Gromit Unleashed

Loads of the critters, blown-up to five feet tall.

Designers and artists including Quentin Blake, Sir Peter Blake. illustrator Gerald Scarfe and fashion designers Sir Paul Smith and Celia Birtwell have turned their hands to painting sculptures of one of the nation’s most beloved canines in aid of Bristol Royal  Hospital for children.

The Gromit Unleashed project will also see Simon Tofield, creator of Simon’s Cat, turn his back on the feline world to decorate one of the statuesque hounds.

Led by Gromit’s creator Aardman Animations, the fibreglass sculptures will be on display on the streets of Bristol and the surrounding area.

By the time the Gromits go on display in July, in a show lasting ten weeks, there will be 70 of them – a small army sure to terrify poor old Wallace.

As well as works by invited artists, a number of the dogs have been designed by artists who entered an open call for submissions. More than 500 entries were received from as far afield as Malaysia, California, Wisconsin, New York, Poland and Italy, along with Bristolian creatives.

At the end of the public art exhibition, the sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity.

Gromit Unleashed can be seen from 1 July – 7 September throughout Bristol. For more information visit http://www.gromitunleashed.org.uk/

All images © and TM Aardman/W&G Ltd. 2013.
® Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. Charity No. 104360