Viewers of the latest public artwork on Sidmouth’s billboard wallspace at The Ham would be forgiven for thinking there is some mistake – the picture is clearly upside down.
But there is a reason for that; the billboard depicts Sidmouth’s namesake location ‘down under’.
Artist David Shrigley OBE, who created the image, said: “Our Sidmouth is not the only Sidmouth. There is another Sidmouth in Tasmania, Australia. This other Sidmouth is rather smaller than ours; just a truck-stop and not much else.”
Passer-by Martin McInerney (pictured) remarked on the overturned image, saying: “It’s upside down!” On hearing that it is ‘the other Sidmouth’ he said: “'Well I have been there!' I travelled with my wife around the world in 1991.”
Louise Cole, director of Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, said: “The latest artwork, Another Sidmouth, is surprising and intriguing, stimulating our creative curiosity to see things from different perspectives, make new connections and yes - to have some fun.
“Martin’s coincidence is a brilliant testimony to that!”
The Sidmouth Wallspace project is a collaboration between Sidmouth School of Art, the Coastal Community Hub and David Shrigley, supported by Arts Council England and Sidmouth Town Council.
This is the fifth exhibit on the billboard and the first to feature David Shrigley’s own work.
Previous exhibits have featured work by students at Sidmouth College and Sidmouth Photographic Club.
The first display was a collection of self-portraits by the college students, depicting their feelings about the pandemic and lockdowns. Another exhibition featured photos showing architectural details of buildings around the town, and the last display was a montage of images representing Sidmouth beach and seafront.
Louise Cole said: “Sidmouth School of Art is about creativity and wellbeing through art and culture.
“Each billboard has a process behind it, working with artists and young people or local groups to build confidence, create an open access platform for public art and share skills.
“This is because we value that; encouraging and engaging with art and our creative selves is a path to wellbeing and happiness.”
All the exhibitions can be seen on the project website, and there is a series of new billboard artwork projects in the pipeline
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