Outdoor Sculpture Trails

Art Review
Written By Darren

➡️ Click here for the 2024 Guide. ⬅️

The page below is the list for 2022. Links may no longer work.

Ahh, summer in London. The parks are lush and green… pub corners are buzzy and lively until late in the evening… and queues of tourists can be seen snaking around the Trip Advisor Top 10, thankfully making them easy to avoid.

It’s a great base recipe for the locals, who love to use the time to venture out and explore new areas. My suggestion for how to best do that is to follow the sculpture trails that have been slowly establishing themselves as annual events unto themselves. This year there are no fewer than 6 to select from. (And yes… Tourists can walk these too!)

So lace up those walking shoes, grab a bottle of water and your sunnies and bookmark this comprehensive overview that has all the info and links you’ll need. No matter where you live, there’s an easily accessible Central London outdoor art trail near you.

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PS. If you like art, why not bookmark this site and follow @LondonArtRoundup on Instagram so you never miss the weekly Roundup of art shows (published Mondays) and a constantly updated What’s On list of great shows sorted by end date. All hand picked. Never sponsored.

And now…

On to the Sculptures!

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Chimps are Family

When: until 22 October

Where: between London Bridge and Tower Bridge

This trail’s focus is more eco-education than art, presenting 28 larger-than-life-sized chimps scatted along the South Bank, depicting realistic poses that replicate their behaviour. With informative plaques that explain what they’re doing and why, this is a trail where you’ll definitely learn something every time you tick one off your list.

We share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, and the inclusion of ages and names adds an extra humanising effect to these surprisingly lifelike statues. I found them to be an incredibly compelling excuse for ignoring some of the most scenic and iconic views in London.


Corgi Trail

When: until 31 August

Where: Between Victoria Station and Aldwych

In 1986, a chocolatier had the idea of placing painted lions around Zurich to celebrate its 2,000th birthday. It was over a decade before another major city did something similar (Chicago, cows, 1999) but that’s when things took off. Horses, moose, bears, elephants, swans and yes, even penguins (!) are just some of the tens of dozens of animals (among other things) that have been given focus in a public art parade.

For London, the choice was obvious. Queen Elizabeth II has owned at least 30 corgis during her reign, so to help celebrate the Platinum Jubilee nineteen (19) supersized Corgis have been scattered amongst St. James, Westminster and the Strand, providing both tourists and locals an enjoyable and Instagrammable way to explore the North Bank. See if you can sniff them all out!

Kensington + Chelsea Art Trail

When: until 31 August

Where: Throughout Kensington & Chelsea

This one’s less of a walkable trail and more like a loose scattering of sculptures for the well heeled chauffeured set as they dart about town. The artists, including some well known names, have contributed absolutely fantastic works. Unfortunately, they’re fairly widely spread across the 5 mile stretch between Royal Chelsea Hospital and Kensington Memorial Park, so you’ll definitely need to do some advance planning in order to see them all.

That’s’s ok, because this one lasts a while, so you’ve got plenty of time to tick them off the list… or just book an afternoon viewing on the art bus.

Mayfair Sculpture Trail

When: until 31 July

Where: Mayfair, mostly on/around Bond Street

To write that there’s a lot of art in Mayfair would be a vast understatement and quite frankly, lazy writing. (Oops!) The reality, however, is that there’s a lot more art outdoors in Mayfair than most people realise, because most people don’t often look up. Especially nowadays in the smartphone age.

This year, eight new installations have been spread across Bond Street and/or placed within Berkeley, Grosvenor and Hanover Squares. There’s 19 sculptures to see in total, and as already noted, if you can’t easily find them: Look up. Many of the permanent works are safely out of reach.

Sculpture in the City

When: until Spring 2023

Where: City of London, between Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street and Aldgate stations

A compact trail that makes clever use of what little space is left between the skyscrapers that have recently sprung up like weeds, hiding the once prominent Gherkin from almost every skyline view except the East. I suspect many a city worker can or probably has seen all 20 while walking and talking their way through conference calls that’ve run into their lunch hour.

This 11th Edition promises 20 artworks but in yet another example of rampant skimpflation, only a dozen are new. The other eight had already been on display throughout the pandemic. But to be fair, they’re all good works.

The Line

When: permanent / ongoing

Where: Between Stratford and North Greenwich

The Line is London’s first dedicated public art walk. It debuted in 2015 and includes some of the largest outdoor sculptures in London, giving some big name artists a chance to let loose and explore big ideas, often through monumental installations. Some are permanent, others are on long term loan, and there’s even a few new ones on the way.

Running from Stratford to the Greenwich Peninsula, walking the full route will take about half a day. You’ll see 20 works and finally have a legitimate excuse to ride the Emirates cable car. If you haven’t yet walked The Line… what are you waiting for?

  • Visit the Official Website for more info or download the map.

  • TIP: Download the Bloomberg Connects app for a digital map, artist bios and other extras, like informative audio recordings of the artists explaining their art. They’re fantastic to listen to as you make your way from work to work.

  • More photos: You can see additional imagery of the works on the North Greenwich peninsula in my old Instagram posts here and here.

The World Reimagined

When: until 31 October

Where: 7 London boroughs, plus another 6 UK cities

103 unique globes have been spread across seven UK cities, with the intention to explore the “history, legacy and future of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans”. Each of the designated walking trails covers a specific topic, and collectively the project aims to help make racial justice a reality.

BONUS:

Even more outdoor sculpture!

The Canary Wharf “estate” — as it’s developers are now referring to it — wants to be known for more than just banking and money. Ironically, they’ve clearly spent a lot of it scattering 75 works of art (SEVENTY-FIVE!) amongst the offices and growing residential sections in an effort to help make this a place where you’ll want to spend more time than just 9 to 5.

Still not enough outdoor art for you? ArtUk.org has recently launched their Outdoor Sculpture Database containing listings and information for over 13,500 public sculptures dotted around the UK. Click here to search the database and see what is has to say about your favourites, or maybe even find something new to see near you.

Have I missed any? Have you walked them all? Get in touch and let me know!

Darren
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2022 - Issue 25
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2022 - Issue 24