“This grey monstrous London of ours” just got a bit brighter. Multidisciplinary designer Adam Nathaniel Furman’s installation at Paddington Station entitled Abundance opened to the public this week. The 160-foot-long artwork shaped like an accordion greets commuters and travelers entering and exiting one of London’s busiest transit hubs; injecting kaleidoscopic hues into the relatively monotone metropolis.
Abundance’s “unapologetically flamboyant” designer Adam Nathaniel Furman said in a statement that their installation “celebrates inclusivity” and “promotes wellbeing” vis-a-vis its “sensual, crafted and polychromatic” approach.
What makes the razzmatazz pizazz installation even more impressive is its quotidian materiality: the artwork inspired by origami is made up of typical metal sheets commonly found on construction sites. In short, it’s an example of doing a lot with a little; akin to works by many of the great postmodernists Furman has written extensively about.
“I’ve been trying very hard over many years to bring a level of sensual delight to new public realm projects, creating high quality decorative moments in the city that lift the quotidian environments we pass through with a sense of high quality materiality and aesthetic richness,” Furman told AN. “The three public realm projects I have completed in London this year explore this end goal in different ways, with the London Bridge Mosaic being the most recent prior to this,” they continued.
“I’m inspired by lots of artists, designers, and architects with obvious Op Artists like Carlos Cruz-Diez influencing this piece in particular,” Furman continued. “The process was, and my process tends to be, very traditional. For [Abundance], I painted initially, then moved into digital, then moved into lots of model making with the correct colours, then into prototyping.”
Furman was born not far from the project site at London’s St. Mary’s Hospital Paddington which makes the project even more meaningful, they said. Abundance hugs Paddington Central’s newly finished amphitheater at Sheldon Square which provides a “year-round destination for people to relax and enjoy culture, music, entertainment and wellbeing pop-ups.” The massive public artwork is inspired by the area’s plentiful nature and rich history.
“At Paddington Central, creating thriving places is at the heart of what we do, and we hope that by introducing a new installation filled with colour and vibrancy, it allows visitors to find an enticing place to unwind within a busy capital,” said Rob Stickland, estate director at Paddington Central.
To date, Furman has exhibited work in London, Paris, New York, Milan, Melbourne, Rome, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Vienna, and Basel. Abundance is a permanent installation by the artist to stay up in perpetuity.
