Client: Canary Wharf Group
Designer: Mark Humphrey
Product: Jesmonite AC100, AC730 and AC830
Designed by Mark Humphrey of Studio Humphrey, the Remembrance Art Trail brought a series of sculptures to public spaces across Canary Wharf. Each work invited visitors to reflect on service, sacrifice and the human experience of conflict.
Our studio was commissioned to create sculptures for the trail, using Jesmonite extensively across the project. Among them was a giant sculpture inspired by an Airfix model – a soldier standing at peace, unarmed, with his weapons held in the frame. Scores of soldier figures were shown before and after battle, hand-painted and smashed. The contrast between those figures gave physical form to the trail’s central theme: the lives changed and lost through war.
The project brought together many hands. Commissioned by Canary Wharf Group in association with the Royal British Legion, the trail also drew support from The Poppy Factory and Combat Stress. Members of the British Army’s Corps of Royal Engineers helped construct and install the works. It was a privilege for our studio to contribute alongside Mark and everyone involved.
Working across pieces of such different scales called for close collaboration. Jesmonite helped us realise the detail of the individual figures as well as the striking presence of the larger work, turning an ambitious design into sculptures that people could encounter as they walked through Canary Wharf.
The finished trail brought remembrance into everyday public space, giving visitors a moment to pause and consider the people behind the history.
“A WONDERFUL PRESENTATION OVERWHELMED BY THE CONTENT.”
Camille Waxer, Chief Administration Officer
Canary Wharf Group