Running until the 21st March 2015 and an absolute ‘must see’ is this wonderful installation by the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata on display in central London.
Born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1953, Tadashi Kawamata is an artist-cum-architect who uses scrap or reclaimed materials, mostly wood, to create new and unusual structures.
A ramshackle wooden spiral staircase smashes through the middle of the art gallery, leading visitors through the third and fourth floor galleries to emerge under a glass skylight offering glimpses of London’s rooftops.
On the gallery’s third floor the spiral staircase dissects a large wooden dome roughly constructed from wooden pallets, with light breaking through the slats and wooden planks.
Walking around inside this precarious-looking structure makes for a curious and slightly unsettling experience, and it’s easy to imagine that you’re exploring a distant shanty town or walking through a forest home.
Across two floors can be seen Kawamata’s maquettes of tree houses and projects for Ghent and a Tsunami relief, made for a proposed project in Northern Japan, described as “an everlasting and ever evolving project that will emerge from the Tohoku tsunami.”
The gallery website describes his methods;
Tadashi Kawamata is an artist who transforms our environment, he works in the midst of demolition and construction. Usually using scrap or reclaimed materials, mostly wood, Kawamata sets about building new and unusual structures; a bridge between an apartment block and a museum, a wooden walkway that leads from a town centre to a lakeside, slum dwellings constructed in a picturesque park. Kawamata’s aim is to turn these environments inside out, and present the viewers with a completely fresh view of their surroundings.
Tadashi Kawamata: Stairs
Admission free
19 February–21 March 2015
Annely Juda Fine Art
4th Floor, 23 Dering Street
London W1S 1AW
Opening hours
Monday–Friday 10:00–18:00
Saturday 11:00–17:00
ajfa@annelyjudafineart.co.uk
annelyjudafineart.co.uk
Related posts:
LUMAS of Mayfair, London: the poshest photo gallery I’ve ever set foot in
Photographers’ Gallery London: nine photos and a lot of stairs
Another mighty fine photographic collection at the Getty Gallery, Eastcastle Street, London
Grayson Perry: The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! at the Serpentine Gallery, London
Pae White spins out mesmerising yarn patterns at the South London Gallery, Camberwell, London
Photographer’s Gallery London reopens: and it’s a bit of disappointment
A Haircut and Art – Developers Up Yours by Gram Hilleard at the Offsite Gallery
In photos: a look around the BP Portrait Award 2017 at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Amazing post! Great effort you have done to do this wooden work. Thanks for posting.
Fabulous and eye-catching home improvement ideas are generated over here. Thank you for sharing with us.