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Callum Thomson

@2lsnop

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Sporadically updated collection of art and architecture spotted in my spare time
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Reading Piece, Peter Sainty, 1982⁣ ⁣ An exhibition of @peterjohnsainty’s work recently opened at @orielcanfas, around the corner from me in Cardiff. In Reading is a rare example of his public art, located on the canalised River Kennet near its confluence with the Thames.⁣ ⁣ Reading Piece is about a storey high. Its four fanned-out layers of steel may be a reference to the water wheels of the nearby site of the Abbey Mill, used by the medieval monks of Reading Abbey to grind corn. But I also saw an upturned open book – perhaps a pun on the name of the town?⁣ ⁣ It was commissioned by the mega-developer Heron Corporation during the UK’s first wave of post-industrial waterside regeneration in the early 1980s. Heron House, the office building it belongs to, is currently occupied by @visauk and known as Kennet Wharf. In 2017 @readingcouncil bought the freehold for £20 million, and in doing so got an impressive piece of contemporary sculpture thrown in.⁣ ⁣ Liverpudlian Peter Sainty (born 1943) has been based in South Wales since the late 1970s and is a long-standing member of the Old Library Artists co-operative based at Oriel Canfas. #petersainty #reading #berkshire #riverkennet #kennetandavoncanal #publicart #artofthe1980s #watersideart #heroncorporation taken in Reading, Berkshire by @2lsnop
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3 years ago
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Judas, Elisabeth Frink, 1963⁣ ⁣ Tucked away beside the reception desk in Birmingham City University’s Parkside Building – nearly obscured by a couple of roller banners – is a sculpture Frink said she was “deeply attached to because it marked a major change in my work”.⁣ ⁣ Judas extends his arm in a welcoming gesture, but turns his head away, eyes covered by shades in a precursor of Frink’s more well-known Goggle Heads.⁣ It’s a bit unfortunate that his current positioning makes it look like he’s reaching for the fire alarm. ⁣ The John Feeney Charitable Trust – the lasting legacy of the owner of the Birmingham Post, who died in 1905 – bought Judas in 1964 for the Birmingham College of Art.⁣ ⁣ It was installed the following year at the college’s new building in Gosta Green, which latterly became BCU’s Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD). The university moved out in 2013, taking Judas to Parkside, and the BIAD building was demolished in 2020. #elisabethfrink #frink #judas #sculpture #bronzesculpture #artofthe1960s #femaleartist #johnfeeneycharitabletrust #birmingham #birminghamuk #birminghamcityuniversity #birminghamcollegeofart #gostagreen #britishart taken in BCU Parkside Building by @2lsnop
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5 years ago
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Happy 25th birthday to one of Cardiff’s most prominent pieces of public art.⁣ ⁣ Along a 250-metre stretch of the A48 Eastern Avenue at the Gabalfa Interchange, the concrete retaining walls are enlivened with dozens of arrowheads and elongated triangles in red, blue, yellow and green. The multicoloured fibreglass panels follow the direction of the road, pointing the way in and out of the city.⁣ ⁣ In 1996 the Welsh Development Agency paid 80% of the £91,000 installation cost as part of a ‘gateway’ programme to improve drivers’ first impressions of the capital, and South Glamorgan County Council (in its final few months of existence) provided the rest.⁣ ⁣ I couldn’t find any information online about who the artist is, and the work isn’t on Cardiff Council’s public art register. South Wales Echo coverage from the time doesn’t give any clues either, although there are some classic vox pops from people suggesting how the money could be better spent. The answer may lie buried in the SGCC papers at the Glamorgan Archives.⁣ ⁣ How about a birthday clean, @cardiff_council?⁣ ⁣ #triangles #triangle #arrows #arrow #arrowheads #roadsideart #cardiff #gabalfa #gabalfainterchange #publicart #welshdevelopmentagency #southglamorgancountycouncil #artofthe1990s #fibreglass #a48 #ilovesthediff #WalesOnline #wearecardiff @glamarchives @c20cymru taken in Gabalfa Interchange by @2lsnop
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6 years ago
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Archimedes, FE McWilliam, 1961 [?]⁣ ⁣ I couldn’t find any photos of this sculpture online, and when you visit the site on the south-east edge of Shrewsbury, there’s nothing telling you the artist’s name. But this intricate bronze of the mathematician, scientist and engineer, Archimedes, is by the Irish sculptor Frederick Edward (“Ted”) McWilliam (1909–92).⁣ ⁣ Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology’s London Road campus opened in 1961, and it’s likely that Archimedes dates from then – although some online sources give the date as early as 1956. I’ll have to get hold of Denise Ferran and Valerie Holman’s book, ‘The Sculpture of FE McWilliam’, to find out for sure.⁣ ⁣ I was really taken with the combination of the triangular forms of the legs and torso, spindly reaching arms, and the fossil-like detail on the flanks (made by pushing objects into the clay before casting). #femcwilliam #archimedes #sculpture #publicart #publicsculpture #shrewsbury #shropshire @shrewscolgroup @femcwilliam #artofthe1960s #1960s #irishartist #irishart #bronze #bronzesculpture #midcentury #midcenturyart by @2lsnop
