Portobello ‘Atomised’ for new Contemporary Art Installation
- New work by leading contemporary artists showcased along 100m public wall overlooking one of London’s most visited tourist destinations
- Emerging and established visual arts talent brought into the public realm
- Images of work here
A new installation created by the Atom Rooms Gallery has transformed a 100m stretch along Portobello Road’s North Wall.
The work entitled The Atom Rooms on Portobello Road sees work by artists including Paul Freud, Sophie MacDonald, Lydia Roberts, Antonio Bellotti and Thomas Lumley brought out onto the street, turning the concept of a gallery inside out. The work will stay in location until May 2012.
The work is part of ‘The Portobello North Wall Project’ a public art programme from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Culture Service that enables emerging contemporary artists to showcase their talent in one of London’s most vibrant creative hubs and popular tourist destinations.
The Atom Rooms on Portobello Road is the fifth in a series of original art installations chosen to take part in the project and follows work by Hew Locke, Liane Lang, Claire Morgan, and Natasha Mason and Teresa Crawley.
The Portobello North Wall connects two of the most vibrant markets in London: Portobello Road Market and Golborne Road Market. Artists working on the Wall are invited to explore the social, historical and creative context of the Wall’s surrounds. The Portobello Road is one of London’s most distinctive and creative areas, particularly linked to fashion, black music and the Notting Hill Carnival.
Cllr. Nicholas Paget-Brown, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment, and Leisure Services said: “I am delighted that The Atom Rooms and its artists have created the fifth installation for the Portobello North Wall Project.
“The Project gives young and emerging talent from the contemporary visual arts a unique opportunity to work with an uncommonly large space at the heart of one of London’s most visited tourist destinations and well-established creative hubs. The project provides an international showcase for their work, while also echoing the lives, people and histories of the area.
“The North Wall project is part of our on-going commitment to enabling people living in or visiting the Borough to experience the very best arts and culture. Kensington and Chelsea, and North Kensington in particular, has always provided a home to the creativity which makes London special and we believe that this has a firm role to play in building neighbourhoods and communities, contributing to regeneration and employment and making the borough an even better place”.
Mark Feathers, Director, Atom Rooms Gallery said: “This neighbourhood is a catalyst to a wide range of creative expressions. The diversity of cultures, ideas and languages creates a climate that stimulates contemporary creative tensions and why we chose to locate our gallery here.
“Culture, media and the arts have a major role to play in providing communities with a sense of identity, meaning, belonging and purpose. This is why the Gallery and our artists are delighted to be creating the next Portobello North Wall installation.”
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Location of the Portobello North Wall Project
Is the first 100m of the wall running the junction of Portobello and Golborne Roads going south towards the Westway.
Press contacts and Images
William Kallaway: william.kallaway@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883
Susannah Glynn: susannah.glynn@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883
About the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Culture Service
www.rbkc.gov.uk/culture ; Twitter: @RBKCculture
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is home to a vibrant community of creative people; from large cultural institutions to independent producers, performers, artists and creative businesses. The Culture Service is building on the uniqueness and identity of the Royal Borough to drive major creative ventures, fresh ideas, talent, creative exchanges and nurturing networks that benefit all that visit, live and work in the Royal Borough.
About the Atom Rooms
Atom Rooms is a contemporary art gallery based on London’s Portobello Road, which features a wide range of original works and giclee prints from living artists and photographers. Dedicated to supporting new and emerging cultural movements and validating the voice of creative pioneers, Atom Rooms launched in September 2010 with the group show “The Architects”. Works from some of the UK’s most important artists who emerged from the original generation of graffiti writers in the 1980s were brought together with spectacular results. In photography, Atom Rooms has focused its energies on the challenging images produced by the inimitable Brett Walker and his “Young Satellites”. Stark urban images, haunting portraits and atmospheric landscapes collide to authenticate the digital aesthetic. Illustrative and more painterly artists have also found a home within Atom Rooms., where the likes of the work of classically-trained Thomas Lumley is found alongside Joanna Scislowicz’s psychedelic oils and Sophie MacDonald’s energised mixed-media.
Previous Portobello Road North Wall Instillations
The Portobello Road North Wall project run by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service has had four previous installations since its launch in May 2009.
1. Hew Locke ‘Share’
A series of enlarged share certificates relating to the mix of cultures, businesses and produce available in the local area. The certificates were investigated and transformed by Locke to provide a commentary on the fascinating history and movement of money, power and ownership across the globe, linking our home and consumption with lands far away.
2. Liane Lang ‘La Muralla’
A 60 meter long vinyl print displaying fifty consecutive images akin to film stills. The images show the Dominican Convent, now the Spanish School, and the wall that surrounds it which is opposite the site of the work. The images display fleeting scenes of the street taken from sunrise to sunset on Valentine’s Day 2009. The only steady feature in the images is a figure, reclining on top of the wall, which remains unmoving throughout and the images depict varying responses from passers-by. The result is a series of accidental portraits, capturing market traders, residents, shoppers, council workers and tourists who happen to pass this long stretch of road between the two walls that lead from Portobello Road Market to Golborne Road Market.
3. Claire Morgan ‘Mandala (Dead Space)’
Morgan’s work is made up of around fifteen images, taken of a sculptural work made by the artist and consisting of fresh fruit from the Portobello market suspended in symmetrical patterns and photographed over a period of two weeks as it decays. The images paint a simple metaphor, of life leading to decay and ultimately leading to new life in turn, a theme reflected in the title Mandala – translated from the Sanskrit word for circle.
4. Natasha Mason and Teresa Crawley ‘Portobello ReCollection’
The artwork transforms the 100-metre long wall at the northern end of Portobello Road into W11's own private record collection - a giant shelf of records representing the defining songs of Notting Hill, as identified through collaboration with DJs, musicians, record labels, stall holders and local historians. Creating an explosion of colour and type design, this celebration of the rich musical heritage of Notting Hill emphasises the connection between the place, its people and its music.
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