Date/Time
Date(s) - 24/06/2020
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

London Art Explorations are a series of walks investigating artworks displayed in outdoor settings in London, created and led by Gail Astbury, public art enthusiast as well as a practitioner in her own right.

BOOKING CLOSES AT 6.15PM

We’ve adapted to the times and are thrilled to be offering a guided public art tour for all to enjoy from home. The tour will be held on Zoom using Google Streetview, and will be recorded too. It will take approximately 60 minutes, and there will be a chance to ask questions during
the tour.

Yinka Shonibare’s Ship in a Bottle

0 Degree longitude draws crowds to Greenwich Observatory and Park, the viewpoint from which you can imagine the Prime Meridian Line as it passes close to Dome on the Peninsula, crosses the river and continues up through north east London.  The Sculpture Line created a mere 5 years ago, was an initiative to create a gallery of public art that ran along the Meridian.  Greenwich Peninsula had already been earmarked as a outdoor public art gallery since the Dome was first planned marking the Millennium.  New developments on the Peninsula have released capital to invest in yet more public art, so an already dense area of outdoor art, now accommodates a high level walkway and outdoor gallery, known as The Tide, emulating the popular High Line in New York City.

Some critics say that the Peninsula is now a dumping ground for crass modern art, others proclaim it as an artistic sell-out to the profit-seeking capitalist developers.  We hope these topics will bubble up in discussions during the virtual tour led by Gail Astbury.  The following tour will be to New York’s High Line (8 July) so we shall be able to seek comparisons.

From the Peninsula, we glance over the the river towards Trinity Buoy Wharf, longtime haunt of artists and technicians working on mega-structures and installations, and also home to a musical composition that lasts forever.

Gail Astbury’s husband Tim Ingram-Smith included this route as part of his London Spiral walk, and Gail has worked at Trinity Buoy Wharf, while the Greenwich-base Museum of Walking has also run previous walking tours here.

Look out for works by Damian Hurst, Antony Gormley, Gary Hulme and Conrad Shawcross, amongst many others.

After booking, you will receive a confirmation e mail (this may take a few hours).

You will then receive details of the Zoom meeting vie e mail within 3 hours of the start of the tour – the email will include a link to the virtual tour. Unfamiliar with Zoom? It is advisable to sign up to Zoom (it’s free to you as a participant) – do that right away. View this video about joining a Zoom meeting. If you haven’t used Zoom since 31 May you will be asked to update – worth doing before the tour the begins.

Join the meeting a few minutes before the start time (treating it like going to the theatre and taking your seat).  Within 5 minutes of the tour beginning, we will lock the meeting, so no one else can join the tour – this is a security measure to try minimise what’s called “Zoom bombing” and late arrivals cannot be guaranteed entry. 

Once on the tour you will receive a hand drawn map, so when restrictions are eased you can retrace the tour.

BOOKING CLOSES AT 6.15PM

There is no set ticket price on this Virtual Tour – we leave it up to your discretion (may we suggest £8-£12) – just use the PayPal Donate button below and then remember to book using the form you find at the bottom of this page (you can return to this page from PayPal):

Working for the NHS or as a key worker? – no need to make a donation as we are in your debt, just reserve a ticket below – please make sure you do as we won’t know to whom we need to send joining instructions.

Missed your chance to join – send us a note via our Get in Touch form as if we have sufficient sign ups we may run it again.

What people have said about Gail’s Art Explorations when on foot:

Bookings