LONDON.- Artworks by Ai Weiwei, Andrew Sabin and Jane and Louise Wilson will be installed amidst the iconic architecture of the City of London from this summer as part of the 14th edition of Sculpture in the City, the annual public art exhibition set in the heart of the Square Mile.
Launching on 16 July 2025, the 14th edition of Sculpture in the City continues its mission to transform the City of London into a vibrant open-air gallery, placing world-class public art in the heart of one of the world’s most iconic urban environments.
Offering a striking contrast to the surrounding urban landscape, Ai Weiwei’s cast-iron tree root sculpture Roots: Palace will be installed at St Botolph without Bishopsgate. Part of a series created in collaboration with Brazilian artisans and communities by moulding sculptures from the roots and trunks of endangered Pequi Vinagreiro trees, the work explores uprootedness. It references the artist’s personal exile, as well as global refugee crises and the displacement of Brazil’s indigenous peoples. Crafted using ancient “lost wax” casting techniques, elements of these rare tree roots are transformed into evocative compositions that resemble both mythical creatures and fragmented natural forms.
A new work by artist duo Jane and Louise Wilson, Dendrophiles, highlights hidden stories beneath London’s modern architecture, exploring the fragile connection between The City’s high-rise skyline and its ancient past. Situated beneath the escalators of The Leadenhall Building, the work combines ink drawings based on images of DNA with 3D scans of ancient oak wooden samples that date over 2,000 years old. The archaeological material was excavated on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters in 2012 and believed to have once supported a crossing over the River Walbrook. The microscopic imagery was developed with the Department of Biohybrid Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen and MOLA, London. With this juxtaposition, the artists want to spotlight the loss of hands-on knowledge and remind us that the most important part of technology is often social: learning by transferring skills and techniques from one generation to the next. The sculpture is a continuation of the themes explored in the twins' upcoming site specific commission, Performance of Entrapment, which will be presented from 17 July at the nearby London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE.
Outside 70 St Mary Axe, a new large-scale sculpture by Andrew Sabin, Looping Loop, was created by first sculpting shapes in soft margarine, which were then used to create moulds. The combination of soft, textured mould surfaces with hard, colourful casting material gives the sculpture a lively, pulsating sensation. Its continuous, rising and falling form traces a gentle path around its circumference, punctuated by shifts in colour, texture, and mood.
The new sculptures will join six works retained from previous editions of Sculpture in the City, along with two permanent acquisitions, highlighting the legacy of the programme in shaping The City of London’s relationship with public art.
Works remaining on show
A playful and interactive work first unveiled in 2024, Kissing Gate by Maya Rose Edwards remains on show in Aldgate Square, placing a rural kissing gate into the urban landscape, inviting moments of interaction between city-goers.
Also installed in 2024 as part of the 13th edition of Sculpture in the City, on the corner of 99 Bishopsgate and Wormwood Street, Temple by Richard Mackness turns the humble paper bag into a sculptural, gilded monument, giving a familiar tool of daily errands the reverence of a shrine.
Julian Opie’s four sculptures, Charles, Jiwon, Nethaneel, and Elena, at 100 Bishopsgate, depict diverse faces using strict vertical symmetry, blending classic portrait techniques with the visual language of modern technologies such as facial recognition, while referencing the traditional aesthetics of public monuments.
At Mitre Square, CAUCUS, a vibrant yellow sculpture by artist and designer Samuel Ross, who this year is leading the London Design Biennale as Artistic Director, invites interactions from the public with the sculpture, encouraging familiar gestures like sitting, standing, and leaning.
Two sculptures by Daniel Silver, part of his Rock Formations series, present interpretations of the human body inspired by ancient statues and busts. Composed of “collages” of stone and bronze heads placed on pieces of Michelangelo marble, the artworks are situated at 40 Leadenhall (one by the Fenchurch Street entrance and one by the Leadenhall Street entrance).
Permanent acquisitions
As a testament to Sculpture in the City’s lasting influence, permanent artwork acquisitions have been made through the programme, becoming part of the permanent public art offering in The City of London. This is the case of In Loving Memory by Oliver Bragg, an artwork composed of humorous engraved brass plaques situated on existing benches around the City. The plaques commemorate fictional or abstract ideas with a mix of optimism, humour, and reflection. Also permanent is Elisa Artesero’s The Garden of Floating Words, a poem displayed using neon that appears to be floating amongst the foliage outside 70 St Mary Axe.
