is seen on top of a building in downtown Sao Paulo. Anthony Gormley's 'Event Horizon' public exhibition uses 31 rooftops

On the edge: A sculpture body cast is seen on top of a building in downtown Sao Paulo. Anthony Gormley's 'Event Horizon' public exhibition uses 31 rooftops

Scare: According to the organisers, when the exhibition began, many people confused the sculptures with potential suicides and reported them to authorities
Scare: According to the organisers, when the exhibition began, many people confused the sculptures with potential suicides and reported them to authorities

Scare: According to the organisers, when the exhibition began, many people confused the sculptures with potential suicides and reported them to authorities

'Suicide statues': Citizens mistook the life-size body cast sculptures, perched on the edges of tall buildings, as despondent people ready to jump

'Suicide statues': Citizens mistook the life-size body cast sculptures, perched on the edges of tall buildings, as despondent people ready to jump

The sculptures have already been labelled 'suicide statues' by the Brazilian media after concerned citizens called the fire service to report a 'person' preparing to jump.

Gormley, the 61-year-old creator of the Angel of the North, uses own body as a model to sculpt his figures. And it would seem his creations are a little too real for some passersby.

Luis Spaziani,director of art programming for the Cultural Centre of Sao Paulo, said: 'Passersby who were in the area where the statues hover over local buildings were so shocked with what they saw that they called the police as well.'

It's not the first time the outdoor exhibition - titled Event Horizon - has caused a stir. It provoked the same panicked reaction when it was exhibited in New York and London.

Art imitating death? Gormley uses his own body as a model to sculpture human bodies and his creations are possible a bit too real for some passersby

Art imitating death? Gormley uses his own body as a model to sculpture human bodies and his creations are possible a bit too real for some passersby

The New York Police Department were forced to issue a statement in 2010 reassuring citizens that the rooftop 'suicide jumpers' were part of an art installation.

And in 2007 London's emergency services received a flurry of frantic 999 calls when the sculptures were exhibited in the capital.

However, the sculptures - made of cast iron and glass fibre - were never intended to look like 'suicide jumpers'.

A previous interview with the artist reveals the project was more about exploring the concept of watching and being watched, with passersby stopping to look up at the imposing figures while at the same time standing under their watchful gaze.

The Turner Prize winner previously said of his exhibit: 'The installation connects the palpable, the perceivable and the imaginable, creating a relational field in which the passer-by as well as the aware viewer is implied in a matrix of looking and being looked at.'

Sculptures on the cityscape: The unveiling of Gormley's exhibition in Brazil sparked a similar reaction when it opened in New York in 2010. The NYPD was forced to issue a statement reassuring citizens the figures were art instead of suicidal jumpers

Sculptures on the cityscape: The unveiling of Gormley's exhibition in Brazil sparked a similar reaction when it opened in New York in 2010. The NYPD was forced to issue a statement reassuring citizens the figures were art instead of suicidal jumpers

Causing a stir: When the artist, who created the Angel of the North, carried out a similar project in London in 2007, the emergency services also received panicked 999 calls

Causing a stir: When the artist, who created the Angel of the North, carried out a similar project in London in 2007, the emergency services also received panicked 999 calls


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