3
6 years ago
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Transmitter, Ray Smith, 1996⁣ ⁣ During lockdown, with live arts and entertainment shut down, I’ve been extra-appreciative of public art. This is on my regular cycle route taking in the Ely Trail, Cardiff Bay barrage and River Taff, just beyond the Cardiff city limits in the Vale of Glamorgan.⁣ ⁣ In 1897, four miles down the coast from here, Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted a radio signal across open sea for the first time. A Morse code message travelled the three miles from Flat Holm island in the Bristol Channel to Lavernock Point. The momentous first words that helped lay the foundations for global telecommunications: “Are you ready? Can you hear me?”⁣ ⁣ The Penarth Haven development was built nearly a century later, on the edge of what had once been Penarth Dock. The dock’s western half had been drained and used as a rubbish tip for much of the 1970s and 80s. In the 1990s, as part of the massive Cardiff Bay regeneration project that also included the construction of the barrage, the tonnes of waste were sealed in plastic and clay, covered with grass and turned into ‘Plymouth Park’.⁣ ⁣ At one end of the park there’s a supermarket, and shoppers there chose Ray Smith’s homage to Marconi from a shortlist of five projects. Tesco commissioned the sculpture in conjunction with the Cardiff Bay Arts Trust (CBAT), a now-defunct arts agency that has left a somewhat hit-and-miss legacy of dozens of public artworks across south Cardiff. CBAT later merged into a short-lived body called Safle before Arts Council Wales stopped funding them in 2010.⁣ ⁣ Ray Smith (1949–2018) used original diagrams of Marconi’s equipment when designing Transmitter. At the centre is the large induction coil which, when connected to the adjacent eight-cell battery, apparently produced “20-inch sparks” when in use. The kite at the top of the mast raised the aerial as high as possible.⁣ ⁣ #raysmith #transmitter #marconi #guglielmomarconi #publicart #penarth #penarthhaven @tescofood #cardiff #valeofglamorgan #plymouthpark #radio #telecommunications #cardiffbay #cardiffbaydevelopmentcorporation #cardiffbayartstrust #penarthdock #sculpture #publicsculpture #artofthe1990s #britishartist taken in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan by @2lsnop
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6 years ago
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Mythical Beast, Gwen Heeney, 1991-92 In October I spent a day exploring Festival Park in Ebbw Vale, the site in 1992 of the last of the UK’s five National Garden Festivals. Mythical Beast is the most spectacular of the artworks still on the site – 35 metres long and 5 metres high, it’s made of 30,000 clay bricks which had to be individually numbered before firing, then reassembled on site. Mythical Beast was commissioned by Garden Festival Wales, and sponsored by Ibstock Bricks plc (@ibstockbrick), Brunswick Contractors, and Curtins Engineers. Gwen Heeney (1952–2016) is now perhaps best known for her Beastie Benches (1994) in Cardiff Bay. Her influences for Mythical Beast include the prehistoric Serpent Mound in Ohio, Celtic dragons, medieval gargoyles and Gaudí’s work in Barcelona. There’s no trace of the original planting by landscape gardener Jane Morell – but Mythical Beast in its wild state is pretty breathtaking as you approach via neglected paths from the shopping centre above. #gwenheeney #gwenheeneybricksculptor #ceramics #brick #bricks #bricksculpture #bricksculptures #mythicalbeast #mythicalbeasts #ebbwvale #festivalpark #festivalparkebbwvale #nationalgardenfestival #nationalgardenfestival1992 #gardenfestivalwales #blaenaugwent #publicart #artofthe1990s #celticmythology @valentinekuhl @festivalparkev taken in Festival Park Ebbw Vale by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Rajasthan (Wall Painting), Bridget Riley, 2012 The Hayward Gallery’s huge Riley retrospective, in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland, was eye-poppingly good. Photos don’t do most of her pictures justice; you need to be up close (and also far away) to take them in. This one, made from graphite and acrylic straight onto the plaster wall, uses the white voids to create additional shapes amidst the striking colours. It’s from the collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. A highlight was on the upper floor, where you can see lots of Riley’s preliminary sketches on graph paper, showing how much thought goes into the shapes and interaction of colours. They’re peppered with Riley’s instructions to her assistants, who actually execute the final paintings. #bridgetriley #bridgetrileyart #bridgetrileystudios #bridgetrileypainting #rajasthan #hayward #haywardgallery #haywardgallerylondon #artofthe2010s #pattern #patterns #patterndesign #opart #britishart #britishartist