Chu Foon sculpture overgrown with weeds

The art community is distressed by the neglect of Pat Chu Foon's sculpture Aspiration.

The six-figure, once-painted sculpture, also known as Man and Industrialisation, stands at the northwestern corner of the former LJ Williams carpark on the corner of New and St Vincent Streets, Port of Spain, where it was installed in 1976.

The sculpture, once accented with a bed of ixora, is now over grown and entangled with various weeds and litter which have covered more than half of its height and is inching closer to the powerlines above.

The privately owned carpark is maintained separately from the statue, but the public can access the statue by a pedestrian entrance on St Vincent Street. The building was for sale, but was recently sold.

Artist Jackie Hinkson said it is a shame for public artwork, and especially embarrassing as artists have little control over their work, especially if they are dead. He said he is not surprised, as this is consistent with the treatment of fine art.

Hinkson also said, "If it can happen to one, it can happen with many."

Mark Pereira of 101 Gallery said, "This is just another example of the country being devoid of pride."

Chu Foon described his sculpture as "cast stone and metal sculpture on a bedrock base depicting a family of man aspiring to social and industrial universality".

Born in Port of Spain, Chu Foon (1932-98), he received a scholarship to study at the University of the Americas, where he did a BA in fine and applied arts in 1967. He studied sculpture further at the Universidad Nacional de Mexico.

On his return to TT in 1968, Chu Foon joined the Ministry of Culture as a teacher and later became a cultural officer at the ministry. He acted as director of culture from 1981-4 and was a cultural officer from 1984 until he retired from the ministry in 1988.

In 1983 he was awarded the Hummingbird Medal.

Chu Foon was also a painter.

His commissions include public sculptures such as the original Gandhi statue in Kew Place, Port of Spain; Tribute to the Steelband Movement near Columbus Square; boxer Claude Noel at ISCOTT, Point Lisas; the Spirit of Hope; Mother and Child; one at the Jean Pierre Complex commissioned for the Fifth World Netball Series; and Lord Kitchener at the Roxy Roundabout.