The 14th edition of Sculpture in the City is here and I have been wandering around looking at some of the exhibits.
Here are the ones I found, along with their location and a link to a detailed description. There are also some new arrivals outside the Barbican Library.
The churchyard of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate EC2M 3TL ..
You can download a map and further details of the sculptures here.
On my way home on Sunday, I came across these interesting ceramics by Ebony Russell on display at 99 Bishopsgate …
You can read more about them here. Unfortunately the exhibition was scheuled to finish on August 26 but it might be worth checking to see if it has been extended.
Finally, new sculptures have been installed outside the Barbican Library …
Once again I’m back at the Barbican Library for an extraordinary exhibition with very different but fascinating themes.
Alison Aye’s first work, entitled Exile Textiles, was started 31st March 2020 and finished on 29th September that year. It illustrates a horrendous period of her life as she cared for her mother, who had terminal cancer, and her father who suffered a stroke. She also lost her job during this period which, of course, coincided with the Covid lockdown. Also included are later pieces from Exile Textiles II: The New Normal and Exile Textile III: The Prequel.
Before you glance at my images I urge you to have a look at Alison’s blog which explains the works in more detail. I promise you it’s not all doom and gloom – it’s very funny in places. For example, do you remember YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY HERE JACKIE WEAVER! Or Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell yelling ‘Get outta my pub!’ Or Dominic Cummings allegedly calling Carrie Symonds, now Mrs Johnson, ‘Princess Nut Nuts’. I certainly do – and they are all referenced here.
Alison has the following to say about the other work on display, Civilisation:
‘In ‘Civilisation’, I’m questioning the bias of my early art education, which came mainly from Lord-Sir-Baron-Kenneth-Clark, born into a wealthy ‘textiles family’, and his popular television BBC programme/book, ‘Civilisation’. I’ve made stitched collages from said book (published by BBC/John Murray, this edition 1971), combined with discarded gallery (mainly Tate) magazines. Lord-Sir-Baron-Kenneth omitted female artists from his account, which is what started me off on these collages, but as the project progressed I have annoyingly fallen in love with the snobby bastard. I don’t agree with what he is saying a lot of the time, but his style of writing is superb and an utter joy to read.’
Images from Civilisation:
Alison’s history of Royal Academy submissions …
She finally made it into the Royal Academy Summer Show last year after 31 attempts …
The winning work (not on display at the Library) …
The latest exhibition in the Guildhall Library is well worth a visit. The first Guildhall Library was founded in 1425 with money left in the will of Richard Whittington so this year is its 600th anniversary. Over those six centuries the story of an astute late medieval merchant, politician and philanthropist evolved into a rags-to-riches tale of penniless orphan who came by wealth and fame with the help of his cat. This exhibition examines that transformation, featuring chapbooks, children’s books, works relating to pantomimes and of course cats …
Entry is free and you get, not only an excellent printed guide, but also a very informative booklet about the man and the myth written by Assistant Librarian Ann Martin …
The printed guides are complemented by panels which tell Whittington’s story in more detail along with helpful illustrations …
A cache of over 300 books, toys, puzzles, theatre programmes and lantern slides — themed around the man who was Lord Mayor of London four times — was bequeathed to the Guildhall by Ellery Yale Wood, the prolific children’s book collector. Wood had been collecting the items for decades, storing them in her home in Wisbech, Lincolnshire, which had a warehouse attached to house her staggering collection of children’s books. Most of the items in the exhibition come from this collection.
Here are some of the treasures on display.
‘An old ballad of Whittington and his cat’ printed between 1754 and 1780 in Aldermary Church-Yard …
Three histories of Whittington printed and sold c. 1790. The one on the right includes ‘… the adventures of his cat’ :
One of my favourites …
The cat case …
Such a diverse collection …
An ‘untearable’ children’s book from 1860 …
In Pantoland!
A shaped German book from the 1940s …
The story in three dimensions …
It’s a fabulous exhibition, my pictures illustrate only a tiny part of it. But hurry along if you want to visit, it closes in a few weeks on 21 August.
