A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery)

E472544

bronze sculpture public artwork public sculpture

A Real Birmingham Family is a public sculpture by British artist Gillian Wearing that portrays an everyday Birmingham family in bronze, challenging traditional notions of what constitutes a family.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
A Real Birmingham Family (public art commission)	1
A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery) canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4821084 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery)
Context triple: [Gillian Wearing, notableWork, A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery)]

A. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a major public museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England, renowned for its extensive collections of fine art, applied art, archaeology, and local history.
B. The New Art Gallery Walsall
The New Art Gallery Walsall is a contemporary art museum in Walsall, England, known for its modern architecture and collections that include works by Jacob Epstein and other significant British artists.
C. Ford Madox Brown mural cycle
The Ford Madox Brown mural cycle is a series of large-scale Victorian-era wall paintings in Manchester Town Hall depicting key episodes in the history and development of Manchester.
D. Irwell Sculpture Trail
Irwell Sculpture Trail is a public art route in North West England featuring a series of contemporary sculptures installed along the River Irwell and its surrounding landscape.
E. Revolution Manchester Gallery
Revolution Manchester Gallery is a permanent exhibition space at Manchester's Science and Industry Museum that showcases the city’s industrial heritage, scientific innovation, and technological achievements.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery)
Target entity description: A Real Birmingham Family is a public sculpture by British artist Gillian Wearing that portrays an everyday Birmingham family in bronze, challenging traditional notions of what constitutes a family.

A. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a major public museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England, renowned for its extensive collections of fine art, applied art, archaeology, and local history.
B. The New Art Gallery Walsall
The New Art Gallery Walsall is a contemporary art museum in Walsall, England, known for its modern architecture and collections that include works by Jacob Epstein and other significant British artists.
C. Ford Madox Brown mural cycle
The Ford Madox Brown mural cycle is a series of large-scale Victorian-era wall paintings in Manchester Town Hall depicting key episodes in the history and development of Manchester.
D. Irwell Sculpture Trail
Irwell Sculpture Trail is a public art route in North West England featuring a series of contemporary sculptures installed along the River Irwell and its surrounding landscape.
E. Revolution Manchester Gallery
Revolution Manchester Gallery is a permanent exhibition space at Manchester's Science and Industry Museum that showcases the city’s industrial heritage, scientific innovation, and technological achievements.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (37)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	bronze sculpture ⓘ public artwork ⓘ public sculpture ⓘ
commissionedBy	Birmingham City Council NERFINISHED ⓘ Ikon Gallery NERFINISHED ⓘ
commissionedFor	public space in Birmingham ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
creator	Gillian Wearing NERFINISHED ⓘ
depicts	everyday Birmingham family ⓘ modern family configuration ⓘ single-parent family structure ⓘ
genre	figurative sculpture ⓘ public art ⓘ
hasPart	two adult women figures ⓘ two child figures ⓘ
hasQuality	life-size figures ⓘ realistic style ⓘ
hasTitle	A Real Birmingham Family NERFINISHED ⓘ
inception	2014 ⓘ
languageOfWorkOrName	English ⓘ
locatedIn	Birmingham NERFINISHED ⓘ England ⓘ
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity	West Midlands NERFINISHED ⓘ
mainSubject	family ⓘ
materialUsed	bronze ⓘ
movement	contemporary art ⓘ
notableFor	challenging traditional nuclear family ideal ⓘ representation of real local residents ⓘ
partOf	Ikon Gallery public art commissions ⓘ
purpose	to challenge traditional notions of what constitutes a family ⓘ
subjectOf	media coverage in the UK ⓘ public debate about definition of family ⓘ
theme	contemporary family life ⓘ representation of ordinary people ⓘ social identity ⓘ
unveiledBy	Gillian Wearing NERFINISHED ⓘ
usesTechnique	lost-wax bronze casting ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gillian Wearing → notableWork → A Real Birmingham Family (public artwork commissioned by Ikon Gallery) ⓘ

this entity surface form: A Real Birmingham Family (public art commission)