taken in Hayward Gallery by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Once Bitten, Garth Evans, 1989-90 Pink Relief, Garth Evans, 1963 Phoenix Number 19, Garth Evans, 1980 The publicity material is majoring on the big fibreglass works from the 1960s, but I enjoyed the smaller, middle-period works in cardboard, foamcore and epoxy resin just as much. I got to wander round the exhibition almost alone, and was even introduced to the artist. Evans’s massive steel sculpture from 1972 returns to #Cardiff city centre next week – I can’t wait to see it! #garthevans @gevans34 #garthevanssculpture @chaptergallery @chaptertweets #britishsculpture #celf #britishart #britishartist #welshsculpture #artofthe1960s #artofthe1980s #foamcore #wales #chapterartscentre #chapterarts #chapterartscardiff taken in Chapter by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Cuilfail Spiral, Peter Randall-Page, 1983⁣ ⁣ Seven blocks of Portland stone forming an ammonite – a reference to the fossils found in the chalky Sussex cliffs through which the Cuilfail tunnel was drilled in 1980, allowing the busy A26 to bypass Lewes.⁣ ⁣ Randall-Page’s spiral, the artist’s first big public work, marks the building of the tunnel and was commissioned by:⁣ ⁣ * East Sussex County Council (@your_east_sussex),⁣ * South East Arts, one of the regional arts associations that was part of the Arts Council of Great Britain (the predecessor in England of @aceagrams), and⁣ * Mountfield Roadstone, the road-building firm that eventually ended up as part of @cemex⁣ ⁣ The folk of Lewes seem to have taken it to their heart – it’s sometimes called ‘Brian’, after the snail in The Magic Roundabout, and is frequently adorned with costumes and slogans to mark Bonfire Night, Christmas… and, most recently, Extinction Rebellion.⁣ ⁣ #cuilfailspiral #peterrandallpage #cuilfailtunnel #peterrandallpagesculpture #publicart #publicsculpture #ammonite #ammonites #lewes #sussex #eastsussex #eastsussexcountycouncil #YESlove #sussexsculpture #sussexart #artofthe1980s #portlandstone #southeastarts #mountfieldroadstone #brianthesnail taken in Lewes, East Sussex by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Nature to Nature, David Nash, 1985 @museumwales’s David Nash retrospective was completely magical. #davidnash #davidnashsculpture #cardiff #wood #woodsculpture #artofthe1980s #capelrhiw #elm #charredelm #charredwood #pyramid #sphere #cube #3dshapes #charcoaldrawing taken in Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd - National Museum Cardiff by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Millennium Stones, Richard Kindersley, 1998-99⁣ ⁣ Kindersley carved ten standing stones to mark the double millennium, inscribing them with quotations dating from each 200-year period between 0 and 2000. They range from the gospel of St John (“In the beginning the Word was…”) to TS Eliot’s Four Quartets (“At the still point of the turning world”). They’re carved from Caithness stone, quarried near Thurso.⁣ ⁣ The creation of the stones received funding from Arts Council England, the Crafts Council and Wolesley Fine Arts (a gallery in Notting Hill, London).⁣ ⁣ They were first exhibited on a UK-wide tour in 2000 and 2001, beginning at Keele University, and continuing to Roche Court in Wiltshire and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, as well as further sites in Yorkshire and Scotland.⁣ ⁣ The gallery sold the original stones to private buyers, but Kindersley was later commissioned to recreate the stones by one of the Sainsbury family’s charitable trusts.⁣ ⁣ In October 2003 the new set of stones was installed at Gatton Park in Surrey, at a place where the North Downs Way and the ancient Pilgrims’ Way (from Winchester to Canterbury) converge.⁣ ⁣ Despite its proximity to the M25, on the very outskirts of Greater London, it’s a contemplative place that Richard Kindersley says he visits once or twice a year. One day I’d love to see it at sunrise or sunset.⁣ ⁣ #richardkindersley @kindersleystudio #kindersley #millenniumstones #standingstones #stonecircle #stonecarving #lettering #lettercarving #publicart #publicsculpture #surrey #reigate #gattonpark #surreyart #northdowns #northdownsway #pilgrimsway @gardenofthewind @keeleuniversity @artskeele @newartcentre @oldroyalnavalcollege @gattonparkandgardens @aceagrams @craftscouncil #wolseleyfinearts #davidsainsbury #jerusalemtrust taken in Gatton Park by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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Junya Ishigami: Serpentine Pavilion 2019⁣ ⁣ 🇯🇵Japanese architect Ishigami uses more than 61 tonnes of slate from the last working slate mine in England, Honiston in Cumbria, to form the undulating roof, propped up with scores of slender columns. The rugged texture gives it a reptilian appearance, like a giant iguana reclining on a lawn.⁣ ⁣ #serpentinepavilion #serpentinegallery #serpentine #pavilion #pavilions #serpentinepavilion2019 #junyaishigami #japan #japanesearchitecture #japanesearchitect #slate #greenslate #honiston #honistonslatemine #cumbria #cumbrianslate taken in Serpentine Pavilion by @2lsnop
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7 years ago
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