'Thumbs up' for Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth artwork Published duration 29 September 2016

image caption Really Good by David Shrigley is a 7m-high sculpture of a hand giving a thumbs up sign

The 11th artwork to sit on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth has been unveiled.

Really Good by David Shrigley is a 7m-high sculpture of a hand giving a thumbs up sign, which the artist hopes will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It has been cast in bronze with the same dark patina as the other statues in Trafalgar Square.

The Fourth Plinth Programme invites world-class artists to make new works for the capital.

Addressing the crowd at the unveiling Mr Shrigley said it was a "real privilege" to make the work

"It's a work about making the world a better place... which obviously is a ridiculous proposition, but I think it's a good proposition," he said.

image copyright James O Jenkins image caption David Shrigley's Really Good features a disproportionately long thumb

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the "positivity and humour" in Really Good "truly encapsulated the spirit of London".

"What it represents is so important - optimism, positivity, the best of us. This sculpture is so important showing Londoners…tourists…that London is open.

"The changing artworks on Fourth Plinth continue to be a source of delight, discussion and debate and I am proud to be the mayor of a city that has such an energetic and vibrant cultural life," he added.

David Shrigley

Born in 1968 in Macclesfield but now lives and works in Brighton

His work focuses on creating drawings, animations and sculptures that reflect the absurdity of contemporary society

He has had solo exhibitions at Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand, Hayward Gallery in London and the Yerba Beuna Centre for the Arts in San Francisco

In 2013 he was nominated for the Turner Prize

Really Good replaces Gift Horse, a skeletal sculpture that displayed a live feed from the London Stock Exchange by German artist Hans Haacke.

image copyright EPA

Mark Wallinger's figure Ecce Homo was the first piece to stand on the empty plinth - in the north-west corner of the square - in 1999.

image copyright PA image caption Mark Wallinger's figure Ecce Homo was the first piece to stand on the plinth in 1999

Other works included Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn (2005), Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare (2010) and Elmgreen and Dragset's Powerless Structures, Fig 101 - a sculpture of a boy astride his rocking horse.

image caption Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn featured in 2005

image caption Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare sailed above the square in 2010

image copyright PA image caption Elmgreen and Dragset's Powerless Structures, Fig 101 from 2012