Turning the City of London into an urban art gallery, the 10th edition of Sculpture in the City will include a piece of Taiwanese artwork on display in the streets of the capital’s financial district for the first time – amongst a selection of eighteen artworks in total.
Announced on the 7th May by the City of London Corporation, Jun T. Lai’s sculpture “Bloom Paradise” is set to be featured with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, as part of the programme which commences on the 15th June 2021.
Jun T. Lai’s “Bloom Paradise” will be among eighteen different artworks exhibited across the Square Mile. Lai’s work is set to be installed at Fenchurch Street Station Plaza, by a prestigious thoroughfare located at the heart of the City.
The artwork, which is composed of three large colourful flowers - the ‘Flower of Hope’, ‘Flower of the Sky’ and ‘Flower of Life’, symbolizes hope and love, and intends to bring greater positivity into a pandemic-struck world. “Bloom Paradise” refers to an imaginative world with wonderland-like elements, with the artwork itself reflecting on the values on diversity and heterogeneity. The artist hopes that the sculpture releases a healing energy that brings joy to the post-covid world.
Lai’s work will be a part of network of sculptures from other renowned artists. Alice Channer, whose work ‘Burial’ imagines two Corton Steel rocks as a morning procession, has previously exhibited her work at the Whitechapel Gallery and Tate Britain. Whilst Laure Prouvost, who has previously been exhibited at the Venice Bienalle, will feature ‘Metal Man – Deeper Together, Deep Travel Ink. NYC’, which will directly address viewers with phrases such as “COME WITH US”. Jake Elwes work, ‘Latent Space’, aims to question the ethics of artificial intelligence.
According to the City of London, Stella Ioannou, the Artistic Director of Sculpture in the City, said, “Showcasing leading and emerging artists, this outdoor sculpture park is a wonderful way to enjoy the City’s unique urban environment, and to rediscover its incredible spaces in dialogue with contemporary art.”
The Director of the Cultural Division at the Taipei Representative Office in the UK notes the importance of the capital’s arts and financial sectors as engines of prosperity – and the inclusion of a Taiwanese artwork in Sculpture in the City ensures that the island nation’s artistic prowess will play a part in London’s journey to normality in the post-covid world.