Helaine Blumenfeld OBE (b. 1942) is one of the leading contemporary sculptors in Britain with a career spanning over 50 years. She has created more than 90 large-scale sculptures for private collections and public spaces around the world including Lincoln Center, New York; The St Regis Hotel, Hong Kong; Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai; The Lancasters, Hyde Park, London; and Canary Wharf, London.
At Canary Wharf, Blumenfeld will present over 25 sculptures on view in the Lobby of One Canada Square and in outside spaces around the Estate. Looking Up will feature works made in Blumenfeld’s signature materials – Carrara marble, terracotta, cedar wood and bronze – and will trace her artistic development over five decades through a diverse selection of sculptures dating from the 1970s to the present day.
Monumental
Represented by Hignell Gallery, Helaine Blumenfeld will present monumental works across the Canary Wharf landscape including the three-part sculpture Taking Risks. Carved from Carrara marble, the work highlights the sculptural vocabulary that she has refined throughout her career, testing the limits of the material in which she works.
Indoors at One Canada Square, Looking Up will feature a number of pieces including seven new works created especially for the space. Highlights include the marble Toward The Precipice and cedar wood Flight and Aurora which reflect the artist’s concerns about society and the need for regeneration.
Helaine Blumenfeld says: “The opportunity to exhibit my sculpture in Canary Wharf is, in many ways, the culmination of efforts I’ve made throughout my career to bring sculpture into public spaces where it can affect people in their daily lives. I hope my sculptures will offer the millions of workers and visitors who pass through Canary Wharf the opportunity to look up and see the world that surrounds them, elevating their spirits and creating a shared sense of community.”
Exhibition
Looking Up highlights Helaine Blumenfeld’s passion for bringing sculpture to the people and reveals the artist at the height of her powers, as she continues to develop her own widely recognised oeuvre. The exhibition follows the 2016 addition of the five-metre bronze sculpture Fortuna to Canary Wharf Group’s permanent art collection. Looking Up will coincide with an exhibition of the artist’s work at Hignell Gallery, London, details of which will be announced in winter 2019.
Featured image: Helaine Blumenfeld, Taking Risks, 2019. Photo © Erio Forli