FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Malaysian artist wins Powerhouse Commission

Malaysian artist wins Powerhouse Commission

One of central London’s largest new developments, Battersea Power Station and the Cass Sculpture Foundation recently announced internationally acclaimed artists Jesse Wine and Haffendi Anuar as joint winners of the inaugural “Powerhouse Commission”.

The artists’ winning proposals will be unveiled at Battersea Power Station’s Circus West Village next month.

The winners of this first iteration of the Commission were selected by a panel of experts, namely Jude Kelly, Cultural Advisor at Battersea Power Station; Anne Mullins, Head of Culture at Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership; Misha Curson, Deputy Director, Cass Sculpture Foundation; Helen Turner, Curator at Cass Sculpture Foundation; and David Twohig, Chief Development Officer at Battersea Power Station.

British-born, New York-based Wine and Malaysian artist Anuar were chosen from a shortlist of nine international artists that included Claire Barclay (UK); Olaf Breuning (Switzerland); Conrad Shawcross (UK); Yutaka Sone (Japan); Nina Beier (Denmark); Raphael Hefti (Switzerland) and Bedwyr Williams (UK).

All nine shortlisted artists were invited to submit proposals for outdoor sculptures to be installed at Battersea Power Station.

Wine’s work will mirror the timeline of Battersea Power Station through the historical development of sculpture during the same period, from 1933 through to the present day.

Anuar will create a site-specific series of pilotis, traditional architectural columns that lift a building above ground or water, and which are commonly found in stilted dwellings, such as fishermen’s huts, across Asia. Within the context of Battersea Power Station, Machines for Modern Living are intended as surrogates of BPS’ chimneys. By installing them on ground level at Circus West, their presence will be anchored to the site, bringing the distant chimneys of Battersea Power Station within grasp. The complex forms of the sculptures with their angular stacks allude to both western minimalism and traditional Malaysian-Indonesian architecture.

Half of the development Battersea Power Station comprises retail, shops, restaurants and office space – in addition there will be a six acre public park, town square and a new tube station. Cass Sculpture Foundation, meanwhile, is a not-for-profit organization that inspires, enables and shares contemporary sculpture. It was founded in 1992 by Wilfred and Jeannette Cass in order to provide contemporary artists with exceptional commissioning and exhibition opportunities. Cass supports its commissioned artists at every step of the process, from conception to fabrication, exhibition and sale.

Once unveiled, Wine’s and Anuar’s sculptures will remain in situ for three months, adding to the variety of public art that London currently has to offer.

“Eighteen years ago Cass Sculpture Foundation established the commissioning process for the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square with Mark Wallinger’s Ecce Homo. I am thrilled to continue our legacy of presenting contemporary sculpture at London’s most prestigious public platforms, while maintaining our core charitable endeavour: to champion exceptional talent and provide artists with unexampled opportunity,” says Clare Hindle, Cass executive director.

David Twohig, Head of Design at Battersea Power Station adds: “The vision for Battersea Power Station is to create a new town centre with a diverse mix of users from office workers, to residents and visitors, all here to enjoy music venues, shops and restaurants, cinemas and galleries. But what is equally important to the success of a place is its active curation and animation. We have set this project up as a series of platforms, both internal and external spaces, where we invite creatives and artists to come and programme with a myriad of ideas and activities.”

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