Mural at City of London Academy

Reasons for Designation

The mural facing Packington Street on the side of the gym at the City of London Academy is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * high artistic quality of this bold composition of geometrically-patterned multi-coloured circles connected by diagonal lines in the shape of a pair of compasses and triangular blocks of colour; * less abstract riparian elements which tell the important story of the New River, navigated from Hertfordshire to London in 1619, which once passed near the site; * a rare-surviving work of 1960s public art produced by one of two London County Council in-house, salaried artists William Mitchell.

Details

635-1/0/10198 PACKINGTON STREET 27-NOV-08 Mural at City of London Academy

II

Mural, c1964, by William Mitchell. Originally one of a pair. Located on gym building of the same date by Sherrer and Hicks, which is not of special interest.

DESCRIPTION: the mural is approximately 34 ft (10.4m) by 14 ft (4.3m) and is located on the outward side of the wall of the former gymnasium to the school (previously Tudor School, then Islington Green School) facing Packington Street. It is a semi-abstract mosaic with tile, broken china, glass and tesserae on concrete backing. The design comprises a large pair of compasses with a circular hinge which bears the image of a face surrounded by the words 'James I made a river from Hertfordshire to Islington Pond', referring to the Stuart-sponsored New River of 1613 which originally flowed past Packington Street at its westernmost end. The round shape of the hinge determines the patterns in the left hand section of the mural which are geometric and circular, apart from a section of yellow which resembles a crown. The compasses' two spikes are striped black and white and project out towards the right hand section of the mural which depicts a large fish also surrounded by circular patterns, evoking riverlife and plants. Some sections of the mosaic are blocks of colour made up of different sized broken fragments of the same original piece; others are arranged in striped or geometric patterns. There are sections of ceramic mouldings and one whole, unbroken decorative tile but most of the pieces used are two-dimensional.

HISTORY: William Mitchell was one of two artists (along with Antony Hollaway) employed by London County Council from 1953-65 to work with LCC architects to produce decorative finishes and artworks for new schools, housing estates and hospitals. Their work ranged from the creation of reliefs and murals to the making of signs, and the costs of materials were absorbed into normal building expenses. As Antony Hollaway remarked, this programme contrasted with the LCC's other patronage of the arts: 'for the LCC there were two types of art; the expensive kind they got through art galleries with the recommendation of the Arts Council, with the idea that it might also be a good investment, and the cheap art they got from their own consultants for the price of the building materials'.

The mural was originally one of a pair with the now-demolished second mural sited further east up Packington Street on the side of the same building. Both murals were constructed at the same time as the school, which was designed by Scherrer and Hicks and opened in 1969. Scherrer and Hicks were already familiar with Mitchell's work: a decorative concrete wall by Mitchell was the centrepiece of the reception area in their Lee Valley Water Works building of 1964. Some of Mitchell's work has now been listed, including a series of relief heads at Harlow Civic Centre Water Gardens and a free-standing sculpture 'Corn King and Spring Queen' in Wexham, South Buckinghamshire. There are also works by Mitchell included as part of the special interest of listed buildings, including the doors of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool; Roman Catholic Cathedral, Clifton, Bristol; the Egyptian escalator at Harrods, Knightsbridge; and the auditorium of the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The mural facing Packington Street on the side of the gym at the City of London Academy is listed for the following principal reasons: * high artistic quality of this bold composition of geometrically-patterned multi-coloured circles connected by diagonal lines in the shape of a pair of compasses and triangular blocks of colour; * less abstract riparian elements which tell the important story of the New River, navigated from Hertfordshire to London in 1619, which once passed near the school; * a rare-surviving work of 1960s public art produced by one of two London County Council in-house, salaried artists William Mitchell.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

505761

Legacy System:

LBS

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