Wicked Game
Kenilworth Castle
Lindsey Mendick’s installation Wicked Game is on display in the Great Hall at Kenilworth Castle between 9 July and 31 October 2025. Wicked Game explores the power dynamics of Tudor England through a feminist lens.
This major sculptural artwork was commissioned by English Heritage as part of the 450th anniversary of Elizabeth I’s historic 19-day visit to Kenilworth Castle in 1575, at the invitation of its owner Robert Dudley. A childhood friend of Elizabeth I, one of her suitors and her Master of the Horse, Dudley was the only man permitted to touch the Queen. Elizabeth’s visit in 1575 is widely thought to represent Dudley’s last, unsuccessful, effort to persuade the Queen to marry him.
Featuring ninety ceramic sculptures, aged with glazes, presented in fragments as if they were museum relics, the sculptures are laid out as if on a deconstructed chess board. In this installation, the artist imagines the characters featured – including Elizabeth I and Kenilworth’s owner Robert Dudley – as pieces in a game of chess.
The project includes a specially commissioned short film by Dan Watts available to watch in the Gatehouse at Kenilworth, an audio guide written in collaboration with the artist, and written interpretation in the Great Hall.
Working on behalf of the client English Heritage as the project’s Creative Producer, Suzanne Heath oversaw the project from start to finish. This included artist recruitment, writing the brief and contracting the artist, as well as project development and delivery, shaping interpretation materials and press releases. This complex project required close collaboration with English Heritage colleagues and external partners to bring it to a successful conclusion, requiring permission from Historic England and the Local Authority Warwick District Council, and presentations to Kenilworth Town Council.
Production Manager for English Heritage: Christopher Osborne
Set design: Elouise Farley
Project Management: HEKATE Studios
Studio assistants: Samuel Vilanova, Zoe De Caluwé, Jonathan Hughes, Finbar Ward
Fabrication and installation: Out of the Blue Fabrications
Metalwork: The Metal Workshop S.E.
Kiln firings: Abigail Ozora Simpson
Art transport: Unit One
Structural engineers: H|F:K
Planting design: Rosie Carr
Graphic design: Design Penguin
Chess teacher: Paul Lam
Sensitivity reader: Naomi Evans
Courtesy of the artist Lindsey Mendick, and Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate.