Tag Archive for: Art

Centre Court’s New Pop Up Art Exhibition


The Wimbledon Group is a collective of local artists based at the Wimbledon Art Studios, who have recently joined Centre Court Shopping Centre for a free pop-up exhibition, showcasing their brilliant work. 

Located on the top floor of Centre Court, the space has been transformed into an open and welcoming gallery for lovers of affordable art made by local artists.

See details of some of the artists featured below.

            

  • Alan Carlyon Smith
    Alan is interested in the relationship of 2D images and 3D form. Figurative images give way to abstractions and then take on a solid format. Narratives suggest that there is a dialogue between things we understand and things we would like to believe.
  • Angela Smith
    Angela is interested in the possibilities of narrative and invoking atmosphere and emotion. Her paintings are rarely portraits but more hybrid figures layered with emotion, experience and imaginings. The figures exist in another world but they are touched with human spirit and nature.
  • Damian Woodford
    Damian’s painting utilizes primary and secondary colours with the arrangement of abstract shapes. He likes to pull apart the components of visual form and reduce them to bare gestures: lines, arcs, circles, and polygons become his building blocks.
  • Emma Forrester
    Emma is drawn to beautiful forms whether they are man-made or natural and her appreciation of the simple beauty of such objects is apparent in their sensitive portrayal in her paintings. Her recent works bear an expressive use of line and an understanding of pattern and form that is fundamental to her work.
  • Jill Sutcliffe
    Jill is a ceramic sculptor whose work captures the essence of positive energy and movement. Strongly influenced by her love for architecture and nature, she pairs the two to provide us with exquisite three-dimensional forms that will enhance any environment
  • Mike Stokoe
    Mike is a published cartoonist and was first appeared in Punch magazine in 1997. He regularly features in Private Eye, The Spectator and commercial advertising for Anglo American Oil Company. He has a cartoon hanging in the National Football Museum and was the set cartoonist for the feature film “Strike”.
  • Alison Groom (Guest)
    Alison’s paintings are concerned with texture and light, using acrylic mediums with granular additives to express the textures she observes in the environment. She then uses oil paint to define and illuminate her paintings. Fascinated by the changes of colour of light she is drawn to early morning and late afternoon light as well as the colours of sunset and gloaming.
  • Graham Hunter (Guest)
    Graham’s most recent work focuses on landscape. He likes to create vibrant, painterly scenes with an emphasis on trees. “Tree’s are our friends and guardians, they speak of ling life, fruitfulness, love and death. Who does not have a favourite tree?”
  • Sarah Ollerenshaw (Guest)
    Sarah’s landscape paintings of bluebell woods resonate and inspire a moment of spiritual transportation, taking us to another place where one feels at peace and connected. Thy recall those with whom we have ‘journeyed’ and remind us of all that is important in order to feel alive, rooted and inspired by creation.
  • Sara Vertigan (Guest)
    Sara works in oils and specialises in landscapes, inspired by places she’s visited. Colour and strong light sources are ever present in her work and Sara is interested in the effect of man-made structures in defining the geometry of landscapes.

           

Exhibition Details

Unit 223, Centre Court Shopping Centre. 4 Queen’s Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8YA

Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11am  – 5pm

‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ Street Art

‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ is new wall art installation in Wimbledon Town Centre, created by Love Wimbledon, in collaboration with artist Louis Masai and local photographer and culture campaigner Cindy Sasha. This piece aims to raise awareness of the decline of British birds in London, particularly the House Sparrow, renowned for its birdsong and seen as a vital part of urban life.

Brought to life by a London-based artist, often best known for his dynamic and inspiring wall murals of endangered animals, ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ features a male house sparrow and female house sparrow inferring the question of ‘where has the sparrow song gone’. Based on the hit single ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ by Icelandic musician Björk, the art reflects how birdsong has reduced over time, due to the population decline of this bird species.

The disappearance of birdsong could have a profound impact on human health. The natural sounds of birdsong have been linked to improved mental and emotional health amongst humans. Hearing birdsong allows us to connect with the natural world and can be the perfect antidote to the pressures of modern life.

According to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), there is a severe decline in the UK house sparrow population, estimated as dropping by 71 per cent since 1977. This has led to the RSPB now red-listing House Sparrows as a species of high conservation concern.

Rather than adopting the newer patchwork style, seen in much of Louis Masai’s more recent work, the artist drew on a more realistic, older style of painting to embody the central message of this piece – the critical situation facing British birdlife. Louis Masai is a London-based painter, sculptor and street artist, who uses his art in the form of murals, paintings and installations to highlight and initiate discussion surrounding climate change, endangerment of species, conservation and species equality.

Wimbledon has seen a renaissance in cultural experiences ranging from music, theatres, art galleries and literary festivals. It is a place where there is often more than what meets the eye. As said by Cindy Sasha, “street art can change a landscape of a town centre. I love it when the love spreads through art and sends such a positive message – we need more of it!”. Love Wimbledon create and fund a variety of cultural and environmental notions including the first rainbow pedestrian crossing in the UK, in partnership with Merton Council, to show support to the LGBTQ community in Wimbledon Town Centre. Find out more here.

 

“This collaboration has brought an important message to Wimbledon, whilst also developing a stronger and more vivid cultural strategy for visitors to experience the town centre. The art is impactful, meaningful and has had a positive response from business, visitors and local residents. We were pleased to hear we have a crew of House Sparrows in Wimbledon Town Centre – something to be truly celebrated.”

Sally Warren, Love Wimbledon

 

Find this new street art piece on Alwyne Road, off Wimbledon Hill Road, in Wimbledon Town Centre, and help to spread this message. Watch the public reaction to the art.