Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth art choices revealed

A bright blue cockerel and a bronze sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse will take their place on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

German artist Katharina Fritsch's cockerel, designed to symbolise regeneration, awakening and strength, will stand on the plinth from 2013.

It will follow Elmgreen and Dragset's bronze sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse which will be unveiled next year.

The work will replace Yinka Shonibare's large-scale Nelson's Ship In A Bottle.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson revealed the winning designs earlier.

"All of the shortlisted artists show what an extraordinary crucible the Fourth Plinth is for contemporary art," he said.

"It continues to spark the imagination and there has been a tremendous response from the public."

Ms Fritsch's idea of a huge cockerel in ultramarine blue is aimed at injecting colour into the square.

'Distinguished artists'

The boy on the rocking horse - called Powerless Structures, Fig.101 - is intended to represent hope for the future, according to its creators, Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian Ingar Dragset.

The sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse will take its place on the plinth next year

They say that their work also questions the tradition of large-scale military monuments.

Other notable artworks which have featured on the plinth have included Antony Gormley's One & Other, which saw 2,400 people taking the space for an hour, with some standing naked.

The latest two works, made from a shortlist of six, were chosen by members of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, including broadcaster Jon Snow and artist Grayson Perry.

The group's chairman Ekow Eshun said: "Elmgreen and Dragset and Katharina Fritsch are distinguished artists with major international reputations."