Wicked Game
A new art installation marks the 450th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I’s 19-day visit to Kenilworth Castle. The temporary artwork by acclaimed contemporary artist, Lindsey Mendick, is on display in the Great Hall until 31 October 2025. The installation explores a new perspective on Queen Elizabeth I’s relationship with her courtier and long-term suitor Robert Dudley, and her strategies for maintaining authority from the epicentre of a Tudor power struggle.
The artwork explores challenging themes through powerful sculptural work that may not be suitable for all audiences. We recommend parental discretion for families with younger children.
Artist spotlight
Lindsey Mendick is an acclaimed British artist known for her multimedia installations that transform personal and historical stories into larger-than-life sculptures and installations filled with humour, horror, and feminist revisionism.
“Women’s histories have often been written by those in power, by those they threaten and by those who need their tale to be a cautionary one. For the artwork at Kenilworth, I will re-examine the events of Elizabeth’s 19 day visit, from the perspective of a female gaze,” – Lindsey Mendick.
Artistic Concept
Mendick’s sculptural installation subverts the cryptic performances presented to Elizabeth I during her Kenilworth visit, including the Station of Sibilla, where ten prophetesses declared her fate to her. The installation brings together a group of Sibyls (among them women from Greek mythology, and Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn), to issue warnings to Elizabeth that reference the power struggles and battles of wits of the Tudor court.
Mendick’s artwork for Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Gardens builds upon her 2022 exhibition at Carl Freedman Gallery, Off With Her Head. This exhibition took the story of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I’s mother, as a starting point to explore the vilification of powerful women throughout history, from Medusa and Lady Jane Grey to Meghan Markle and Janet Jackson. In Lindsey’s work she weaves seemingly unrelated threads together to broaden our understanding of women’s history.
With thanks to The Ampersand Foundation, The Bridget Riley Art Foundation, Kenilworth Town Council and The W.E. Dunn Charitable Trust for supporting elements of the Wicked Game free community engagement programme.
Listen to the Audio Guide
Listen to this audio tour from artist, Lindsey Mendick as she explores some of the themes, symbolism and stories behind each of the sculptures in her installation, Wicked Game, at Kenilworth Castle.
Listen to the Audio GuideExplore our Creative Programme
Our Creative Programme brings unique artistic interventions to our sites in the form of contemporary visual art, theatre, literature, dance and other creative art forms that bring England’s stories to life.
The programme commissions artists, often in partnership with organisations, to produce creative works that draw inspiration from our iconic sites and collections and encourage engagement with heritage and history in new and thought-provoking ways.
Learn more about the Programme