Sculpture in the City 2014

This year's Sculpture in the City 2014 (around London's Square Mile financial district) is even bigger than last year's. (For photographs of last year's Sculpture in the City, visit my write-up here at Sculpture in the City 2013.) This year marks the fourth year of the public art event and features work by international artists such as Cerith Wyn Evans, Lynn Chadwick, Ben Long, Julian Wild, Nigel Hall, Paul Hosking, Peter Randall-Page, Antony Gormley, Jim Lambie and Richard Wentworth. The sculptures will be on display until the end of May 2015.

This year for the first time, students in schools could participate in one of the workshops help to draw London's landmarks in the City, hear talks by the artists, and build their own sculptures.

'Stairs' by Lynn Chadwick is located at the corner of Bishopsgate and Wormwood Street and shows what appears to be two feminine figures ascending and descending stairs. The artist wanted to capture movement and relationships with space and made the figures show that they do not acknowledge each other despite their passing on the stairs. I suppose that this is a perfect sculpture for a large city.

'Stairs' by Lynn Chadwick

'High Wind' by Lynn Chadwick is located next to the Gherkin. The sculpture experimented with drapery and movement in wind in this piece. The piece freezes the moment when the woman's hair and dress blow in the wind.

'High Wind' by Lynn Chadwick

'Work Scaffolding Sculpture' by Ben Long was inspired by the 1960s spirit and Robert Indiana's work, such as LOVE. The word 'Work' is choosen to evoke survival and daily existence, similar to LOVE.

'Work Scaffolding Sculpture' by Ben Long

'Salvia' by Julian Wild is inspired by plants found in the British countryside. This piece is coloured after the small flower by the same name and includes a mass of twisted steel pointing to the heavens.

'Salvia' by Julian Wild

'Shapes in Cloud I; IV; V' by Peter Randall-Page represents three large granite boulders that have been sculptued into rounded natural shapes. They look a little like clouds. Capturing a photograph of these was difficult at the time because they were blocked off in an area where construction work was taking place. 

'Shapes in Cloud I; IV; V' by Peter Randall-Page

'Flow; Edge; Flux; Within; Fall' by Paul Hosking is a series of hanging sculptures from a tree in a churchyard. The work reminds me of paper snowflakes that I made as a child and would hang up in winter.

'Flow; Edge; Flux; Within; Fall' by Paul Hosking

'False Ceiling' by Richard Wentworh is located in Leadenhall Market and is a sculpture made from a ceiling of books suspended in air. The artist was inspired by seeing books appear for sale at second-hand markets and how common books are.

'False Ceiling' by Richard Wentworh

'Kiss' by Nigel Hall features two objects that rely on each other for support.

'Kiss' by Nigel Hall 

'Southern Shade 1; V' by Nigel Hall is a study of shapes in the world. The sculpture mimics shaded canopy of trees. It is located near the Lloyds Building.

'Southern Shade 1; V' by Nigel Hall

'Deadly Nightshade' by Julian Wild is located on the front of a building on Bishopsgate. The sculpture symbolises plants that grow in the countryside, and the colours choosen are to remind us that the brightest are usually the deadliest.

'Deadly Nightshade' by Julian Wild 

'Secret Affair (Silver)' by Jim Lamble is located in St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Gardens. The piece is meant to invite viewers to walk through it and interact with it, and it also acts as a frame. I did spend some time shooting the piece at different angles, such as framing the steeple of the church inside the keyhole, but my favourite shot was the one below.

'Secret Affair (Silver)' by Jim Lamble

'Time here becomes spac, space here becomes time' by Cerith Wyn Evans is an illuminated installation appearing in Leadenhall Market. Both phrases are displayed but the words are reversed, depending on the point of view you are viewing the installation from.  

'Time here becomes spac, space here becomes time' by Cerith Wyn Evans

In addition to the above, there was one more piece that had construction work happening around it in front of the Gherkin that I was not able to photograph. The piece, "Box-Sized DIE Featuring Unfathomable Runination' by Onofre was visible but closed up. Apparently local Death Metal bands are invitd to play inside the box and the viewer is meant to view the box's vibrations when the music is played inside it.

The final piece is on display again this year, and that piece is 'Parallel Field' by Antony Gormley. A photograph of this piece can be seen by visiting my previous entry here: Sculpture in the City 2013.