Commissioned by Great Portland Estates to design an artistic intervention to the lower ground floor façade to the entrance of a new building on Wells Street, London.
The sculpture is situated on the left-hand side of the entrance to 55 Wells Street, adding a sense of identity and arrival to this newly commissioned building. The sculpture runs the full height of the lower ground floor entrance at six meters in height.
The piece was inspired and draws contextual reference from the adjacent Grade I listed All Saints Church on Margaret Street. With its neo-gothic architecture, the church is captivating, it is the first example of Structural Polychromy in London with its decoration built into the structure.
Lee wanted to introduce and capture an essence of this in the piece for 55 Wells Street which draws on the restrained reflection of the notion of polychrome, in a contemporary impression and what it means to adorn a building in the 21st Century.
Through development, the sculpture has become a three-dimensional abstract collage of extracts from certain structures and forms in relief, that one might associate with the notion of polychrome or architectural elements of this era. Portland stone gives the piece it’s subtle, understated, monochrome aesthetic that only reveals its true qualities upon closer inspection.
Benefit or betrayal is a question at the forefront of the piece, using modern machinery, techniques of CNC machining, the large blocks of Portland stone are carved in a modern process which pays reference to the antiquated technique of stone carving.
