Strolling by Life-Size Sculptures in Regent’s Park

When it’s not raining this week in London, take a couple moments to wander past some interesting life-size sculptures in Regent’s Park. The free Frieze Sculpture exhibit ends on this Sunday, October 6^th.

More than a month ago on one of my weekdays off, I cycled from our home in Battersea to check out this year’s sculpture exhibit, which is set up among the English Gardens in the southeastern corner of the park. There are more than 20 sculptures designed by internationally known contemporary and modern artists. I would say that the designs themselves range from bizarre to blah and interesting to what-the-hell-is this. I may be creative in the kitchen, but I don’t really understand art sometimes.

Below, you’ll find the photos I took of the 2019 Frieze Sculpture exhibit. Please let me know what your thoughts are in the comments.

Cheers,

Joy

P.S. If the weather does cooperate, bring some snacks and a picnic blanket. Regent’s Park is perfect for an afternoon picnic!

ONE through ZERO in Cor-ten steel by American artist Robert Indiana, 1980-2002.
It is “a monumental example of the Indiana’s long-held fascination with the power of numbers with One representing birth, ascending through adolescence to maturity, ending with Zero, which stands for death.”

A 4-meter-long, bronze figure entitled When I Sleep, by British artist Tracey Emin, 2018.
“A bronze sculpture portrays a reclining female figure. Curled up in a fetal pose, her vulnerability forms a contrast to the weight and density of the sculpture’s material.”

A full-size reproduction of a 1973 Jaguar E-Type Matchbox toy car (“Mnemonic Vehicle No. 2”) by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz speaks of childhood memories and questions value within art history.

I love rabbits!

Usagi Kannon II by Leiko Ikemura, 2013-2018. 

“This monumental bronze sculpture of a figure with rabbit ears and a human face in tears symbolizes universal mourning, its walk-in bell-shaped skirt evoking a protective shrine or temple sculpture.”

A pure white 3-meter-high rendition of a Japanese cartoon character, My Melody, by New York-based sculptor Tom Sachs, 2008.

Autonomous Morris by British artist Zak Ové, 2018, made from deconstructed car parts.
It is a “motorized ‘macco’ – a person who involves themselves in other people’s business for the purpose of gossip and posterity.”

Tudor Ball by American sculptor Lars Fisk, 2019, made from wood, stucco, thatching and glass.

“In this case, Fisk presents an example of quintessential English vernacular architecture 

as a painstakingly crafted icon.”

Solar Disc III by Emily Young, 2018, made from Onyx stone. 
“The disc conjures the shape of our solar system, our planet, the sun, the moon, the eye, the mother’s breast, and the galaxy.”

Receiver by American-Pakistani artist Huma Bhabha, 2019, bronze and styrofoam.
This “highlights Bhabha’s interest in transforming everyday materials into otherworldly forms, that hover between abstraction and figuration, monumentality and entropy.”

Strange Temporalities by Ghazaleh Avarzamani, 2019,
made from a segmented slide on metal poles.
This one “embodies the failed assurance of safe enjoyment. It exposes the paradoxical reliaties behind educational methodologies, personal aspirations and cultural manuals.”

Composition by Barry Flanagan, 2008, bronze.
“Flanagan’s emblematic Nijinski hare is supported by a trio of elephants, caught during their circus balancing act, demonstrating the artist’s ability to combine wit and gravitas…”

Celloswarm by London-based artist Bill Woodrow, 2002,
made from bronze, steel and gold leaf.
“Celloswarm explores the result of a swarm of bees alighting on and
covering an inanimate object.”

Laura Asia’s Dream by Jaume Plensa, 2018, bronze.
“The artist’s constant use of new materials informs his ongoing search for a universal depiction of a reflective inner world.”

Untitled by Beijing artist Ma Desheng, 2011, bronze. 
“Ma’s stone series comments on the fragile coexistence between people and government – a precarious balancing act that can come crashing down at any moment.”

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