Paved With Art

Once upon a time, the streets of London were said to be paved with gold, this may no longer be so but head towards the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea and you may find the streets are littered with art instead. Fancy a walk amongst these types of delights? Follow on here in Paved with Art.

The weather is ripe for a meander, the sun is out, the sky is blue and the streets are calling. Perhaps decide to go window shopping, have a spot of lunch, maybe both? What may well be noticed unexpectedly during this journey is some art along the way.

On display throughout the whole summer from the 22 of June until the 31 of August, find the sidewalks and open spaces of west London filled with the most surprising and world-class art sculptures, installations and murals.  

Kensington + Chelsea Art Week (KCAW) presents its sixth annual Public Art trail. Located across nine zones, the Art Trail will take up residence at some of West London’s most iconic sites, including Duke of York Square, Sloane Street, Royal Avenue on The Kings Road, Earl’s Court, North Kensington, Holland Park, High Street Kensington and Knightsbridge.

Follow the trail along a few of these most acclaimed artists working today, and be amazed by their intriguing pieces.

Who doesn’t like pink? Pink actually pops up a couple of times through the trail. Here see the work of Misha Milovanovich, who was Belgrade-born but living and working in London, mostly famous for her use of vivid colours, optical movement and energetic visuals that can be enjoyed across several mediums such as sculptures or digital pieces. Among the art trail, find her powder-coated steel sculpture titled ‘Pinga’ on Kensington High Street, towards Olympia.

 The sculpture integrates Milovanovich’s key themes of femininity, fragmentation, change, and rejuvenation combined with a high-spirited and humorous approach. As with all her artwork, ‘Pinga’ invites its viewer into a symphonic abstraction with the movement of soft patterns, lyricism, and crescendo weaving to create its final form.

“When I work with steel I play with shape-shifting and rendering of gentle forms in intense, almost anthropomorphic manifestations.”

Misha Milovanovich

Pursue this cultural journey and come across a familiar day-to-day item in a completely different setting. This is an installation of a printed toilet roll with a holder, displayed inside the Plinth Gallery in South Kensington.

The artist, Norman D Hunter is socially engaged and submitted her proposal to make a statement for empowerment for women. The artist also doesn’t use social media for her activism, instead, she organises art trails and wellness walks in forests where she encourages others to engage and restore nature with art.

Jump and play into a real-life castle of imagination and fun. Go into the Napoleon Garden Holland Park and find the baby pink Cloud House Wendy House, which is a scale model of The Cloud House, by Peter Morris, simplified and reconfigured as an open-frame Wendy House and public sculpture, created especially for KCAW Art Trail 2023.

The Cloud House concept is born out of the desire to create a public artwork where children can play, and have their imaginations piqued; and where adults can experience a moment of delight that will remind them of their childhoods. Named after the character Wendy in the fairytale of Peter Pan, it tickles the thought that sometimes it’s okay not to grow up.

made up of multiple arches which of course were one of the earliest forms of load-bearing techniques in architecture. Here it’s as if they are celebrated for their purity and for being like an unsung hero of design. Albeit in a pink deco style.

A bit hidden, but definitely noticeable in Knightsbridge, One Hoopers Court you find the inspiring mixed media sculpture of Josephine Chime called ‘Detangling The MBS’. MBS means mind, body and soul and in the case of this piece, it is a call to your well-being, to create a flow of healthy self-reflection which may enact change.

The most confining narrative behind the piece is the message of how women should present themselves and inform new female forms that transgress what is socially desirable. Feel free and step away from life’s expectations.

Here the artist refers to her heritage via the complex markings that work almost like a language as a pattern on the piece. Each viewer has the right to explore the ‘language’ with their interpretation, the artist offers up this conversation so each can interpret for themselves

As one would follow the rest of the trail, one come across a huge immersive blossoming mural, The artist duo Baker + Barowski, developed a new body of work titled ‘Flower Clouds’, There are futuristic sculptures and almost surreal pieces of art such as Lisiecka’s installation titled Hidden Dimension made entirely of willow. All artpieces that allow people to delve into their stories and enjoy their bright colours and fun shapes.

More festivities in Kensington? The Kensington and Chelsea Festival is also returning for a third year. Spanning the summer – from Saturday 1 July to Thursday 31 August 2023 – the festival will take place across the borough in a reimagining of its spaces. 

Discover more about the Art trail and about Art week:

the Kensington + Chelsea Art Week and trail

For more information about the Kensington & Chelsea Festival go here

If you enjoyed reading Paved With Art why not read A DIVA at V&A?

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