A new public sculpture space in Bermondsey Square launches on Tuesday 7th October 2014 at 7pm with a work inspired by a 1950s sci-fi monster movie shot in Bermondsey.
‘The Giant Behemoth’ (1959) was originally intended to feature a giant, formless blob of radioactive material, but the final version saw marine nuclear testing resurrect a dinosaur which then swims up the Thames and attacks London. Bermondsey residents were used as extras in the film and can be seen screaming as they ran from their flats.
Sculpture at Bermondsey Square Launches
Bermondsey Square and the VITRINE gallery are delighted to announce the launch of its public sculpture commission in Bermondsey Square. Following the success of VITRINE’s two Bermondsey spaces, Sculpture at Bermondsey Square (SABS) will further VITRINE’s contribution to the rapid artistic growth of Bermondsey by creating a valuable opportunity for artists to make significant new work for a public space.
VITRINE will commission three artists to consecutively produce new work for Sculpture at Bermondsey Square. Each will be exhibited in the square for a six month period. The first commission will be launched in October 2014 in anticipation of Frieze week and will feature new work by the sculptor Karen Tang.
See also: VITRINE gallery Bermondsey Square
Sculpture Pulses With Radioactive Colours
Karen’s sculpture re-imagines the amorphous radioactive matter of the film’s production history, whilst referencing the skull of a dinosaur, as well as wider ecological concerns surrounding energy production and testing. The surface of the sculpture pulses with radioactive colours. The form entices the audience to interact and enter the sculpture, viewing the square anew from inside the creature’s eye sockets. The base of the sculpture calls to mind the bow of a boat, emphasising the connection with the ocean and River Thames.
Karen Tang
Karen Tang (b. London 1978) is an artist based in London. She studied at Chelsea then the Slade School of Fine Art, leaving in 2004 with an MFA (Distinction) in Sculpture. After being awarded the Duveen Travel Scholarship, she researched mutated spaces in Mexico’s architecture and underwater sunken wrecks. Her sculptures offer viewers the experience of surprising structural and material combinations, with unexpected forms that reference science-fiction, architecture and peculiarities of city life.
Tang’s work has been commissioned by The National Trust, Contemporary Art Society, The Economist, South London Gallery and private collections. Tang has exhibited at venues including: Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium; Bloomberg Space; Jerwood Space; Ambika P3; MAMA Rotterdam; Dalston Superstore; Guest Projects; The Agency Gallery; Pumphouse Gallery, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester; The Collection Museum, Lincoln. Tang is currently a Fine Art lecturer at Central Saint Martins.
Future Works
Following Karen’s work is established artist Edwin Burdis’s first public sculpture commission in March 2015 and a third Open Call commission launches in September 2015.
Sculpture at Bermondsey Square is made possible with the generous support of:
