The American artist Tschabalala Self is preparing to unveil "Lady in Blue", a large painted bronze sculpture of a striding black woman, on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square. The commission comes despite a racist attack on her previous UK public artwork, "Seated", which was vandalised with white spray paint targeting the figure's skin shortly after being relocated to the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea in 2022, highlighting how public art depicting black bodies can become a target for hostility even as it is celebrated in major institutions.

Self, born in Harlem in 1990, responded to the vandalism by organising a community clean-up rather than a protest, with hundreds turning out to help restore the piece. Her work, held by institutions including MoMA, the Guggenheim and the Whitney, is known for vivid, joyful depictions of everyday bodies centred on empowerment and dignity, a tone she says sets "Lady in Blue" apart from the more overtly political and conceptual works that have recently occupied the plinth, such as Teresa Margolles's life-mask wall and Samson Kambalu's anti-colonial statue.