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Illustrator Rebecca Hendin has created a giant artwork entitled ‘All Paths Lead to Foyles’ to hang across the site of the bookseller's future flagship store on Charing Cross Road, central London.
The artwork, which was unveiled today (1st May), was jointly commissioned by Foyles and Saint Martins Lofts, the new owners of the building on 107-109 Charing Cross Road, to celebrate the building’s ongoing status as a cultural landmark.
The artwork is 29m long and 8.4m high, stretching the length of the building’s face and will mask construction work taking place underneath. It will remain there until the building opens for business in April 2014. Hendin, a former Central Saint Martins College arts and design pupil, had her artwork exhibited after winning a competition run by agency Futurecity. It depicts a collection of exotic, knowledgeable creatures infiltrating the city, above and below ground.
Hendin said: “I decided to create a surreal London cityscape, composed of London-like buildings and including a smattering of its landmarks, as well as flowers, oversized animals, trees, musical instruments, vehicles, teacups, bottles, ships, the river, the Underground, and more.” She also used Christina Foyle’s fondness for animals as inspiration when creating the work.
Foyles recently held workshops with professionals across the publishing industry to generate ideas for the future Foyles bookshop as a blueprint for the bookshops of tomorrow, in a partnership with The Bookseller magazine.