The Heavy Horse

Glasgow Business Park • 1997

Unveiled in 1997, this sculpture has become one of the best known artworks in the Glasgow area. It is sited on Glasgow Business Park beside the M8 motorway, and stands 4 metres tall at the head. The huge Clydesdale has become synonymous with the city and has been taken to the hearts of the local people in the Easterhouse area.

It is made of welded steel bars which vary from 6 to 20mm in diameter, and is galvanized.

In keeping with many of Andy's commissions it offers numerous levels of interpretation: heavy goods transport, agriculture, the steel industry once prevalent in the area, and even the Clydesdale breed itself which was originally bred in Lanarkshire.

However the true inspiration was as a metaphor for the city of Glasgow. Once a proud industrial manufacturing city, the city has now refashioned itself for the 21st century as a show city of culture... the horse was once a beast of burden, but the sculpture stands free of the bridles of work and has its mane and tail in pleats and ribbons for exhibition, yet is magnificently reminiscent of its hard working ancestry.

This sculpture has become a gateway icon to the city. It has been adopted in numerous advertising and merchandising campaigns and 2007 sees it's 10th anniversary. Check this website over the coming year for further news on the Horse.