Gorilla in our midst - Cool Ice Cream Bananas arrives in Princesshay
Princesshay Shopping Centre welcomed its newest resident ‘Cool Ice Cream Bananas’ on Saturday 3 August 2013 after making his way through the shopping centre leaving a trail of footprints behind him! To celebrate his official arrival Chandos Deli joined the Princesshay team, artist and some lucky passers-by for a complimentary ice cream from their vintage ice cream tricycle.
Wayne Pearce, Princesshay Centre Director said: “We’re thrilled to be supporting the Great Gorillas project and excited to see Cool Ice Cream Bananas taking pride of place at the bottom of Roman Walk. We hope visitors to the centre have enjoyed spotting the gorilla footprints and are looking forward to finally meeting Cool Ice Cream Bananas himself.”
Each gorilla has been brilliantly painted by local artists with Princesshay’s very own sponsored gorilla designed by Malcolm Law from Torbay. Malcom wanted his design to reflect the fun nature of the project and, complete with ice cream decorations and some cool shades, ‘Cool Ice Cream Bananas’ was born!
Malcolm is a ceramic artist and has worked in Torbay for the last 25 years, his pieces are mainly three dimensional illustrations worked in stoneware clay and finished with under glaze colours. His subject matter is invariably humorous and inspired by history and mythology and often including anachronistic objects. His work can be seen at various galleries in the Westcountry including the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Cotehele Gallery and now Roman Walk in Princesshay.
Malcolm Law, Artist said: “It’s great to see Cool Ice Cream Bananas on display in Princesshay. It was such a fun project to work on and if it makes people laugh and smile then I feel my work is complete!”
Great Gorillas is a world-class mass public art exhibition with thirty colourful, life-size gorilla sculptures popping up across Exeter and the English Riviera. The Great Gorillas are here to stay until Sunday 13 October, before returning to Paignton Zoo for a short stay. They will then be auctioned for charity in November this year.
