Ready yourselves for an outdoor contemporary art bonanza !
The hugely inspiring Sculpture in the City trail has returned once again. Now in its 10th year its a FREE glorious open-air art experience for all ages to enjoy. The tour took us just over an hour and is a brilliant family walk all around the Square Mile. You could pick just a few and leave the others for another day if little legs get weary. The city is still so quiet and peaceful as many workers still haven't returned plus there are heaps of quiet coffee shops and restaurants if you are in need of refreshment. Click here to download the sculpture map before you head out.
01 BURIAL Alice Channer
Nestled in St Botolph-without-bishopsgate Churchyard these two stretched rocks are just about the same length as a human body. The hollow forms are positioned as if they were in mourning. There's a real sense of peace to the sculptures.
02 SILENT AGITATOR Ruth Ewan
Kids will love the workers' clog clock hands on the face of this large clock installation. Previously on display along the Highline in NYC this is a great one to seek out. The clock is based on an illustration produced by Ralph Chaplin in 1917 for the Industrial Workers of the World Union.
03 KEEPING TIME Isabella Martin
Look to the skies and you will see the giant banners fixed to the top of 99 Bishopsgate. The banners display a text taken from Italo Calvino’s short story ‘Shells and Time’.
04 ROUGH NECK BUSINESS Mike Ballard
Make from wooden hoardings from several buildings sites across London Mike Ballard has transformed single wooden ply sheets into a very clever 3D puzzle. The structure has a strong eco feel to it.
05 IN LOVING MEMORY Oliver Bragg
Some are optimistic, others are more fantastical but we absolutely loved Bragg's 7 brass bench plaques installed on various city benches throughout the city. This was our very favourite!
06 HARLEQUIN FOUR Mark Handforth
This multi-coloured vast fourteen-foot number 4 will be a total hit with children. Number 4 is the artists favourite number and he describes it as being ‘the beginning of every drawing’, as well as an incomplete star.
07 COSMOS Eva Rothschild
This giant metal installation looks like a wonderfully colourful climbing frame. The slatted frames lean in and support each other and have a vibrant rainbow finish on the inside with a black exterior.
08 MURMURS OF THE DEEP Laura Arminda Kingsley
A total visual jellyfish joy awaits you underneath the vast escalators of the Leadenhall Building. Immerse yourself in this deep underwater world.
09/10 UNTITLED Tatiana Wolska
Using recycled plastic bottles Wolska has used thermo-welding to create the most beautiful red voluminous sculptures which hang just beautifully from the roof of Leadenhall Market. A super one for children who will also love all the neon signs in Gods Own Junkyard.
11 SYMBOLS Guillaume Vandame
A vibrant and wonderfully colourful installation of 30 unique flags from the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the original Pride Flag designed in 1978 to the newest creation completed in 2018 it's a sheer delight.
12 ORPHANS Bram Ellens
Created from old canvases and paintings found in thrift shops and sculpted into egg-like creations this family of artworks tucked away in Cullum Street had a real feeling of calm and rebirth about it.
13 LATENT SPACE Jake Elwes
This one will be a total wow for little visitors. The largest ceiling mounted LED screen in the world has been installed in the courtyard entrance of 120 Fenchurch Street. The screen shows a video snapshot of an A.I. algorithm. Lay on the floor, listen to the soundscape and enjoy the swirling whirling colours.
14 BLOOM PARADISE Jun T. Lai
The most wonderful pop art brightly coloured flowers fill the square in front of Fenchurch Street station. Lai's aim to bring positive energy, joy and a gift of life has definitely been accomplished. A total joy.
15 REACTIVITY Regitze Engelsborg Karlsen
These rather haunting shrouded figures generate a real feel of peace as you enter Cunard Place. Crated with gravel and stone on a canvas figure they are really beautiful in a very understated way.
16 REDHEAD SUNSET STACK Almuth Tebbenhoff
Forming a toy like tower this structure is capturing the artists vision of a beautiful sunset. The sea is at the bottom and the orange and red frames are the sun-setting. Set just by a local school it was lovely to hear the laughter of children at play so close by.
17 STONE (BUTCH) Rosanne Robertson
This oyster like plaster cast sculpture was created by casting directly into crevices in natural rocks in St Ives. Inspired by the lesbian and trans novel 'Stone Butch Blues' written by Les Feinburg it rejoices the landscape of the queer body.
18 METAL MAN - DEEPER TOGETHER, DEEP TRAVEL INK Laure Prouvost
Peer through the window of the lobby of 70 St Mary Axe and you will see these two TV stick men kneeling before each other chattering away via their head-screens.
19 THE GARDENS OF FLOATING WORDS Elisa Artesero
Visit as the sunsets and you will see a garden of floating poetic words amongst the foliage of the planters outside 70 St Mary Axe.
We couldn't recommend it more highly. Everyone MUST go.
Julia Colls, 16 June 2021
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