Yuko Mohri in Concert – what’s the background to the exhibition? I don’t think I can do better than (lazily!) reproduce the explanation at the entrance …
In Mohri’s ongoing Decomposition series (2021-), sensors plugged in to ripening fruit read the fruits’ changing moisture levels, converting their electrical resistance into sound and light. In The Curve, Mohri pairs the fruit with salvaged Barbican streetlamps, reflecting on the entangled lifecycles of organic and inert matter, while eroding the boundary between the gallery and the natural and built environments outside …
Two more sections are entitled Urban Mining …
And Moré Moré (Leaky) …
Entry is free, as is the invaluable exhibition guide …
A quite extraordinary visit to The Curve, I really enjoyed it …
In other news.
A while ago I wrote about my excursion down Sherriff Road, West Hampstead, just across the road from West Hampstead Underground Station. I included a picture of this mural but didn’t include an explanation. Here are both now …
One of those images where you just grab the moment …
The Bank Underground roundel and St Stephen Walbrook, built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1672 and 1679 after the Great Fire of London destroyed its medieval predecessor. Wren used the project as a testing ground for his plans for St Paul’s Cathedral, its defining architectural feature being Britain’s first domed ceiling …
In the background, by way of contrast, the 912 foot 22 Bishopsgate with its public viewing gallery …
Do pop in to the church if you have the chance. When I visited in 2014, I was stopped in my tracks by this monument to John Lilburne (d.1678), citizen and grocer, of the Lilburn family of Sunderland, and his wife Isabella. It’s the earliest monument in the Church …
I loved the little standing figures of the couple, he with cloak and long flowing hair above a tunic, with big cuffs and slender shoes, she a slim figure with long, flaring skirt, puffed out bodice and drapes over and behind her head. A charming pose with her arms crossed in front of her.
But what really caught my eye was the memento mori, a sculpture of a woman dancing with Death, who is a skeleton wearing a long skirt …
Inside a glass case you’ll see this famous phone …
This resembles a country estate. Where do you think it is?
An elegant family home overlooks the carefully landscaped gardens …
The coat of arms of the Bute family who acquired the lease to the house and gardens in 1889 …
Classy statuary …
Pretty views into the distance …
Well, you may be surprised to find out, as I was when I visited, that it’s a little hidden enclave in Regent’s Park. It is very easy to miss the entrance with its discreet signage …
The statue above is entitled The Goatherd’s Daughter. It’s a Grade II listed bronze of a woman carrying a young goat and was erected in honour of Harold and Gertrude Baillie Weaver by the National Council for Animal Welfare in 1932. Designed by Charles Leonard Harwell, it won him the Royal British Society of Sculptors Silver Medal. The inscription reads: “To all the Protectors of the Defenceless”.
This sculpture by Unus Safardier (b. 1968) is entitled The Awakening and is inscribed on the plinth “In fond memory of Anne Lydia Evans 1929-1999 who shared the secret of this garden” …
Anne was a local GP who, in 1980, took a year off to become professor of family health at the American University in Beirut. After witnessing the ferocity of the war in Lebanon, she was drawn, when she returned to London, to work with the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
The Statue above the pond is Hylas and the Nymph by Henry Pegram, completed 1922 and installed here in 1933 …
You can read more about the work and see more images here.
A beautiful place for calm and contemplation …
Incidentally, just inside the entrance is this memorial to the journalist Anne Sharpley (1928-1989) …
A true Fleet Street character. According to her Wikipedia entry, she reputedly told Ann Leslie that a female foreign correspondent should: ‘First, sleep with the resident Reuters correspondent and then with the chief of police. That way you’ll pick up stories before anyone else’. She was known for scooping other reporters with her account of Winston Churchill‘s funeral, by vandalising a telephone after filing it, thereby delaying her rivals’ reports. At work in the newsroom, reportedly Randolph Churchill nicknamed her ‘Shapely Sharpley’ …
It was originally built in 1818 by John Raffield and was the second villa in the park to be occupied. In 1847 it belonged to the wealthy and eminent Goldsmid brothers and was greatly enlarged by Charles Barry. In 1889 the lease was acquired by the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who commissioned Robert Weir Schultz to improve the garden layout. The building was later used as a hospital for disabled officers during the First World War, it was the Headquarters of St. Dunstan’s from 1921-1937 and the Institute of Archaeology 1937-58. An image from the late 1940s …
It is now a private residence, with public access to the gardens. I strongly recommend reading more about its fascinating history as a hospital and a rehabilitation centre here.
