This show has been on at Somerset House for a while now and has just over a month to run. It comprises large scale black and white photographs of Hawksmoor’s London churches. These are complemented with models of their towers or facades suspended on wires from the ceiling.
The exhibition curated by Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of Harvard University Graduate School of Design. It features the work of architectural photographer Hélène Binet. Using digital plans, the models were made from resin.
Nicholas Hawksmoor (c.1661–1736) was the brilliant protege of Christopher Wren, most of whose London churches have survived.
They are beautifully and simply presented in this exhibition: the approach is wholly successful. Recommended.
Nicholas Hawksmoor: Methodical Imaginings runs until 2 September at Somerset House. Entrance in free.
Thanks, Mike. I love your blog for its insights into the great city.
Hawksmoor steak houses are named after this man, they are sublime.
Well I hope they offer me a discount for approving that comment. 🙂
Great post, as usual, Mike! I’m definitely going to have to go to this – I love Hawksmoor’s work! (Does anyone else think the resin models look like white chocolate, and therefore, are both visually interesting and mouth-watering? Ok, perhaps that’s just me).
Thanks, Andrea. Yes, they do look like that, which if anything, is a fault. Would have been nicer with a bit of contour, I reckon. Not certain, but I have a feeling they may have been made with these amazing new-fangled 3D printers. Also, I haven’t captioned them, preferring to leave them as a sort of unsaid visual quiz for the readers! Do you think I should?