Editing Alison Lapper

{{Short description|English artist}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Alison Lapper
| honorific_suffix = MBE
| image            = Alison Lapper.jpg
| caption          = Alison Lapper in Brighton, December 2018 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1965|04|07|df=y}} 
| birth_place      = [[Burton upon Trent]], Staffordshire
| nationality      = 
| education        = [[Chailey Heritage School]] <br>[[Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People]] 
| alma_mater       = [[Heatherley School of Fine Art]] <br>[[University of Brighton School of Art]] 
| known_for        = 
| notable_works    = 
| style            = 
| movement         = 
| children = Parys Lapper
| awards           = <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) -->
| elected          = 
| patrons          = 
| memorials        = 
| website          = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} -->
| module           = 
}}
'''Alison Lapper''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (born 7 April 1965<ref name="Lapper-2005"/>) is a British artist. She is the subject of the sculpture '''''Alison Lapper Pregnant''''', which was displayed on [[Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square|the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square]] from September 2005 until late 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Helen |date=2024-01-27 |title=Alison Lapper: ‘I thought I’d never paint again after Parys died’ |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/alison-lapper-interview-artist-lost-in-parys/ |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |last2=Jeffries |first2=Interviews by Stuart |date=2024-02-05 |title=‘Statues are of dead blokes. This is a living woman kicking arse’: how we made the fourth plinth’s Alison Lapper Pregnant |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/feb/05/statues-are-of-dead-blokes-this-is-a-living-woman-kicking-arse-how-we-made-the-fourth-plinths-alison-lapper-pregnant |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> She and her late son Parys featured in the BBC docuseries ''[[Child of Our Time]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Melissa |last=Thompson |title='He's sulky and Xbox-obsessed and I'm so relieved': Paralympics icon Alison Lapper happy her son is typical teenager |work=Daily Mirror|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/alison-lapper-happy-son-parys-1734221 |date=28 February 2013 |access-date=3 September 2019 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Alison Lapper was born on 7 April 1965 in [[Burton upon Trent]], [[Staffordshire]].<ref name="Lapper-2005"/> She was born without arms and with shortened legs, a condition called [[phocomelia]]. She was institutionalized in her infancy, and is still distant from her relatives.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Saner|first1=Emine|title=Alison Lapper: 'Disabled people are looked at as a drain on society, and I'm certainly not that' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/02/alison-lapper-disabled-people-drain-on-society |website=The Guardian|date=2 August 2014|access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> When she was fitted with [[artificial limb]]s, she felt that the aim was not to help her, but to make her look less disconcerting to others. She abandoned them, finding life far easier without external aids.

She left [[Chailey Heritage School]], [[Sussex]], at the age of 17, and moved to London.<ref name="Indep">{{cite news |last1=Treneman |first1=Ann |title=From the age of six weeks to 17, Alison Lapper was one of the 'strange little creatures' of the Chailey Heritage institution |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/body-and-soul-1235298.html |access-date=29 August 2020 |work=The Independent|date=11 October 1997}}</ref> She then attended the [[Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People]], in Banstead, Surrey until the age of 19, where she learned to drive. She completed both 'O' and 'A'-levels in art at [[Sutton College of Learning for Adults]], before pre-foundation and [[foundation course]]s at [[Heatherley School of Fine Art]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alison |first1=Lapper |title=My life in my hands |year=2005 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9780743275583}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2019}}

Lapper then moved to Brighton and studied in the [[University of Brighton School of Art|Faculty of Art and Architecture]] at the [[University of Brighton]], graduating with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|first class]] [[honours degree]] in [[Fine Art]] in 1994.<ref name="Lapper-2005">{{cite web |last=Lapper |first=Alison |date=3 September 2005 |title=Beauty unseen, unsung |url=https://www.theguardian.com/arts/features/story/0,11710,1561046,00.html |work=The Guardian|location=London |access-date=14 February 2012 |ref=none |postscript=. Extract from autobiography, {{harvtxt|Lapper|2005}}.}}</ref>

==Career==
Lapper uses [[photography]], [[digital imaging]], and [[painting]] to, as she says, question physical normality and beauty, using herself as a subject. She is a member of the [[Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World]] (AMFPA), having joined as a student member and receiving a full membership after her college graduation.<ref name="Lapper-2005"/> One particular influence is the sculpture ''[[Venus de Milo]]'', due to the physical similarities between the idealised classical female statue and Lapper's own body. She has taken part in various British exhibitions, including in the [[Royal Festival Hall]].  In May 2003, Lapper was awarded an [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] for her services for art.