It was a nice surprise to find that Frieze Sculpture had returned to the park and will remain there until 1 November 2026. It is its fourth year curated by Fatoş Üstek and includes 11 leading international artists whose work will be sited throughout gardens.
Here is a selection.
I shall publish a few more images next week.
I loved the shape of this old tree …
As seen from the Regent’s Park Inner Circle on the way to the St John’s Garden, Cotoneaster rothschildianus, an semi-evergreen shrub or small tree famed for its clusters of creamy-yellow berries …
And Amaranthuscaudatus …
An eye-catching annual plant famously known by the common names love-lies-bleeding, pendant amaranth, cat’s tail and, apparently, ladies’ riding whip (!).
In other news.
Am I weird for really liking these?
Big slabs of chocolate. My mum used to make a version of the cornflake one (happy days) …
The seriously posh and French Ladurée at Broadgate …
Closer to home, a Barbican artist at work …
At Moorgate station …
Professor Google tells me ‘A Schweerbau rail grinder is a specialised compact maintenance machine used to profile, smooth, and remove surface defects or corrugation from railway tracks’.
Love this mad character. Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humour …
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I couldn’t think of a unifying theme for the blog this week so it’s going to be a collection of items from my various wanderings and travels. I hope you find some of them interesting.
I thought I’d start with the pointy sculpture on the south side of London Bridge …
Created in 1999, apparently its proper name is the Southwark Needle but, strangely, there is no plaque explaining its significance.
This has led to speculation. My favourite theory is based on what you would encounter as you approached London Bridge from the south in earlier, more brutal centuries. This is Claes Von Visscher’s Panorama of London dated around 1600 …
If you look in the bottom right hand corner …
Beheading was a common form of execution at the time and reserved for higher-born individuals since it was swifter and less barbaric than hanging or burning at the stake. Heads also became available when individuals suffered the terrible death of being hanged, drawn and quartered (usually for high treason).
The first head to be displayed in this way was the Scottish patriot and rebel William Wallace in 1305 after he had been hanged, drawn and quartered at Smithfield. Between then and 1678 when the practice was stopped, there was a near-permanent display of decapitated heads grinning down from their spikes that pedestrians would have passed beneath. There was a plentiful supply, a visitor in 1592 counted 34 ‘heads of persons of distinction’.
So one theory was that the spike was a gruesome reference to those times.
In fact, the giant stone splinter is an architectural marker. According to the excellent Look up London blog, it’s actually about following the line of the base of the sculpture. This gestures across the River Thames to St Magnus the Martyr Church which originally marked the North entrance to Old London Bridge …
Nowadays you’re welcomed by a City of London dragon (and maybe a friendly pigeon) …
If you cross the bridge and visit St Magnus, you can stand on the main pedestrian entrance to the old bridge …
As I walked through it I couldn’t help thinking about the thousands and thousands who preceded me. Were they heading into the City to make their fortune perhaps? Or maybe leaving in bitter disappointment.
Back on the bridge, I love the views looking along the Thames, even on a miserable day like this …
Southwark Cathedral with The Strata Building with its three wind turbines in the background.
Some interesting street art …
The Shard reflecting the sky …
Walking north, a building in Moorgate overloaded with symbolism …
Since 1893 this golden lady has been standing at the top of 13-15 Moorgate facing the Bank of England …
Her image is repeated on the side of the building …
This was originally the London headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Assurance Society. The lady comes from its coat of arms (granted in 1885) which show her holding a skull (mortality) in her left hand with a serpent (signifying wisdom) entwined on her right.
