In Aplomb (St Paul’s), Blees Luxemburg’s large-scale photograph shows a hoarding for a new 300m-tall building called The Pinnacle. The CGI image on the hoarding depicts a futuristic skyscraper alongside the iconic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. In the foreground a scaffolding pole and sandbag are a symbol of the thwarted ambition which has seen The Pinnacle put on hold after reaching only seven storeys high. The photograph Walkie-Talkie Melted My Golden Calf shows the same hoarding beyond a stone surface glittering with what looks like liquid gold. In reality – like the CGI image – this is only an illusion, a trick played by the artist with water and light. The third work in the series, London/Winterreise, is a film that in one long tracking shot takes the viewer on a walk from the fashionable Shoreditch district, past an Occupy protestor camp, and into the heart of the City of London. Numerous construction sites are seen along the way and a soundtrack plays a reinterpretation of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, a sad and lonely lament on lost love. Now in the collection of the Museum of London, Blees Luxemburg’s three works offer a powerful meditation on the changing fortunes of the British capital in the early 21st century.

Provenance

The artist.