Canary Wharf Group has just added two new sculptures to its collection of public works of art sited around the estate. Chimney (2008) by British artist Andrew Burton and Sasso Cosmico (2007) by German artist Do Koenig-Vassilakis can be seen in and around the gardens at Westferry Circus.

Andrew Burton:
Chimney
Over recent years Andrew Burton has created a number of sculptures using miniature clay bricks, collaborating with artisans and artists in India, Korea and the Netherlands. Burton was invited to exhibit new works in Jubilee Park, Canary Wharf in Spring 2008, as a result of which Chimney was purchased for Canary Wharf’s permanent collection of art.

In Chimney and other sculptures created using recycled bricks from previous work, Burton was responding to the modern corporate environment in sculptures where low-tech meets stainless steel and glass. The contrast between the hand-made, curiously organic and colourful brick structures and the cool lines of contemporary architecture is a moment where strangers meet. Burton has had a long interest in India, which he first visited in 1983, and Chimney is also a tribute to India’s tallest brick minaret of the Qutub Minar near Delhi.


Do Koenig-Vassilakis:
Sasso Cosmico

The shiny surface of this new sculpture in Westferry Circis reflects the passing seasons, the trees and plants that surround it and the high buildings beyond.

Do Koenig Vassilakis’s work is strongly influenced by the mythology and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. The title of this work, Sasso Cosmico , which translates as ‘Cosmic Stone’, carries within it a deep significance for the artist, who says:

“This Stone of mine was shaped not by the elements but by human hands, my hands. I do not pretend to do better than the elements, on the contrary. I have arrived at what I had in mind when I started this sculpture - to capture the Universe. The Universe, ‘Kosmos’, is reflected in this sculpture. It mirrors the clouds travelling over it, the sun’s rays turning it into gold, a blue sky painting it blue, the grass on the ground changing it green; raindrops covering it or a winter frost with a white coat of crystals”.


Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AB Tube/DLR: Canary Wharf

Notes to Editor:

Do Koenig Vassilakis was born in Dillenburg, Germany and first studied art with Professor Peter Paul Fechner in Tubingen, continuing at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Lausanne. From 1968 she lived and worked with the Greek sculptor Takis in a diversity of places, from Paris and New York to the Spanish coastal village of Carboneras and Gerovounos near Athens. During this time she developed close friendships with leading artists including Surrealists Salvador Dali and Max Ernst. In 1989 she moved to Italy where she lives in Valdottavo, a village near Lucca, and continues to make sculptural works that are widely collected and have been exhibited around the world. Canary Wharf Group has two other works by the artist, ‘Tree’ (2003) and ‘Angelo I’ (2000) both sited in the reception area of 40 Bank Street.

Andrew Burton has been a regular visitor to India since 1983, and in 1985 he received a British Academy Travel Award to further his travels in the sub-continent. He has continued his work in India, collaborating with artists and artisans on an exhibition that was shown at the British Council in New Delhi in 2006. His journeys to both the cities and countryside of India seeped into his work, manifest both in animal sculptures and in abstract forms, influenced by Indian architecture and in particular the Jantar Mantar Observatory in Jaipur. Maharaja Jai Singh II built this set of stone instruments, used for timekeeping and measuring the positions of celestial bodies, around 1730. In the spring of 2006 he also had a residency at the European Ceramics Workshop at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Andrew Burton was born in Bromley, Kent, in 1961. He studied at the Department of Fine Art, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1979-83), and was awarded a State Studentship in sculpture by the university and the British Academy for further study there. Since then he has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad. He has undertaken major commissions for Newcastle Business Park; Minster Court, City of London; Stevenage Museum; the City of Durham; Loanhead, Edinburgh; Dudley, West Midlands; the Cass Sculpture Foundation; and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where a major sculpture stands near the entrance to South Kensington underground station. Nine Cows for Guwow Environment Park, Taebaek, South Korea; and Skyqutb, for Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, were both commissioned in 2005. Burton is Professor of Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Canary Wharf Group plc (CWG) primarily focused on the construction, management and leasing of Grade A office and retail space at the 97 acre Canary Wharf estate in east London.

Canary Wharf Group was winner of the Special Award for an outstanding Contribution to Art in the working environment at the prestigious art and work awards 2002. Public Art at Canary Wharf is part of a wider Arts and Events programme.

CWG has a dedicated public art programme and the largest collection of Public Art in London., the majority specially commissioned for the estate. Works include a lighting installation by Martin Richman, railings by Bruce McLean, mosaic by Emma Biggs, sculptural works by Igor Mitoraj, Ron Arad, Danny Lane and Wendy Ramshaw and photographic lightboxes by Catherine Yass. For more details visit www.canarywharf.com

The ‘Sculpture in the Workplace’ exhibition programme in the Lobby of One Canada Square and Jubilee Park is curated for CWG by Ann Elliott. Past exhibitors include Dan Graham, Keir Smith, Lynn Chadwick, Ivor Abrahams, Laura Ford, Phyllida Barlow, Franz West, Keith Wilson, Andrew Sabin, Grenville Davey and Andrew Burton.

The Window Galleries programme has been running for nine years, showcasing handmade and original work by cutting edge and emerging designers, makers and artists in the heart of Canary Wharf’s flourishing retail malls. Previous exhibitors include Cockpit Arts, Su Blackwell, Thorsten Van Elten, The London Design Festival and the Lesley Craze Gallery.