Ugo Rondinone, orange yellow hermit & Kathrin Böhm, Why do we care about art?
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
Commissioned by Great Western Developments Ltd
Curated by Lacuna
Great Western Developments, owner of Paddington Square, have unveiled four internationally significant public works of art by artists Ugo Rondinone, Pae White, Catherine Yass and a temporary artwork up for a year by Kathrin Böhm.
This ambitious art initiative represents a major investment into the public realm by Great Western Developments, who commissioned the public art programme, and is curated by Lacuna.
The artworks are the first London-based outdooor public art commissions for all four artists.
Lacuna’s mission was to activate the site as a civic space and urban destination whilst presenting an engaging and exciting art programme. It represents the inclusivity and diversity of the local community and London at large. Lacuna’s curatorial approach was to be pro-active and invest in long-term community engagement with local initiatives which resulted in an ongoing partnership with The Showroom. The result is a fully engaged and engaging programme, which addresses the new building in the round and utilises art as a signifier (Ugo Rondinone), as murals on St Mary’s hospital buildings (Catherine Yass and Kathrin Böhm) and incorporated into the building above the new underground station entrance (Pae White).
The Street Permanent Public Art Commission
Commissioned artist: Ugo Rondinone
Curated by Lacuna
Standing at 5 metres high and weighing 1600 kg, Orange Yellow Hermit, by Ugo Rondinone addresses the dual reflection between the inner self and the natural world providing a new focal point for the millions of visitors travelling between Praed Street and Paddington station.
The artist was commissioned by invitation.
Ugo Rondinone, orange yellow hermit, 193cm width x 500cm height x 183cm diameter, 2022.
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
"Stones have been a presence and recurring material and symbol in my art. They are the subjects of the stone figures that I began with the monumental Human Nature installation at the Rockefeller Plaza in 2013 followed by Seven Magic Mountains in the Nevada desert in 2016. Orange Yellow Hermit will continue to address the dual reflection between the inner self and the natural world. Just as the external world one sees is inseparable from the internal structures of oneself, this work allows layers of signification to come in and out of focus, prompting the viewer to revel in the pure sensory experience of colour, form and mass while simultaneously engendering an altogether contemporary version of the sublime".
Ugo Rondinone, Artist
Tanner Lane Permanent Public Art Commission
Commissioned Artist: Catherine Yass
Curated by Lacuna
In celebration of and in homage to NHS workers, Catherine Yass’s large-scale collaborative photographic installation takes over a 24-metre-long wall on Tanner Lane - neighbouring St Mary’s Hospital. The image is constructed from over 200 photographs of ten NHS workers swimming underwater to make up a seamless whole, with the swimmers brought together in the print suspended on the wall overhead. The piece is made from sustainable vinyl and will be on view for 10 years.
Catherine Yass, NHS Swimmers, 2200cm length x 600cm height, 2023.
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
“Ten NHS workers are swimming underwater, overhead down Tanner Lane. They flow down this narrow road between Saint Mary’s Hospital and Renzo Piano Studio’s new office building, reflecting the stream of people moving through to catch trains and get to work. Photographed on large format sheet film, over 200 images are overlaid onto blue negatives to create a sense of movement and a deep blue space that leaves us floating down the street between water and sky. The Swimmers were selected to correspond to the diversity, gender and age of the NHS workers in Saint Mary’s. Photographed between Covid restrictions, freedom of movement was a fabulous thing, and the break from the pressure of working in the hospital felt liberating. Up on the high wall the NHS workers appear to be flying as well as swimming, hovering over our heads like angels caring for the people below.”
Catherine Yass, Artist
Tanner Lane Rotational Public Art Project
Commissioned Artist: Kathrin Böhm
Curated by The Showroom in partnership with Lacuna
Launching on Tanner Lane on the corner of Praed Street, The Showroom presents Kathrin Böhm who asks: ‘Why do we care about art?’. Individual and collaborative responses to this question were explored through public poster-making and knowledge-sharing workshops at The Showroom. Through assimilating, compiling, distilling and responding to the taped posters, slogans and statements created by workshop contributors, the final banner, designed in collaboration with An Endless Supply, projects the chorus of voices involved in this collaborative process. The Showroom’s rotating programme will continue with Long Distance Press (Adam Shield and Thomas Whittle) in 2025/26 and Harold Offeh in 2026/27.
Kathrin Böhm, Why do we care about art?, 1350cm length x 620cm height x 400cm above ground, 2023.
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
"Art can be many different things to each of us and the workshops “who cares about art” with local interest groups at The Showroom, made this very clear. It was important to hold a space where different meanings, practices, understanding and expressions were possible and equal to each other. The one word and value we all care about is freedom: in art, through art and with art.” Kathrin Böhm
Kathrin Böhm, Artist
The Escalator Permanent Public Art Commission
Commissioned artist: Pae White
Curated by Lacuna
Pae White’s Somethinging, floats across levels of shops and restaurants both above and below ground, opening out onto a new public piazza and framing the entrance. The piece suggests movement, lightness, dance, conviviality. Familiar patterns entwine and overlap with secret modules of colours revealing themselves and rewarding the viewer as they physically move around the piece. These modules frame the sky and surrounds as two forms circle each other in a dance of suspended optimism. Somethinging, is made up of 1232 aluminium folded panels, 8040 rivets and includes 20,000 folds made of eleven colours.
Pae White, Somethinging, 634cm height x 677cm width x 562cm diameter, 2023.
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
“Somethinging suggests movement, lightness, dance, conviviality. Familiar patterns entwine and overlap with secret modules of colours revealing themselves and rewarding the viewer as they physically move around the piece. These modules frame the sky and surrounds as two forms circle each other in a dance of suspended optimism.”
Pae White, Artist
“Lacuna conducted extensive research into the neighbourhood, working with local communities and engaging with a diverse set of stakeholders, greatly enriching our curatorial approach and the development of these landmark commissions with leading contemporary artists. While lockdown presented us with new challenges, it also allowed us to develop novel methods for critical engagement with the evolving cultural conversation.”
Stella Ioannou, Director and Jade Niklai, Associate Curator, Lacuna
