Sculpture in the City is an annual public sculpture trail centred in London's Square Mile. Sculpture in the City is now in its seventh year and has featured artists such as Damien Hirst and Ai Weiwei along with some newer and lesser-known artists. Workshops are also offered to schools and the community in addition to the public sculpture trail, and these promote inspiration through art. Last year's Sculpture in the City was the biggest success in the trail to date with a variety of wonderful works. This year's works also do not disappoint.
Temple - Damien Hirst
This 21-foot painted bronze sculpture shows a male torso. It appears to be a diagram out of a biology book with half of the sculpture showing muscle and organs and bones. The work is inspired by the artist's anatomical models and "Medicine Cabinet" series of artwork.
4 Colours at 3 Metres High Situated Work - Daniel Buren
Daniel Buren's artworks explore outdoor light, movement of sun, architecture, and shadows. The colourful work above appears like a pagoda with semi-transparent colours attached, and these reflect to create a colourful glow. This is the most atmospheric piece, and the colours and glow create an ambience and a feeling. This is my favourite artwork for this year's Sculpture in the City.
Reminiscence - Fernando Casasempere
Casasempere works with ceramics, and he studies the landscape. Earth and clay are the materials used to construct the sculpture, which focuses on movement. The bricks appear to be made out of rolled-up textile, while others appear to be made of brick. The piece looks as if it is inspired by architectural ruin.
Black Shed Expanded - Nathaniel Rackowe
The urban shed is a common sight in London, and Nathaniel Rackowe previously had an installation for Sculpture in the City showing another deconstructed black shed. This time, the black shed has been expanded with a bright neon yellow glow inside. It appears to be caught mid-explosion.
Synapsid - Karen Tang
This brightly-coloured sculpture appears to be a giant insect or alien creature. The bright colour and organic shape draws visitors to it, and it encourages interaction via its shape and openings.
Envelope of Pulsation (for Leo) - Peter Randall-Page RA
An internationally-aclaimed artist, Peter Randall-Page (RA) contributes for the first time to Sculpture in the City. The sculpture is the artist's most recent, and it is carved from a rare block of granite from Blackenstone quarry on Dartmoor, England. The quarry is owned by the artist's friend Leo. The stone is worked to show movement and texture to the piece whereas the viewer can use their imagination.
Untitled x3 - Bosco Sodi
These three rocks are escavated from volcanic magma from the Ceboruco volcano in Mexico. The rocks are glazed and fired at high temperatures for three days, and they create their own artwork. I found these shinny red stones mesmorising as I explored them in London.
Falling into Virtual Reality - Recycle Group
This artwork returns for its second year of Sculpture in the City. The collective behind this piece focuses on what our generation will leave behind for future generations. The artwork is created out of recyclable materials and ideas, highlighting consumerism and materials.
Dreamy Bathroom - Gary Webb
Webb's abstract scupture contains individual components that make up and form it. The result is a colourful piece with interesting shapes, textures, and pleasant colours. The items blend well together and play off each other in this work, which I enjoyed seeing from different viewpoints.
Support for a Cloud - Mhairi Vari
The artworks are hung in three different locations around the Lloyd's building in London. They feature honeycombed cocoons or nests, placed above the viewer. At a glance, they do not appear to be art but appear to be natural or a part of the architecture. I do wonder how many people will phone the exterminator by thinking it is a insect nest.
Apple Tree Boy Apple Tree Girl - Paul McCarthy
Apple Tree Boy Apple Tree Girl are a part of McCarthy's Hummel series depcited on a large scale. The German kitsch figures of a boy and girl are shown on an idyllic setting with an apple tree, but they are deformed and abstracted. The artist seems to send a message about how children can be conditioned to follow social norms.
Tipping Point - Kevin Killen
This work is inspired by city lights and recording the non-stop movements of the city. It is an artwork that constantly changes with the flow of its surroundings; the neon lights turn on and off to the varying sequences of the movement.
Work No. 2814 - Martin Creed
This sculpture uses an existing tree, and plastic bags are hung from its branches to create an "everyday" but surreal installation. The artist's style is to merge ordinary materials and everyday situations into works of art.
Never has there been such urgency, or The eloquent and the Gaga - Ryan Gander
The subject of this artwork is an air-dropped parcel, which is suspended from a tree by a parachute. The contents of the parcel are located on a metal plaque near the installation, but it contains items relating to research and practices and the way that these are signified over communication.
The Black Horse - Mark Wallinger
This horse sculpture was partially created using scanning technology of a real racehorse named Rivera Red. The sculpture celebrates the horse as it is a much-loved creature and a creature that is a popular subject in art.
Ajar - Gavin Turk
This sculpture of a doorframe with a door slightly open was in place for last year's Sculpture in the City. It is a reference of the painting 'La Victoire' by Rene Magritte, in which the door represents a gateway through the imagination and is meant to be interacted with and to imagine possibilities. It reminded me of a doorway with a secret world on the other side, such as the wardrobe in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" books.
Previous years of London's Sculpture in the City are included below:
- Sculpture in the City 2016
- Sculpture in the City 2015
- Sculpture in the City 2014
- Sculpture in the City 2013
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