Artwork at Paddington
‘A Cloud Index’ by Spencer Finch
American artist Spencer Finch’s man-made sky in the 120-metre long roof canopy at the new Paddington station, directly below Eastbourne Terrace and Departures Road, has been created using 60 original pastel drawings of clouds, each hand-drawn by the artist. These drawings were enlarged and digitally printed in white ceramic frit across 180 glass panels.
“I like that it is very big but that it also has a light touch. The artwork is totally integrated into the station and into the purpose of the glazing of the canopy, as there would have had to have been some sort of diffusing pattern or it would have been too bright. So it ended up serving the dual purpose of creating an artwork and also reducing the glare."
- Spencer Finch
Finch's giant cloud canopy, covering 2,000 square metres in total, will appear to change according to the light, weather and time of day.
Gallery
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_0000_Crossrail Art - Spencer Finch _A Cloud Index_ Paddington station - May 2018_304694 -
_0001_Crossrail Art - Spencer Finch _A Cloud Index_ Paddington station - Jan 2018_298406 -
_0002_A Cloud Index artwork installed in Paddington station canopy_304711 -
_0003_A Cloud Index artwork installed in Paddington station canopy_304706 -
_0004_A Cloud Index artwork installed in Paddington station canopy_304690 -
_0005_A Cloud Index artwork installed in Paddington station canopy_304687
“The artwork will exist both as an artificial cloudscape and as a homage to the British obsession with categorising and systematising the most fugitive of natural phenomena. Since Luke Howard first created a nomenclature for clouds in 1803, the efforts to comprehend and quantify clouds have been both beautiful and quixotic, and clouds always seem to stay one step ahead of human understanding.”
- Spencer Finch
Sponsor: Heathrow & City of London Corporation
Gallery partner: Lisson Gallery
