Luke Jerram has made a name for himself with his large-scale public art installations—from a water slide on Park Street to a scaled-down Planet Earth in Bristol Cathedral. Now he’s wrapped Bristol’s oldest art gallery in ribbon.
Since Tuesday (June 10), the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) has had a 1000m long, 20cm wide magenta ribbon covering the exterior of the Grade II* listed building—before entering a window of the building and exploring inside.
Luke Jerram said:
RWA were looking for an art intervention that would help celebrate and advertise their latest exhibition inside the building. This artwork is both a simple sculptural intervention of the space outside the museum and an experimental three-dimensional drawing. It’s been great fun developing this new experimental project with the team. We’re literally taking a line for a walk!
The giant experimental 1km long line drawing, Negotiating Space, is described as a “joyful response” to the RWA’s Summer of Textiles, which is a season of exhibitions and events that are bursting with colour, narratives and texture.
Currently, Soft Power: lives told through textile art (which is exhibiting until August 10) highlights how cloth plays a unique role in telling human stories and can communicate a life’s journey. Particularly, the exhibition highlights how cloth can connect women across cultures.
Curated by internationally-renowned textile art pioneer, Professor Alice Kettle, with curator of international textiles, Professor Lesley Millar MBE, all the artworks focus on storytelling—from the autobiographical and hidden struggles of marginalised individuals to stories shaped by major events like the pandemic.