I’m a tad biased but London has got to be the cultural capital of the world. There is just so much going on in such a vast metropolis. As a result I thought this would be a great place to hunt out some public art.
For this thing, I wanted to find whatever I could come across in a morning’s visit to the big smoke. I was classifying public art as anything that exists for their aesthetic beauty, visible to anyone, out in the elements and does not require any money for the privilege.
Off I went, giving myself a couple hours in a morning to do nothing but search for art without a nose for where I was going. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to find a Banksy that hasn’t been removed and sold for some free money.
So, without making this too much like a photo blog, here is what I found…
A water memorial for Canadians lost in battle with the British. Really like the fallen Maple leaves.
Another war memorial. This one for New Zealand. Love how stark it is, tremendous impact. Also, the NZ flag detail.
Okay, so, this one is about the plants that you might be able to make out. Yup, palm trees. In London. That’s not natural.
The last war memorial I promise, there are a lot in London! This one, very interestingly, for animals.
The Eagle above the U.S Embassy was pretty impressive I thought.
I thought this was a giant seat. Turns out it’s a huge water feature at Carlos Place.
Vast Roman Catholic painting on the wall of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Pretty cool.
A Barbara Hepworth on the side of John Lewis in Oxford Street. Over-rated in my opinion.
My hunt for a Banksy is over! Here it is – on Clipstone Street.
A mural on the side of a building near Goodge Street tube station.
A roadworker applying a new ‘turn left’ arrow to the ground. I argue that there is an art to creating these. Would be graffiti if it was on a wall.
And there we are, this is what I could locate by randomly wandering around London using just my feet. I began in Victoria and ended at Tottenham Court Road. Try and work out my route.
