Michael Landy: Future Ruins

This autumn, a selection of Michael Landy’s (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. Future Ruins at Sir John Soane’s Museum will feature new and recent work showcasing the detailed drawings that continue the artist’s reputation as one of the most talented draughtsmen of his generation.

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

Some of the new depictions on display will imagine US President Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, as an abandoned building through a series of watercolour and pen works. Properties and places from Landy’s own childhood will also be seen, from his favourite childhood art supplies store, to his family home in Illford. These join recent Future Ruins works depicting the New York Stock Exchange, Chatsworth House, and the Palazzo della Civiltà in Rome, Mussolini’s fascist monument to himself.

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.

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.