The building also incorporates an attractive set of figures representing Prudence, Justice, Truth and Thrift – presumably all Virtues that the Insurer would like to be identified with …
An angel extinguishes a torch …
A common sculpture in Victorian cemeteries. A lit torch normally symbolises life and truth. When an angel turns the torch upside down or puts out the flame, it signifies that the mortal life of the person has come to an end. Could this representation above the door have been intended as an elegant reminder to employees as to why life insurance was important to their customers?
The recent horrendous heat was not nice but there were some nice skies for photography.
This building is on the north side of Finsbury Square …
Formerly Triton Court, it’s now known as the Alphabeta Building. Many years ago I would sometimes travel by train into the now demolished Broad Street Station. As the train approached the terminus I could see from my carriage what looked like a little boy standing on a large ball at the very top of the building. It looked like he was waving at me!
Well, he’s still there …
Now, however, I know the statue standing on top of the globe is Mercury (Hermes) the messenger and God of profitable trade. It’s by James Alexander Stevenson and was completed in the early 1900s. Though it would be impossible to see from the ground it’s apparently – as with all Stevenson’s work – signed with ‘Myrander’ a combination of his wife’s name (Myra) and his middle name (Alexander). Sweet. The renovated building is quite stunning inside as you can see here.
Feeling adventurous, I caught the single decker 214 bus and headed towards Highgate. Here are some of the sights I saw along the way.
Great rogue apostrophe …
On reaching Camden Town, scary tongue symptoms at the Chinese clinic …
Interesting architecture of The Black Cap pub …
The Palladium of Drag! Welcome to all!
Read lots more in this fascinating BBC report here.
As I strolled through Highgate Village …
The cakes look nice too.
The Angel pub with its headless angel …
…and interesting blue plaque …
I love this anecdote from Ray Davies of The Kinks:
“We used to meet up in the Angel. I remember when a woman collapsed outside the pub one night. Graham was a trained doctor and ran out to help. He tore off the woman’s blouse and said don’t worry I’m a doctor, and she said, no you’re not, you’re a comedian!”
Lots of choice at U Dessert …
Card in a shop window that made me laugh …
This also made me smile …
A plaque commemorating a stone step that you can no longer see …
A post box from the reign of King George V (1910-1936) …
I know it’s old but it seems to have taken quite a beating. They must have some fearsome weather up here.
I turned right into Waterlow Park to pay my respects to the wonderful philanthropist Sir Sydney Waterlow …
He is prepared for inclement weather with his umbrella, hat and overcoat. In his left hand he is passing over the keys to the park for everyone’s enjoyment. A ‘garden for the gardenless’ as he put it.
Everyone knows the story of Dick Whittington, the poor lad who against all the odds became Lord Mayor of London. Trudging back home up Highgate Hill, disillusioned after not succeeding in the City, he heard the bells of St Mary-le-Bow ring out with the message “Turn again, Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London!” Gathering up his loyal cat, he headed back the way he had come, and the rest is history. Or not.
Although the story is a total myth, it burned itself into folklore so deeply that the point on Highgate Hill where he supposedly heard the bells is commemorated this charming little memorial …
Carved on the side of the stone facing the road are the dates of Whittington’s Mayoralties, the three Kings he served under and the year he was Sheriff …
It also records that the stone was restored by W Hillier in 1935.
You can read a comprehensive history of the stone and the cat here on the London Remembers website. I recall the cat (made from Irish limestone) being added in 1964 since I walked up the hill almost every day on my way to school. The cat also lives on in the signage of the nearby Whittington Hospital and local pub …
Whilst waiting for the bus home, I encountered this informal tree advertising …
‘Tommy’ will get into trouble if he’s not careful.
Finally, last Sunday, there was a celebration of Carnival at the Barbican …
… and I had the great pleasure of sharing a lift with some of the lovely cast …
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