Why this gallery without walls is a welcome back to art in London
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Any visitor to Piccadilly this summer could not miss the riot of colour and celebration brought to the area by five of the world’s leading artists. A Piccadilly Circus big-screen takeover, an overhead gallery of glorious hanging canvases and extraordinary pedestrian crossings with geometric interlocking shapes and colours. In a project with the Royal Academy, Art of London have created a gallery without walls, or perhaps more accurately without the walls of the Royal Academy itself.
The idea of a celebratory outdoor space for artists and architects has manifold advantages for those who encounter it. It is intended as a welcome, a positive expression of life and creativity after a long period of closure, uncertainty and, for many, a period of loss. Art can lift us up, can even cause us to take joy in stepping out again, and rediscovering our city.
This might involve stepping onto one of Vanessa Jackson RA’s pedestrian crossings, uniquely designed for this project. Jackson named her site-specific works UpTown Dancing, hoping that those coming to Piccadilly would not only walk but be inspired to dance across them, feeling the rhythm of the interlocking forms, feeling confident to be back in the beating heart of the metropolis.
Encountering art can transform the space we are in, taking time to contemplate it, enabling us to see it afresh, encouraging us to respond. The architect, Farshid Moussavi RA’s geometric hanging canvases overhead respond to this idea – the linear designs are based on her building commission in Marseilles, La Folie Divine, where residents can move the dividing partitions around in their apartments to create new and personalised spaces. Moussavi’s designs in the project change colour across the hanging canvases, weaving a variety of hues of pink and orange together – the same but different.
Both Jackson and Moussavi want us to be conscious of the space we are in and the spaces that surround us – perhaps after lockdown we are more aware of this ourselves as the world opens up again and as we contemplate it afresh. The same but different.
In another set of hanging canvases, Yinka Shonibare RA has re-presented one of Piccadilly’s icons – familiarly known as Eros though in fact depicting Anteros, the god of selfless and mature love. In Shonibare’s works the figure is shooting roses as if to the pedestrians walking on the pavements below – generous and joyful. The dynamic god is set against a backdrop that depicts (along the left-hand edge) some of the batik-printed fabrics so critical in Shonibare’s work.
Although often denoting African-ness to viewers, batik fabric itself was a variant of Indonesian print, mass-produced in Holland and subsequently sold to West Africa. It is a detail here but one that reminds the more eagle-eyed viewers of the multiple cross-cultural references in Shonibare’s work. In this context it causes us to reflect on our own cultural mix more generally. Our brilliance as a cosmopolitan capital city should celebrate our inclusiveness - our rich mix of backgrounds, cultures and cultural transfers.
Isaac Julien RA’s screen takeover causes us to pause for a moment and consider the life of Frederick Douglass, the formerly enslaved African American who became the most-photographed American of the 19th century. Image-making was critical to Douglass – he wanted to ensure that he was viewed as the person he was, and not denoted by the often crude caricatures in other artistic representations and media.
Accurate artistic representation ensured humanity – and humanity and the humanity of the enslaved or the dispossessed was central to the educational message Douglass championed about liberty and human rights. Art and representation here held a critical function – presenting, persuading, personalising, publicising.
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In Dream and Refuge – one of Michael Armitage’s hanging canvases depicting a female figure curled against a red background – the artist asks us to contemplate the experience of the displaced woman with her rich interior world conjured up in the objects that surround her. Not just an object of pity but a person with joys and sorrows and the power of imagination to give her hope. Art can tackle these difficult subjects among the colour and the celebration, offering us a chance to consider and reconsider our own views and perceptions.
The four Royal Academicians and one former RA Schools student who have opened our eyes wider and transformed our horizons in this Piccadilly project represent what is best about the art world in the UK and beyond. Art does not only delight us but surprises, it works not only to celebrate but also to challenge. Art can create community and engagement, can open-up difficult conversations and find new ways to understanding.
Step inside London’s museums and galleries
Not everyone who walks along Piccadilly would consider visiting the Royal Academy, or indeed any of the numerous national galleries within the local area. Perhaps there are those who are uncertain that it is the place for them, perhaps some are unsure of the welcome or of the content. This project extends a welcome. It is a hope that more people will be inspired by what can be seen outdoors and will step indoors - into London’s museums and galleries.
If you like or are moved by the work of the artists on The Piccadilly Art Takeover, step inside and experience the works within Burlington House and Burlington Gardens. And yes the Royal Academy has a completely free Collection Gallery and other free displays as well as the paying exhibitions. We are a gallery and a museum, but we are also a living community of artists, and we have an art school within our walls. This project is a welcome back to London and to the Heart of London but it is also a welcome (back) to art galleries and museums for any and all who would like to step in.
The Piccadilly Art Takeover, in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts and Art of London, runs until 31 August 2021. Visit artoflondon.co.uk for further details on their season of public art.
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