This was an unusual request to clean a modern piece of contemporary artwork by New York City artist Mel Kendrick on display in one of the gardens of the Wormsley Estate. I’m no art expert but having done some research on the internet it appears to be part of a collection known as “Markers” that were on display at the Madison Square Park in 2009. The work is made from concrete cast into different coloured sections and fitted together to form a rather larger piece of art which having been exposed to the UK elements was now starting to discolour and go orange in part.
Cleaning Modern Concrete Artwork
Being such a prestigious work of art i had to be careful not to damage the stone in anyway so after careful consideration I worked out a process using an alkaline cleaning product Tile Doctor Pro-Clean.
To get the statue clean I used a warm water dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean working it into small areas at a time spraying the solution on and scrubbing with a brush, then rinsing it off with clean water. This process took some time but certainly did the trick.
Sealing a Concrete Artwork
With this project being outdoors and with it taking a couple of days I had to pick a good weather window and fortunately the weather held out long enough so I could continue and seal the concrete in order to protect it going forward. Again careful consideration had to be given to the choice of sealer and in the end I went with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores protecting from within and most importantly it’s a natural look sealer that does not change or enhance the colours.
If you’re a lover a modern art then you should appreciate the difference and will agree with me that the statue now looks new again.
Source: Professional Tile, Stone and Grout maintenance service in Oxfordshire
Brilliant, would never of thought of using Tile Doctor for the cleaning of statues but it makes sense.