John Lennon 'Imagine' Sculpture

The Imagine sculpture at the top of Carnaby Street in London is a life-size bronze statue of John Lennon seated on a bench, installed on October 9, 2021, on what would have been his eighty-first birthday. Self-taught sculptor Lawrence Holofcener designed the piece with an empty bench space so passersby could sit next to Lennon. Holofcener, who created London's Allies sculpture on Bond Street in 1995, passed away in 2017 aged ninety-one.

London Β· from the walk β€œCanvas & Cobblestones” Β· audio ~3 min Β· Generated

Carnaby Street, London W1F 7PT

Who created the John Lennon Imagine sculpture on Carnaby Street in London?

Take a look at this bronze figure on the bench beside you. Arms stretched wide, head tilted back, legs casually crossed... as if he's soaking in sunlight that only he can see. This life-size sculpture of John Lennon, entitled "Imagine," was placed here at the top of Carnaby Street on the ninth of October, twenty twenty-one β€” what would have been his eighty-first birthday.......... Go ahead, sit down next to him. That empty space on the bench? It's there on purpose. The artist Wanted you to be part of the piece.......... And speaking of the artist... did you know this sculpture was made by a man who started his career writing songs for Broadway? Lawrence Holofcener was born in Baltimore, studied at the University of Wisconsin, and went on to write music for shows like "Mister Wonderful" β€” and even for Sid Caesar's legendary "Your Show of Shows." He came to sculpture Late in life and was entirely self-taught, holding his first exhibition in nineteen seventy-nine.......... But here's what makes this doubly special. Holofcener's Other famous bench sculpture sits on Bond Street β€” "Allies," featuring bronze figures of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in conversation, unveiled by Princess Margaret in nineteen ninety-five. Two benches... two conversations about the world. One about wartime alliance. One about imagining peace.......... Holofcener's widow, Julia, explained that her husband "wanted to pay tribute to Lennon's music, but particularly to the concept of world peace." He sadly passed away in twenty seventeen, aged ninety-one, never seeing his Lennon placed Here... on this street that meant so much to the Beatles.......... And oh, this street has stories. Carnaby Street was where The Beatles came to get kitted out at boutiques like Lord John in the Swinging Sixties. Just steps away on Kingly Street stood The Bag O'Nails β€” a tiny basement club where the Beatles were regulars, and where Paul McCartney met his future wife, Linda Eastman, on the fifteenth of May, nineteen sixty-seven. That was the very night Brian Epstein hosted a dinner to celebrate finishing Sgt. Pepper's, and Paul slipped away afterwards to catch Georgie Fame performing. Their eyes met across the room... and the rest is history.......... One small footnote β€” within just months of the statue being installed, someone stole Lennon's glasses right off the bronze face! Even in sculpture, it seems, John Lennon remains irresistible.......... Now... before you move on, take one more look at that tilted head, those open arms. In two thousand and three, Holofcener draped a black sheet over his Churchill and Roosevelt sculpture during the Stop the War protests β€” his art was Never just decoration. And neither is this. It's an invitation... to sit down, pause, and imagine.

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