LAWRENCE IN FITZROVIA

UNVEILING OF THE MARBLE HEAD

A SCULPTURE BY CORIN JOHNSON, CURATED BY MARTIN GREEN

THE FITZROVIA CHAPEL, LONDON

26 JAN – 9 FEBRUARY 2024

PANEL DISCUSSION:

LAWRENCE IN MARBLE – 5 FEBRUARY

Lawrence (Felt, Denim, Go Kart Mozart, Mozart Estate) has announced details of the unveiling of the marble head – an incredible sculpture in Portuguese pink marble by Corin Johnson – in the meditative setting of The Fitzrovia Chapel, a magical Grade II listed space that once served Middlesex Hospital, and now stands alone in Pearson Square, W1. The exhibition will run from 26 Jan until 9 February 2024, part of the chapel’s 2024 cultural programme with two panel discussions confirmed – full details below.

The sculpture will be lit up on a podium by the altar, providing an object of pilgrimage in the former sacred space of the chapel. Corin Johnson approached Lawrence at a Go Kart Mozart concert at London’s Moth Club in 2017, offering to create a life-sized bust. A huge chunk of pink marble sat in his Camberwell studio and he thought this perfect for the maverick underground star. Lawrence sat through a bleak midwinter, freezing while Corin sculpted. The finished piece, with Lawrence’s distinctive visor and hood evoking a monk in contemplation, an urban rebel and a public figure in disguise.

Lawrence explains, “This huge undertaking reminds me of Caravaggio paintings and biblical statues from the Middle Ages, so it seemed apt to showcase it in the beautiful interior of The Fitzrovia Chapel.

It is unlike anything the pop world has to offer, this unique event showcases the coming together of old and new styles – the ancient and the modern – combined! You really haven’t seen anything like this before.”

“Corin Johnson’s sculpture of Lawrence is a work of solemn beauty. His monkish, aquiline face is shrouded by a cowl-like hoodie and baseball cap, large sunglasses perched on top of a narrow nose bringing a touch of distance, like he is locked into some kind interior monologue that can never be fully revealed or understood by anyone else.” - Will Hodgkinson (The Times)

Corin Johnson grew up in Sutton Coldfield, not far from Lawrence's home town of Water Orton. He trained as a stone carver, studied fine art at City and Guilds, and his works include limestone carvings of martyred bishops for Westminster Abbey, a statue of St Andrew for Exeter College Oxford, a marble Lady Diana memorial at Althorp Estate, a stone and ceramic sculpture of Grace Jones and a series of devil figurines with Nick Cave. It is Lawrence, however, who captured his imagination. 

“I find it more heroic to sculpt an artist like Lawrence, rather than someone like an admiral. It is the reality of his life which made me want to do the head.”

The exhibition is curated by Martin Green who with Duovision Arts has exhibited work by Jarvis Cocker, Marc Almond, Gina Birch, Caroline Coon, Pam Hogg, Andrew Logan, Mick Rock and Sheila Rock. 

'I've known Lawrence for 30 years since he hung out at my club Smashing in the early 90s and always had enormous respect for him. So when approached to curate an exhibition of the marble head, I wanted to find the perfect venue. Fitzrovia Chapel is a beautiful intimate Victorian building standing proudly alone among a vast contemporary development in central London. Like Lawrence it remains a strident example of independent creative originality surrounded by a sea of new development.”

DISCUSSION PANEL

5 February – Lawrence in Marble - TICKETS

Part 1: Will Hodgkinson talking to Corin Johnson about the piece and working in an increasing commercial world with Georgina Starr, Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

Part 2: Will Hodgkinson with Lawrence discussing the same subject.