{"id":882143,"date":"2026-04-09T09:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T09:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/882143\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T09:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T09:50:18","slug":"michael-landys-future-ruins-opens-at-sir-john-soanes-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/882143\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Landy\u2019s Future Ruins Opens at Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

This autumn, a selection of Michael Landy\u2019s<\/a> (b.1963) drawings of iconic buildings in ruins will be brought together for the first time in the Museum, where the artist was first inspired to begin his meticulous series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Landy, Oh! What a falling off do these ruins present. Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum as a ruin, 2026, watercolour, permanent pen on paper \u00a9 Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Prudence Cuming Fine Art Photography<\/p>\n

Michael Landy says:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMany artists have been fascinated with ruins since the Renaissance. I\u2019m one of them. Everything \u2013 no matter how important, valuable or cared for now \u2013 will eventually fade, crumble, be reclaimed by nature, or disappear.\u00a0Imagine your home or place of work as a ruin. That is what Sir John Soane did when he wrote \u2018Crude Hints\u2019 about 13 Lincoln\u2019s Inn Fields falling into ruination, or Joseph Michael Gandy did when he imagined the Bank of England as a ruin. It means a lot to me to show these works at Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum, a place and collection that inspired me so much in thinking about and making the Future Ruins.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Future Ruins<\/strong> at Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum<\/a> will feature new and recent work showcasing the detailed drawings that continue the artist\u2019s reputation as one of the most talented draughtsman of his generation. For the first time, the works will also be shown in the context of the art that first inspired Landy to create the series, a unique opportunity to see a contemporary great in true dialogue with an important historical collection.<\/p>\n

A work from the Museum\u2019s collection \u2013 Joseph Michael Gandy\u2019s (1771-1843) watercolour, Architectural Ruins: A Vision (an imaginary view of the Rotunda at the Bank of England in ruins)(1798) \u2013 commissioned by Sir John Soane and depicting the then-Bank of England as a Roman ruin, was the inspiration for Landy\u2019s series. Now this work will be displayed in the same building as the artist\u2019s own imagining of a future filled with overgrown nature and crumbling structures, including his own version of Soane\u2019s Bank of England in ruins, where the grand structure has now been hollowed out with a Union Jack still flying over the decaying fa\u00e7ade, and an exciting new work depicting visions of Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum itself in ruins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Architectural Ruins: A Vision (an imaginary view of the Rotunda at the Bank of England in ruins) by Joseph Michael Gandy, 1798. \u00a9 Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum, London. Photo: Geremy Butler<\/p>\n

Some of the new depictions on display will imagine US President Trump\u2019s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, as an abandoned building through a series of watercolour and pen works. Properties and places from Landy\u2019s own childhood will also be seen, from his favourite childhood art supplies store to his family home in Ilford.<\/p>\n

These join recent Future Ruins<\/strong> works depicting the New York Stock Exchange, Chatsworth House, and the Palazzo della Civilt\u00e0 in Rome, Mussolini\u2019s fascist monument to himself.<\/p>\n

Through these drawings, Landy continues his decades-long exploration of capitalism, consumerism and destruction as even the grandest monuments and symbols struggle to endure. He also shows the emotions that architecture embodies over time, from richness to decay, when loss gives way to nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Known more for his large installations and participatory works, this exhibition is an opportunity to be reacquainted with an artist celebrated for his innovativeness and singular vision.<\/p>\n

Will Gompertz, Director of Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum, says:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMichael Landy and Sir John Soane is the perfect meeting of two artistic minds. Both have been drawn to the dark romantic notion of the ruin, which has informed their work throughout their careers, albeit over two hundred years apart. Landy\u2019s commitment to drawing is also echoed in Soane\u2019s own draughtsmanship and his collection. I am thrilled we are able to bring these two titans of the pencil together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Landy, Imaginary view of The Bank of England in ruins after Joseph Michael Gandy, 2024, lithograph \u00a9 Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery.<\/p>\n

Michael Landy: Future Ruins<\/strong>, 14th October 2026 \u2013 17th January 2027, Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum<\/a><\/p>\n

CategoriesTagsAuthor \"\"<\/p>\n

Mark Westall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Westall is the Founder and Editor of FAD magazine –<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This autumn, a selection of Michael Landy\u2019s (b.1963) drawings of iconic buildings in ruins will be brought together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[4023,748,8271,45232,393,6968,4884,249528,257,249529,206358,16,15],"class_list":["post-882143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-architecture","tag-britain","tag-contemporary-art","tag-drawing","tag-england","tag-exhibition","tag-great-britain","tag-joseph-gandy","tag-london","tag-michael-landy","tag-sir-john-soanes-museum","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116374131880557136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}