51Âþ»­

Pyrotechnic artist Marcus Dove has unveiled a new artwork specially commissioned to celebrate 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­)’s #loveinternational campaign.

INSET Marcus Dove 1

, whose unique style has been featured nationally, was asked by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard to create a new artwork for the Vijay Patel Building to mark #loveinternational which aims to reassure students and staff in the light of the vote to leave the EU.

The 2m x 2m canvas was unveiled on Wednesday night as part of a #loveinternational event prior to the final Varsity 2017 fixture at Welford Road. The mixed media piece depicts a peacock whose sweeping tail turns from feathers to flowers, which are the individual photographs of all the national flowers of the world’s 196 countries.

The piece is a world away from his signature style which drew headlines for its use of pyrotechnics and even a missile launcher in its creation – inspired by the Picasso quote “Every Act of Creation is First An Act of Destruction”. It does, however, include smoke-grenade-inspired designs.

He said: “After being given the task I came up with the idea to use a photo of every country’s national flower and combine it with one of my signature methods of capturing smoke grenades. Each disc represents one country.

"It has long been considered that the peacock symbolises unbiased guidance for those who find it is time to acknowledge dreams and inspiration. The message is of reassurance to students, staff, and alumni by the #loveinternational campaign that 51Âþ»­ will always welcome you regardless of where you come from in the world."

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He added: “Although the piece isn’t my usual style for which I am known, I’m very grateful and happy with how the event went. I couldn’t have asked for a more positive response.”

graduate Marcus is now part of the university’s which provides talented graduates with a package of support to launch their own businesses.

Professor Shellard said the work was “magnificent.” He said that the spot chosen had been destined for a corporate logo until they decided to commission Marcus giving him a brief to 'create something that might reflect the spirit of #loveinternational representing all nations without any clichés'.

Marcus’ work in response to this challenge was “in the best spirit of the creativity of the university,” he added.

Marcus created a piece for Baroness Doreen Lawrence, 51Âþ»­’s Chancellor, based upon the title of her autobiography, And Still I Rise. The stunning work, called And Still She Rises, showed a phoenix rising from darkness into light.

The next step is to install a key next to the artwork, which will have a guide listing each flower and the country it represents.