CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 11TH EDITION OF SCULPTURE IN THE CITY

Sculpture in the City is an award-winning urban sculpture park which launches every year in June. A cultural initiative delivered by the City of London in partnership with 11 local businesses, it is sited in the EC3 (insurance district) area of the City, around the iconic towers of the Gherkin, the Leadenhall Building (The Cheesegrater), Lloyd’s building, 22 Bishopsgate as well as inside Leadenhall Market. The 11th edition of Sculpture in the City offers a very unique opportunity for sculptors, artists, designers and illustrators to not only submit across any one of the five primary categories which are: 3D Sculpture, 2D Graphic Installation, Audio & Visual, Hanging 3D Sculpture and Light & Sound. The call for submissions for the 11th edition of Sculpture in the City is now open for preexisting works that can be exhibited outdoors from May 2022 to May 2022. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 27th October 2021.

Sculpture in the City has delivered 130 artworks over 10 editions successfully amplifying the urban context the show is delivered in; responding to and breathing life into the unique relationship between the historical City landscape and it’s iconic contemporary architecture.

In response to the success of the landmark 10th edition of the Sculpture in the City, we are keen to expand on the engagement with the unique landscape and structures that the City has at its disposal. We are very keen to look at broadening not only the scope of participation, but also the breadth of our reach to allow for a more inclusive and varied approach to representing contemporary public art within this context.

We are launching the open call for submission for the 11th edition of Sculpture in the City on the 27th September 2021 and are delighted to announce the expansion of the submission criteria. This is the submission page for the 3D Sculpture Category and only works that fulfill this criteria will be considered. If you are unsure, we encourage you to look at the submission criteria further down to see all categories listed.

The successful submissions will be on view for a year within one of London’s most iconic architecture areas. The artworks selected for installation are sited in dialogue with both the architecture and the artist.

In addition, Lacuna will organise a webinar for artists unable to join the 'in real life' tours to join online where they will have the opportunity to ask questions. The webinar will be recorded and shared online for anyone who is unable to attend. 

Tour 1 will take place on Friday 1st October 2021 at 3pm

Webinar will take place on Monday 18th October at 2pm

Tour 2 will also take place on Monday 18th October at 4pm

Tour 3 will also take place on Wednesday 20th October at 3pm

To register your interest, please email: office@lacuna-projects.com

Background:

None of the works in Sculpture in the City are here to stay, none are iconic statements; the pleasure is rather the unexpected interactions between works, places, people. [...] It is wholly different from the experience of rural sculpture parks, where monumental pieces stand proud and bold against open skies, yet nature always wins and remains the chief attraction. Here in the beleaguered post-pandemic city, sculpture transforms, cheers and heals.

Jackie Wullschläger - The Financial Times

The aim of the project is to use the Square Mile as a contemporary urban gallery space and to showcase cutting edge art in an area represented by the iconic contemporary towers as well as the layers of history nestled amongst these tall buildings.

The need for partnership between culture and commerce has never been greater with the City of London spearheading various projects to ensure the Lord Mayor’s vision to promote London’s creative energy and competitive strengths. Sculpture in the City is firmly established as a flagship cultural project and is deeply embedded within the ongoing cross-sector programme to deliver and champion projects/ activations that unite business and the creative industries in London.

Sculpture in the City is the City of London’s annual programme which sees public artworks placed amidst the iconic architecture of the City Cluster. The latest outdoor exhibition, forming part of tenth anniversary edition is celebrated with works from 18 contemporary artists; including works by artists Laure Prouvost, Alice Channer, Eva Rothschild, Mark Handforth, Laura Arminda Kingsley, and Rosanne Robertson, among others, on display around the City’s famous buildings and public spaces. Spanning St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate to Fenchurch Street Station Plaza, Leadenhall Market to Mitre Square, this year’s edition will bring contemporary public artworks to the historic and modern spaces of the City.

The current exhibition has achieved extensive press coverage, https://www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk/press/ with a successful campaign led by Brunswick Arts, including The Financial Times, The Telegraph, Time Out London, The Londonist, City Matters, City AM, Something Curated and London Live.

