The Museum of London is sporting a new two-wheeled look at the moment, with it’s new exhibition called London Cycles.
The Mayor of London is obviously very enthusiastic about London Cycles – Boris had this to say:
Cycling is one of the best ways to get around our city, as increasing numbers of Londoners and visitors are finding. From Lycra-wearers and finely togged City folk, to east London hipsters on fixies, cycling has almost trebled over the past decade. This latest Museum of London displays shows how it has wheeled into mainstream consciousness – I can’t think of a better way to get to see it than by bike, surely one of the most enjoyable ways to visit this and other cultural gems across the capital.
As you might expect, the exhibition features lots of bicycles from London’s past and present – there’s a boneshaker from the late 1800s, a classic penny farthing, an Enfield bicycle from the ’30s and one of the museum’s most recent exhibits, a ‘Boris bike’, which they acquired at the beginning of the year.
Beyond the physical exhibits there’s also a very interesting piece of work by Professor Jo Wood to examine. The Professor of Visual Analytics at City University took the journey data from the museum’s new bike and mapped it digitally, showing it’s journeys across town over time in a variety of formats – here’s an example:
Also part of London Cycles is a new art commission from the French artist Ugo Gattoni, which features ten life-size images which cover the whole gamut of cycling fashion, from the lycra wearers via the bike couriers to those odd characters who ride around on tandems wearing tweed…
London Cycles is entirely free of charge to visit, and runs at the Museum Of London until 22 September.