2019 - 2023 - St. Pancras Wires (previously Keyhole Wires) public art project, Curator
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Hybrid, a research and producing consultancy, and I have been commissioned to help HS1 realise a new public art project in St Pancras International Station called St. Pancras Wires (formerly Keyhole Wires).
As part of its commitment to offering contemporary public art for local, national and international travellers, HS1, owner of St Pancras International station, has appointed creative consultancy, Hybrid, and curator, Charlie Levine, to realise a new public art project. The major new commission, called Keyhole Wires, will be a prestigious platform for six shortlisted artists: Rachael Champion, Shezad Dawood, Yinka Ilori, Janetka Platun, Dan Rawlings, and Melanie Tomlinson.
The commission will relocate the existing art programme (featuring artists such as Tracy Emin and Conrad Shawcross), from the iconic station’s train shed roof to the new extension, named The Keyhole due to its design. Prior to Covid-19 one million people passed through St Pancras International each week.
HS1 worked with Hybrid because they wanted to give visibility to artists who are less well-known to the wider public.
Hybrid and Levine have always spotlighted under-represented artists whose artworks tackle pressing social issues of our time. Through Keyhole Wires they are profiling artists who are generally under-represented in the visual arts sector. The shortlist demonstrates Hybrid’s and Levine’s commitment to ‘curatorial activism’, which uses art as a vehicle for social change.
The six shortlisted artists work across a range of disciplines including sculpture, virtual reality and furniture design. Their visually spectacular proposals for Keyhole Wires take up themes of ecological change, mental health, global networks, and community cohesion whilst responding to the grandeur of the station’s architecture, its locality, and the places and people it serves.
Wendy Spinks, Commercial Director at HS1, said ‘We are excited to add the brand-new Keyhole Wires art installation to our host of arts and cultural experiences on offer at St Pancras International. As we prepare to launch this new initiative, which follows iconic installations from some of the country’s most prestigious artists, we look forward to offering a new wave of talented artists the opportunity to showcase their work at a world-class destination, where many visitors will be able to enjoy it on a daily basis.”
Director of Hybrid, Samina Zahir, adds, “When you think about the mainstream arts sector and what it looks like, the artists we have selected speak volumes. We are so thrilled as we could never have expected to have such a diverse group of six who are exploring important themes that resonate with the good that we want to see in the world.”
It was important that the artists’ considered the mix of people that use St Pancras International. “The artists have picked up on very different aspects of the station and their personal memories of using it. The work is brilliant and shows each artist really pushing what the space can do as well as their own practice”, says Levine, Curator.
Hybrid and Levine invited artists directly to submit proposals. They partnered with arts organisations served by routes from St Pancras, such as QUAD in Derby, which works with artists who identify as working class, and New Art Exchange (NAE) in Nottingham, which champions minority ethnic artists. From a longlist, discussions between HS1, Hybrid and Levine resulted in a unanimous shortlist in February 2020. The final decision was due to have been made in March 2020 but was delayed by Covid-19.
In January 2021, the six shortlisted artists will be going to a decision panel made up of: HS1; Hybrid; Levine; Stephen Beddoe, Director of External Relations, Central St Martins; Louise Fedotov-Clements, Artistic Director at QUAD and Director of FORMAT International Photography Festival; and Cliff Lawson, Senior Curator, Hayward Gallery. The selected artist will be announced in January 2021, and installation of the final commission will take place in Spring 2022.
As part of its commitment to offering contemporary public art for local, national and international travellers, HS1, owner of St Pancras International station, has appointed creative consultancy, Hybrid, and curator, Charlie Levine, to realise a new public art project. The major new commission, called Keyhole Wires, will be a prestigious platform for six shortlisted artists: Rachael Champion, Shezad Dawood, Yinka Ilori, Janetka Platun, Dan Rawlings, and Melanie Tomlinson.
The commission will relocate the existing art programme (featuring artists such as Tracy Emin and Conrad Shawcross), from the iconic station’s train shed roof to the new extension, named The Keyhole due to its design. Prior to Covid-19 one million people passed through St Pancras International each week.
HS1 worked with Hybrid because they wanted to give visibility to artists who are less well-known to the wider public.
Hybrid and Levine have always spotlighted under-represented artists whose artworks tackle pressing social issues of our time. Through Keyhole Wires they are profiling artists who are generally under-represented in the visual arts sector. The shortlist demonstrates Hybrid’s and Levine’s commitment to ‘curatorial activism’, which uses art as a vehicle for social change.
The six shortlisted artists work across a range of disciplines including sculpture, virtual reality and furniture design. Their visually spectacular proposals for Keyhole Wires take up themes of ecological change, mental health, global networks, and community cohesion whilst responding to the grandeur of the station’s architecture, its locality, and the places and people it serves.
Wendy Spinks, Commercial Director at HS1, said ‘We are excited to add the brand-new Keyhole Wires art installation to our host of arts and cultural experiences on offer at St Pancras International. As we prepare to launch this new initiative, which follows iconic installations from some of the country’s most prestigious artists, we look forward to offering a new wave of talented artists the opportunity to showcase their work at a world-class destination, where many visitors will be able to enjoy it on a daily basis.”
Director of Hybrid, Samina Zahir, adds, “When you think about the mainstream arts sector and what it looks like, the artists we have selected speak volumes. We are so thrilled as we could never have expected to have such a diverse group of six who are exploring important themes that resonate with the good that we want to see in the world.”
It was important that the artists’ considered the mix of people that use St Pancras International. “The artists have picked up on very different aspects of the station and their personal memories of using it. The work is brilliant and shows each artist really pushing what the space can do as well as their own practice”, says Levine, Curator.
Hybrid and Levine invited artists directly to submit proposals. They partnered with arts organisations served by routes from St Pancras, such as QUAD in Derby, which works with artists who identify as working class, and New Art Exchange (NAE) in Nottingham, which champions minority ethnic artists. From a longlist, discussions between HS1, Hybrid and Levine resulted in a unanimous shortlist in February 2020. The final decision was due to have been made in March 2020 but was delayed by Covid-19.
In January 2021, the six shortlisted artists will be going to a decision panel made up of: HS1; Hybrid; Levine; Stephen Beddoe, Director of External Relations, Central St Martins; Louise Fedotov-Clements, Artistic Director at QUAD and Director of FORMAT International Photography Festival; and Cliff Lawson, Senior Curator, Hayward Gallery. The selected artist will be announced in January 2021, and installation of the final commission will take place in Spring 2022.
Images below clockwise from top left: Rachael Champion, Shezad Dawood, Yinka Ilori, Melanie Tomlinson, Dan Rawlings, and Janetka Platun