After she had given birth to her son Parys in 2000, she created an installation of photographs of herself with him. Lapper and her son featured on the BBC television documentary ''[[Child of Our Time]]''. In 2006, she published her book ''My Life in My Hands''.<ref name="Lapper-2005"/>

==Marc Quinn sculpture==

[[File:Alison Lapper Pregnant Paralympics opening ceremony.jpg|thumb|A giant replica of the sculpture in the [[2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony]]]]
Lapper was the subject of [[Marc Quinn]]'s sculpture, ''Alison Lapper Pregnant''.<ref name="Lapper-2005"/> Initially she refused to pose for him, unsure of the manner in which he intended to depict disability. She wanted to be sure his perspective was not one of pity.

Quinn observed that ancient statues whose limbs had fallen off were now often highly regarded. His aim was to create equally beautiful representations of bodies born naturally in that way. When he phoned again a few months later, Lapper informed him she was now seven months [[pregnant]]. His reply was, "That's even better!" In November 1999, Lapper went to Quinn's studio to have a cast made.<ref name="Lapper-2005"/>

The sculpture is made of [[Carrara]] [[marble]]. It occupied the [[Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square|fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square]] between September 2005 and late 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marc Quinn: ''Alison Lapper Pregnant'' |url=http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/commissions/marc-quinn |work=Fourth Plinth |publisher=Greater London Authority |access-date=8 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426125355/http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/commissions/marc-quinn |archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hart |first=Christopher |date=25 September 2005 |title=Review: My Life in My Hands by Alison Lapper with Guy Feldman |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/biography/article568942.ece |work=Times Online |location=London |access-date=5 May 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lyall |first=Sarah |date=10 October 2005 |title=In Trafalgar Square, Much Ado About Statuary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/arts/design/10traf.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=5 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Higgins |first=Charlotte |date=16 September 2005 |title=Sculpture's unveiling is pregnant with meaning |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,1571296,00.html |work=The Guardian|location=London |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> A large replica featured in the [[2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony]].

==Honours==
In May 2003, Lapper was awarded an [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/review/4248926.stm |title=BBC Newsnight Review |date=15 September 2005}}</ref> for services to art. In July 2014, she was awarded an [[honorary doctorate]] from the University of Brighton.<ref>{{cite news|author=Press Association |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/28/artist-alison-lapper-doctorate-university-brighton |title=Artist Alison Lapper given honorary doctorate &#124; Art and design |work= [[The Guardian]] |date=28 July 2014 |access-date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Lapper had a son, Parys, with whom she was pregnant when posing for the Marc Quinn sculpture. He died suddenly from a suspected accidental drug overdose in August 2019, aged 19. His mother afterwards said that he had been bullied at school over her disability, which led to his being [[Involuntary commitment|sectioned]] for mental health problems at the age of 17.<ref>{{cite news |title=Disabled artist Alison Lapper's son Parys dies |work=BBC News |date=27 August 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-49480360 |access-date=27 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Amy |last=Walker |title=Alison Lapper says late son Parys was bullied over her disability |work=The Guardian|date=1 September 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/01/artist-alison-lapper-says-late-son-parys-was-bullied-over-her-disability |access-date=3 September 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Alison Lapper's son Parys 'bullied at school' before death |work=BBC News |date=3 September 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-49564997 |access-date=15 September 2019 }}</ref>

==Biography==
''London Vénus: Une vie d'Alison Lapper'', an [[unauthorised biography]] of Lapper in [[Graphic novel|comic-book]] form, was published in France in 2022. It is written by Yaneck Chareyre and drawn by Mathieu Bertrand, and tells Lapper's story from her birth to the funeral of Parys Lapper.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.sceneario.com/bande-dessinee/london-venus/une-vie-d-alison-lapper/32695.html |first1=Yaneck |last1=Chareyre |first2=Mathieu |last2=Bertrand |title=London Vénus: Une vie d'Alison Lapper |year=2022 |publisher=Editions Steinkis |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-36846-327-7 |language=fr}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Mouth and foot painting]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Biography==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Lapper |first=Alison |year=2005 |title=My Life in My Hands |location=London |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-7432-7558-3 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Alison Lapper}}
* {{official website|http://www.alilapper.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080803112441/http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/projects/equallydifferent/Pages/VideoAlisonLapper.aspx  Alison Lapper talks about her life and work] Video at the Equality and Human Rights Commission
* [http://www.mfpa.co.uk/  Mouth & Foot Painting Artists] showing Lapper's work

{{Authority control}}
{{Disability Artists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapper, Alison}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English painters]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Brighton]]
[[Category:British artists with disabilities]]
[[Category:English contemporary artists]]
[[Category:English people with disabilities]]
[[Category:Photographers from Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Mouth and foot painting artists]]
[[Category:People from Burton upon Trent]]
[[Category:People with phocomelia]]
[[Category:People without hands]]
[[Category:20th-century English women painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English women painters]]