A dedicated website www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk was launched in June 2018 featuring images and information about all the artworks to date as well as a downloadable map of the current edition.

Once a year, the City of London, that enclave of suits, power lunches and Peloton subscriptions plays host to some very non-smashing-Q3-type artworks. ‘Sculpture in the City’ invites artists to create striking public pieces that – crucially – sit outside the security-guard-defended lobbies of the venture capitalists. It’s a great chance to wander around the Square Mile and see it in a different light. Or just see it, full stop. 

Chris Waywell - TimeOut London

Historically:

The artworks exhibited have in the past primarily been 3D and have shown works in a broad variety of materials from marble, stone and metal to neon and light pieces as well as mixed media that may include fabric, ceramic and other contemporary materials. The works may be free-standing or may be shown suspended; for example, hung in Leadenhall Marketor in a tree, or fixed to a wall. This could be time-based art such as sound, film, digital or other media work. We have shown sound work in previous editions as well as film work, which in the current edition is shown on the largest ceiling-mounted LED screen in Europe at ca. 180 sq feet at 10 Fenchurch Avenue as well as a bespoke printed vinyl piece under the escalators of the Leadenhall Building, with both locations currently on view, as part of the 10th edition of Sculpture in the City.

We are also committed to including performance-related artworks. For the past three years, Sculpture in the City has been the associate programme partner to Whitechapel Gallery’s Nocturnal Creatures, a contemporary arts festival that brings together artist performances, music, films, talks and culinary experiences in the heart of the East End, especially the area between the Whitechapel Gallery, Leadenhall Market and Liverpool Street. As part of the 2021 programme, Sculpture in the City commissioned Stone (Butch) Undercurrents (2021) by Rosanne Roberston and 'Shells & Time' by Isabella Martin as part of Whitechapel Gallery’s Nocturnal Creatures.

The exhibition does not have a specific set theme and artworks are selected based on their own merit and their suitability (in terms of material, scale and style) to the urban context.

The Arts Advisory Group is sensitive to the current cultural concerns as well as the wider social and political context in which the exhibition is shown. There is a desire from the Arts Advisory Group to address issues including gender and equality issues, freedom, democracy and representation, belonging and climate concerns.

The project is sited in the public realm and seen by close to 500,000 visitors every year.

There are many potential sites in the area of varying size and conditions. The scale of the surrounding tall buildings calls for large scale works which have been shown very successfully to date. The prevalence of shiny monochrome buildings provide an ideal context for bold colour work. In addition, there are sites, such as the churchyards, which make ideal sites for smaller works. Over the years we have also hung works in Leadenhall Market, in trees, in alleyways, across lampposts, on the Lloyd’s building and on the The Leadenhall Building (Cheesegrater). The scope of the project, and the urban context, allows for sculpture to be showcased in the most contemporary fashion.

Weight and installation ease are often a defining factor as not many of the spaces have a large weight loading capacity and, in some cases, sites identified prove inaccessible.

Artists shown to date include:

1st Edition (2011-2012): Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Franz West, Kenneth Armitage

2nd Edition (2012-2013): Tracey Emin, Angus Fairhurst, Thomas Houseago, Michael Craig-Martin, Yayoi Kusama, Dan Graham

3rd Edition (2013-2014): Ryan Gander, Chapman Brothers, Robert Indiana, Antony Gormley, Keith Coventry, Petroc Sesti, Jim Lambie, Richard Wentworth, Shirazeh Housiary 4th Edition (2014-2015): Cerith Wyn-Evans, Jim Lambie, Richard Wentworth, Nigel Hall, Peter Randall-Page, Joao Onofre, Lynn Chadwick, Ben Long, Julian Wild, Paul Hosking

5th Edition (2015-2016): Kris Martin, Laura Ford, Adam Chodzko, Folkert de Jong, Xavier Vielhan, Sigalit Landau, Ekkehard Altenburger, Tomoaki Suzuki, Keita Miyazaki, Ai Weiwei, Damien Hirst, Bruce Beasley, Shan Hur

6th Edition (2016-2017): Anthony Caro, Gavin Turk, William Kentridge & Gerhard Marx, Lizi Sanchez, Ugo Rondinone, Recycle Group, Jurgen Partenheimer, Huma Bhabha, Petroc Sesti, Michael Lyons, Benedetto Pietromarchi, Enrico David, Jaume Plensa, Mat Collishaw, Sarah Lucas and Giuseppe Penone.

