Monday 15 August 2016

Sculpture in the City.

As part of the City of London's education programme each year, there is a sculpture trail of new works in public places. A large number of children enjoy numerous workshops based on these sculptures.There are 20 sculptures altogether of which I have chosen a selection of the ones I found most interesting to share with you.













 This one is called 'Laura' by Jaume Plensa. It is a large, bronze solid looking statue. The surprise for me was looking at it head on, just not what I expected at all.




























This is 'Fire Walker' by William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx. It was originally commissioned by the City of Johannesburg in 2010 and depicts the silhouette of a street vendor carrying a burning brazier on her head. Fire walkers sell pieces of coal to other vendors and are the poorest of the city's urban labourers. The sculpture is made up of fragmented pieces and I found it very difficult to find the exact spot which would align the pieces and give me the best view.



This view is from the City of London website which shows you a much better image of the sculpture than I could capture.





These are two out of a series of twelve giant masks by Ugo Rondonone. They are named after the months of the year so this is Sunrise. East July and Sunrise East October. They are cast bronze and painted silver and  have a resemblance to the stone heads of Easter Island.















Bronze and river stones by Giuseppe Penone needed a second look from me. I didn't realize at first that the tree wasn't real but was bronze. In its branches are five large river stones. For some reason it suited the surroundings of the large modern city skyscrapers. The explanation from the artist is that 'the bronze encapsulates the memory of the tree, memorialising and extending its life as it appears to rise out of the ground, undeterred by the weight of the boulders.'








Magic Lantern Small by Mat Collishaw was my favourite. It is situated in an out of the way, very small square, surrounded by huge buildings. At first I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be but the explanation quickly enlightened and delighted me. In 2010 Collishaw created a grand zoetrope for the cupola of the Victoria and Albert Museum. It showed a group of moths fluttering around a lit lantern. There was a small replica of the giant cupola in the courtyard providing a close up view of the moths.

Looking closely you can see the moths rotating around the lantern as though they are fluttering towards the light.


















High up hanging from the ceiling of Leadenhall Market is a plastic mesh sculpture.
 Try as I might to photograph this one I just couldn't do it justice. It did impress me but I doubt I can impress any of you with these photos. It is called 'Falling into Virtual Reality' by Recycle Group. The duo created this from recycled materials
They were reflecting on what our time will leave behind for future generations, what artefacts archaeologists will find after we've gone.









22 comments:

  1. I am impressed by all the creativity and thought-provoking subject matter of the work but I am most charmed by the Magic Lamp. :)

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  2. Thank you for sharing the interesting artwork on display in your city. I always love to see sculptures in other places!

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  3. Hello, what a lovely collection of sculptures. I love the first one titled Laura.
    Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  4. Beautiful sculptures and such wonderful photography of them ~ You always find the most fascinating things to photograph ~

    Wishing you a lovely week ~ ^_^

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  5. I am impressed with them all, but I especially like the tree with the stones. :-)

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  6. That first one I have seen here in Amsterdam last year at an open aair exhibition. Amazing art.

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  7. Great examples of public art. I like daring public art like this. We need more of it.

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  8. There are some good works on display. Like you, the lantern is my favourite but the tree is quite good too.

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  9. Nice sculptures - I always enjoy seeing art in public places.

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  10. Very unique and interesting sculptures.

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  11. Great thing for the City to do. I thought the tree was wonderful, but then the lantern -- i'm glad you took time to poke around the less obvious places ... all so very interesting. how long will they stay up?

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  12. Great sculptures! That moth lantern is something else!

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  13. Like the last two most, the lantern I thought was really something I can relate to and the hanging reminded me of a spider in her web

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  14. That first one is really clever - I like it.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Jabiru, Northern Territory, Australia

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  15. We have a piece like that first one on our River Walk.

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  16. I tried to view the pictures on a Smartphone but had to switch to a PC to see them in more detail. I think the first one, Laura, is fabulous but then wasn't enamoured by the rest. Sorry but I think Ugo Rondonone's heads are quite awful whereas the Easter Island heads are ina completely different class. All good fun though!

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  17. Stunning sculpture trail. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Wow---lots of talent there... Interesting sculptures --although some creators are MUCH too 'out there' for me to appreciate... ha ha .... I do like the Lantern and Moth one... NEAT....

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  19. Can't say that I love them all !

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  20. I like the one with the moths around the light. The first one is interesting, too, in that it doesn't look as you would expect from the front. I'm wondering how many miles you had to walk to take them all in!

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  21. That is a super idea to have the sculptures displayed around the city for educational purposes. I can imagine how hard they were to photograph to give them justice, but you did well. I got the idea. I liked the first one and the lantern with butterflies.

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  22. It would be so nice to follow a brochure that would explain the sculptures. Some very nice a unusual ones there.

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