London of the Future?

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 | By Emily Gosling

What for London now? The summer’s taken in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and, of course, The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. But once they’re gone, our dear capital may feel a little sad.

Rebuild the Bow Road Tram, by Bob Roberta Smith

Rebuild the Bow Road Tram, by Bob & Roberta Smith

Thanks goodness, then, for London Calling – a new show at Eleven Spitalfields Gallery showing the work of artists Bob & Roberta Smith and Jessica Voorsanger.

The Replacement for the Routemaster Bus, by Bob Roberta Smith

The show focuses on the London of the future, with Bob & Roberta Smith creating a utopian vision of east London as a place – perhaps not too unrealistically – equipped with a Tram system, cycle lanes, electric cars and lavender-lined streets.

Jessica Voorsanger

Meanwhile Voorsanger’s work uses a range of media including performance and painting to examine the peculiar notion of celebrity.

Jessica Voorsanger

Her This is London collage series explores ‘the random nature of current celebrity’ by juxtaposing images of places in London with pictures of celebrities, with connections between them created using lines from window ledges, telephone lines and other architectural elements.

Jessica Voorsanger