Winter Lights 2017: Angel Wings and Floating Poetry Combine to Shine a Light on Canary Wharf – 12.01.17

January’s dark evenings are set to be illuminated throughout Canary Wharf by angels, glowing graffiti and floating poetry, revealed by state-of-the-art light technology. These form part of the free Winter Lights exhibition opening at Canary Wharf on 16^th January

For the third year running, Winter Lights will bring spectacular artworks, installations and experiences to Canary Wharf, many of them interactive or responsive. As a collection the 30 pieces showcase works by some of the most inventive and exciting international artists working with Light Art today.

Visual Arts curators of Canary Wharf Group plc, Keith Watson and Sally Williams say: “This year’s amazing Winter Lights festival at Canary Wharf is our best yet, surpassing last year’s spectacular award-winning offer. The roster of artists we’ve attracted this year are some of the most imaginative creators working in the field today. What sets our festival apart from other light festivals across Europe is that you can get close up to the works, meet many of the artists and enjoy an escapist and enriching experience on your own or with family and friends. Canary Wharf is an exceptional environment and is definitely the place to visit this January with lots of bars, restaurants and other facilities waiting to welcome you.”

Some of the pieces on show – Angels of Freedom, Luma Paint, OVO (OVO Collective), Horizontal Interference, Digital Skin, Nonotak, Origin and Water Wall – have never been exhibited in the UK before making this year a truly unique experience for visitors where interaction is the theme of the displays.

Angels of Freedom, by Merav Etan and Gaston Zahr, contains a deep underlying message discouraging discrimination through interaction. Five giant wings with white halos invite people to turn into angels in a few simple steps through the power of photography social media.

OVO (OVO Collective) immerses visitors in unique and beautiful light structures whilst Marcus Lyall’s ‘On Your Wavelength’ is a mind-powered laser and sound installation of over 20,000 LEDs. Lyall’s structure uses participant’s brain activity to choreograph beautiful light patterns.

Visitors are invited to put their painting skills to the test in Mateo Mounier’s Digital Skin creating compositions of bright colour and pattern. Meanwhile over the weekend of 20 ^–22 January, live graffiti crafted from light is on show with Luma Paint Light Graffiti (Lichtfaktor feat. Helge Bomber Steinmann), transforming any object in to a live painting canvas. Bringing a further element to the fore, Water Wall (Gregory St. Pierre) uses a mist screen to interact with visitors as they will create beautiful patterns on to a wall of water.

For contemplation, The Garden of Floating Words by Elisa Artesero evokes a peaceful note giving the impression that a cluster of glowing neon words floats in the foliage of Jubilee Park, creating a poem of transience. BLOOM (Squidsoup) also has a calming effect made up of a thousand spheres of light each bobbing gently in the wind. One piece draws attention to world issues, created by Mike Stephen and school children, Liter of Light, highlights the need to give light to undeveloped countries.

Winter Lights Festival 2017 is free to the public and can be seen across the Canary Wharf Estate from 16^–27 January. The illuminations can be discovered in an array of different locations and the full list of the installations can be found on the website www.canarywharf.com/arts-events/events/winter-lights-2017/

In conjunction with the Winter Lights festival 2017, an exhibition by artist Lillian Lijn featuring spectacular sculptural works using light will be on display in the Lobby of One Canada Square from 8 January to 17 March 2017.

ENDS

More Information:

Press Office
Canary Wharf Group plc
T: 020 7418 2000
E: pressoffice@canarywharf.com