Royal Academy Dumps

On a trip to see his work in situ, he came across the slate slab and the tiny piece of wood that supported the sculpture, but the macabre countenance was nowhere to be seen. That, the Royal Academy said, was because the artist had submitted the two components separately and the judges had simply preferred the plinth to the head. As a spokeswoman for the academy said yesterday: "The base was thought to have merit and accepted; it is currently on display. The head has been safely stored ready to be collected by the artist. "I've seen the funny side" David Hensel, "but I've also seen the philosophical side ... It shows up not just the tastes of the selectors but also their unawareness," he said. Warming to his theme, he added: "Probably because I'm so old I'm contemplating death, I wanted to make something with total dark laughter but also a kind of horror, which it has from one angle." For the full story - click the title Irish Art