7th Edition (2017-2018): Daniel Buren, Fernando Casasempere, Martin Creed, Ryan Gander, Damien Hirst, Kevin Killen, Paul McCarthy, Nathaniel Rackowe, Peter Randall-Page RA, Recycle Group, Bosco Sodi, Karen Tang, Gavin Turk, Mhairi Vari, Mark Wallinger and Gary Webb.

8th Edition (2018-2019): Marina Abramović, David Annesley, Shaun C Badham, Miroslaw Balka, Jyll Bradley, Tracey Emin CBE RA, Clare Jarrett, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Gabriel Lester, Sarah Lucas, Amanda Lwin, Jean-Luc Moulène, Michail Pirgelis, Thomas J Price, Richard Rome, Nancy Rubins, Sean Scully RA, Do Ho Suh and Karen Tang.

9th Edition (2019-2020): Salvatore Arancio, Reza Aramesh, Elisa Artesero, Shaun C Badham, Jyll Bradley, Nathan Coley, Marisa Ferreira, Leo Fitzmaurice, Kevin Francis Gray, Clare Jarrett, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Michael Lyons, Nancy Rubins, Nina Saunders, Jennifer Steinkamp, Do Ho Suh, Jonathan Trayte (Autumn 2019), Patrick Tuttofuoco and Lawrence Weiner.

10th Edition (2021-2021): Alice Channer, Almuth Tebbenhoff, Bram Ellens, Elisa Artesero, Eva Rothschild, Guillaume Vandame, Isabella Martin, Jake Elwes, Jun T. Lai, Laura Arminda Kingsley, Laure Prouvost, Mark Handforth, Mike Ballard, Oliver Bragg, Regitze Engelsborg Karlsen, Rosanne Robertson, Ruth Ewan, and Tatiana Wolska.

Selection Process:

Works submitted are shortlisted for consideration by the Arts Advisory Group: Jane Alison, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican Art Centre; Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery; Whitney Hintz, Hiscox Curator; and Andrea Schlieker, Tate Britain. In 2020 we also welcomed guest artist Thomas J Price, who exhibited in Sculpture in the City in 2018; and Sepake Angiama, Artistic Director, Iniva.

Following shortlisting by the Arts Advisory Group each artist and/or gallerist is invited for a site visit to identify which site(s) in the area are most suitable for showcasing the selected work.

When all shortlisted artwork sites have been identified the project team liaises with the landowners to obtain their approval for particular artworks to be shown on their land. The project team also takes care of health and safety, planning, engineering and installation requirements, and any other legal requirements the project needs to comply with.

We aim to confirm the final installation list in March 2022 and will be installing works in May and June 2022, with the official project launching on June 2022 - TBC

Conditions of Participation:

The works are on loan for 12 months (May 2022 - May 2023). The artworks must be suitable for outdoor display in the public realm for the entire period of display. The selected works will be subject to a loan agreement with the City of London Corporation.

Sculpture in the City covers shipping within the UK, installation, insurance and maintenance costs. Please note shipping from outside the UK will be considered but not guaranteed.

Sculpture in the City works exclusively with Mtec who ship and install all the artworks.

All artists and galleries participating receive full credit on all marketing and press material and are invited to the official Launch event and other associated events. For this 11th edition, each exhibiting artist will receive an artist’s fee of £750.

How to Submit Work for Consideration:

Submissions need to be made via curatorspace.com. If you have any questions, you can contact Arts Producer, Halime Özdemir at halime@lacuna-projects.com.

We encourage artists considering submitting work to visit the current exhibition to experience the project's dynamic urban context, as well as looking at past editions on the website. There are short film reviews of earlier editions available via the Sculpture in the City website.