Solid Gold Beauty Unveiled

A £1.5m solid gold sculpture has been made of supermodel Kate Moss as part of a British Museum exhibition.

Entitled Siren, the 50kg statue was made by Marc Quinn, who described Moss as "the ideal beauty of the moment".

His previous work included the marble sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, which appeared in Trafalgar Square.

The gold artwork will be exhibited with statues by other contemporary artists, including Damien Hirst and Antony Gormley, at the central London museum.

Mr Quinn previously created a bronze sculpture of Moss in a yoga pose, which was painted white and entitled Sphinx.

The museum has only revealed a close-up section of the new statue, which is also thought to depict Moss in a yoga pose.

'Live up to image'

He also made Self, a bust of his own head created from eight pints of his frozen blood.

His statue of Ms Lapper naked, who was born with no arms and shortened legs, was on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth for 20 months.

Describing the gold statue of Moss, Mr Quinn said: "I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who's the ideal beauty of the moment.

"But even Kate Moss doesn't live up to the image."

The exhibition, entitled Statuephilia, will also feature 200 plastic skulls by Damien Hirst.

Antony Gormley's Case for an Angel 1, a smaller precursor to his Angel of the North sculpture which overlooks the A1 in Gateshead, will also go on display.

Statues by artists Ron Mueck, Tim Noble and Sue Webster will also appear in the exhibition.

Co-curator Waldemar Januszczak said: "The British Museum helped to make these artists what they are. Now they are seeking to return the favour."

The exhibition opens on 4 October.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7585440.stm