Newly commissioned artworks to be installed at the South Bank Centre
Three newly commissioned artworks will be installed on the South Bank this year, as part of an ongoing project to give free access to art to everyone.
Installations by award-winning artists Anthea Hamilton, Jyll Bradley and Monira Al Qadiri will join Klaus Weber’s Thinking Fountains and Jeppe Hein’s Appearing Rooms outside the Southbank Centre.
Launching the 2022 series, Anthea Hamilton’s new 24-hour-long film installation has been commissioned specifically for the Hayward Gallery’s terrace that overlooks the Royal Festival Hall.
On display from March 12 to April 24, it will be shown on a six-metre-high LED screen.
It features a photograph from the early 1980s intercut with new footage of four performers, each with their own distinctive approach and style.
The performers draw on a diverse selection of images and references to generate new movement sequences that are mapped onto the 24-hour cycle of a clock.
Bringing to light a forgotten chapter of cultural history, The Hop is a new commission by Jyll Bradley that was inspired by the stories of thousands of families who travelled from London every year to bring in the hop harvest in the fields of Kent.
Standing at almost four metres in height, the installation will echo the geometric design of a Kentish hop garden, where vines were arranged to expose the crop to the maximum amount of sunlight.
Using her signature material of coloured Plexiglas, Bradley will create a luminous series of public canopies alongside the Hayward Gallery.
The installation will be on site from May 18 to October 2.
In the summer the gallery presents a new commission by Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri whose art spans sculpture, installation, film and performance.
For this second Bagri Foundation Commission, Al Qadiri will create a large-scale sculpture in iridescent colours on the Riverside Terrace in front of the Royal Festival Hall.
The work will reimagine links between nature and the fragility of our dependency on fossil fuels.
Ralph Rugoff, Director at the Hayward Gallery, says: “All of these outdoor commissions are part of our ongoing effort to make the most of the Southbank Centre’s outstanding site by presenting a free cultural playground where visitors can engage with an inspiring range of accessible public installations by leading international and British artists.
“Anyone simply walking across the site can encounter and experience playful works of art that spur the imagination and prompt us to see the world in fresh ways.”
Main Image: Jeppe Hein Fountain at the Southbank Centre ©️ Belinda Lawley