Concrete Cows

The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by the Canadian artist Liz Leyh. There are three cows and three calves, approximately half life size.

The Cows are constructed from scrap, skinned with fibre glass reinforced concrete donated by a local builder.

The artist was an "artist-in-residence" in the early days of Milton Keynes and part of her role was to lead community participation in art. The Cows was one of a number of pieces created during her stay. Other examples of her work here include The Owl and The Pussy Cat at Netherfield and a concrete mural near the leisure centre at Stantonbury. They were originally constructed at Stacey Hill Farm near Wolverton, where she had set up her studio. The base armatures were metal, with chicken wire used to create the general shape, then stuffed with newspaper. The original colouring of the cows was achieved using dyes. Some cows were brown. It is only through the council painting the cows that the uniform black and white has appeared. The artist also ensured that each cow had a heart shape used as part of the pattern on the cow skin.

Later commentators have interpreted it as an example of conceptual art: the artist poking fun at the preconceived notion of the new city, held by commentators who had never seen the place, that it would consist entirely of concrete pavements where once there were fields, and where its deprived children would need models to know how real cows once looked. The reality of course was different: Milton Keynes Development Corporation was building "a city in the forest", with substantially more open green space than found in traditional cities. Furthermore, there are real farms with real cows within 2 miles (3 km) of the site, and the cows are currently located in a real field.

On their site in a public park, the Cows have suffered many indignities – though it could be argued that these were consistent with their conceptual origins. Sometimes they have simply been vandalised, while at other times they have been painted pink, become zebras, become skeletal, had pyjama bottoms added, have been beheaded in the style of Damien Hirst, have acquired BSE (mad cow disease) graffiti, had one of the calves kidnapped (with ransom notes to the local papers). One of the Cows briefly enjoyed the services of a papier-mâché bull. When UK Culture Minister Kim Howells referred to modern art trends as "conceptual bullshit", the Cows acquired concrete cow-pats. Local legend has it that the ears of the Cows have shrunk over the years, as more protruding versions have been knocked off by enthusiastic riders.

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Wikipedia