The five leading designs for an Angel of the South have been revealed. The winner will be built in Ebbsfleet, Kent in 2010, as the South's answer to Antony Gormley's Angel of the North.
Top left: Turner Prize winner Richard Deacon offers a skeletal tower of polyhedra. Predicted tabloid nickname: the wilting pylon.
Top right: a giant horse, echoing the ancient tradition of chalk horses in Kent, by Mark Wallinger, the chap who assembled a replica of Brian Haw's Westminster protest for Tate Britain. Predicted tabloid nickname: the Trojan Horse.
Bottom left: Christopher Le Brun offers the most angelic imagery, with this wing and shield design. Predicted tabloid nickname: the satellite dish.
Bottom right: Rachel Whiteread's effort seems calculated to generate the most ire. A heap of rubble is topped with her trademark cast of a house interior. Predicted tabloid nickname: The Nimby magnet.
Centre: Like a Lutyens war memorial, Daniel Buren proposes a white tower of cubes, with a laser beam punching the skies from the base. Predicted tabloid nickname: The death ray.
So, a very mixed bag. We'd recommend viewing models of the entries, as it's always difficult to get a sense of a sculptor's vision from a flat image. And you can do just this by visiting an exhibition at Bluewater from 7 May. The winner will be selected by committee later this year.
