“Sculpture In The City”. What a fitting name. It perfectly captures what we are about to experience here. Sculpture In The City is an annual open-air exhibition. It brings major artworks by 18 artists to the UK’s financial district.
London is full of sculpture trails. But Sculpture In The City has maybe the highest calibre of artist of them all. The works are by some of the best young artists around. There are also some of the biggest established names. If this was in a museum, you’d be impressed.
Don’t be put off by the fact you have to navigate people who work in finance to see the art. The Square Mile has once again been littered with public art. This is the twelfth edition of Sculpture In The City. It is spreading major artworks all around the squares, alcoves, doorways and streets.
Let’s begin with Victor Lim Seaward’s ‘Nest Series’. Not enough art doubles up as animal accommodation. But Victor Lim Seaward’s gloopy, weird, gorgeous 3D-printed enamel sculptures are also functional birds’ nests. The inside is insulated. There’s drainage. Coconut hemp nesting material is used. Each one has been designed to conform to RSPB guidelines. It’s probably the only way you can live rent-free in central London. You just have to be a bird.
Next, we have Simeon Barclay’s ‘Pittu Pithu Pitoo’. Simeon Barclay is one of the UK’s smartest young conceptually-focused artists. His sculpture is of a chicken on its own little mini-mountain. It is meant to symbolize being on the outside. It represents the periphery. It’s about never managing to be accepted. It’s like a cock on a rock.
Now, let’s look at Mika Rottenberg’s ‘Untitled Ceiling Projection’. Mika Rottenberg’s show at Goldsmith’s CCA a few years back was great. It was a riot of surreal humor and hyper-color. It was tech-focused, anti-capitalist weirdness. This installation is on a ceiling-covering screen. It pushes her obsession with plastic tat to a new extreme.
Ugo Rondinone made a name for himself with bold, colorful stacks of rocks. But there’s nothing bold and colorful about this piece. It’s a massive ashen, grey depiction of an ancient olive tray in white-painted olive tree. It’s about how ‘time can be experienced as a lived abstraction’. Or so it is said. This is Ugo Rondinone’s ‘summer moon’.
Finally, we have Larry Bell’s ‘Pacific Red (IV)’. Minimalist supremo Larry Bell knows a thing or two about messing with light. He’s been making these huge glass sculptures since the late 1960s. This recent iteration is a glowing, fiery sun trap/reflector. It changes throughout the day as different kinds of light hit it. It does also look like a huge red nuclear button. It’s just waiting to be pressed. This is worrying.
Remember to explore London’s public art. Seek out the unexpected. Find the hidden gems. Let the art transform your perception of the city. Each sculpture tells a story. Each installation sparks a dialogue. Sculpture In The City offers a unique lens. It allows us to see London in a new light.