Penguin army mimics Gormley work

Staff and volunteers spent a couple of months creating the penguin tribute

A Devon marine attraction has paid tribute to an artwork installation by scupltor Antony Gormley by creating its own version - with a twist.

Torquay-based Living Coasts has created an army of 700 terracotta penguins in homage to Gormley's 40,000 clay figures which are currently on display nearby.

The Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey has been filled with Gormley's work "Field for the British Isles" for the summer.

Volunteers and staff from Living Coasts spent two months making the penguins.

Conservation message

Stuart Wright, from Living Coasts, said: "We were inspired when we heard that such an amazing piece of artwork was coming down here.

"We wanted to come up with a response that would tie in with the conservation work we do here at Living Coasts."

Although Mr Wright said that the project had been fun to do and that it had captivated the interest of visitors, he added that there was a serious message to the penguin display too.

Gormley's 'Field' installation is being displayed in Devon over the summer

"The penguins will remain here throughout the summer but we have decided to gradually remove some from the collective group to reinforce the conservation message that penguins need our help and protecting," he said.

Living Coasts has two penguin colonies - African and Macaroni breeds.

However, the actual terracotta display figures replicas of Emperor penguins.

"It would have been really nice to have been able to do our display with a penguin species which we have here at Living Coasts but we could not get a mould of a African or Macaroni penguin," Mr Wright said.

"However, our penguins are a really popular attraction and we basically wanted to get the message across that all penguin breeds are special and need conservation help."