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Gabriel Orozco
The Orozco Garden, 2016

A garden at the South London Gallery

South London Gallery garden by Gabriel Orozco, 2019 (c) Gabriel Orozco. Photo by Andy Stagg

The Orozco Garden opened in 2016 and was created over two years by leading international artist Gabriel Orozco, with support from 6a architects and horticulturists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Orozco transformed a largely inaccessible paved area of land at the back of the SLG’s main building into a unique sculptural work, having never designed a garden prior to his commission.

The choice of materials in the Orozco Garden was drawn from the language of the gallery’s Victorian building and includes bricks from the newly opened up rear facade. An important focus of the garden was the planted walkway at the back which provides a direct point of access for residents of Sceaux Gardens housing estate where the SLG has run art programmes for many years. Playing on the idea of an urban ruin, the garden has gradually evolved to become rambling and overgrown with different grasses, low-level creepers and fragrant plants.