Art in the Age of Now

I have painted a whole room bright pink in the historic London building Fulham Town Hall.

This iconic, deserted 51,000 sq ft Victorian space in West London, will open its doors for the first time in a decade after the winter lockdown as it plays host to ‘Art in the Age of Now’, a group exhibition that brings together contemporary art, live music, talks and performance art.

Overseen by curator Ben Moore (Art Below), and co-presented by hotel operator Lamington Group, Art in the Age of Now is a free event for the local community and features an extraordinary programme of installations, guest exhibitions, live performance art, music, talks, readings and screenings in the atmospheric setting of Fulham Town Hall, before owners Ziser property redevelop the building and give the iconic space a new lease of life as a creative, community hub and boutique hotel in 2022. Many of the landmark building’s beautiful original fittings are preserved and will remain so in its future life as a hotel and entertainment space.

Whilst the building was remained empty, I took The Pink Bear exploring one evening on his pink bicycle - you can see some photos below.

Ben presented me with a room in the basement of the sprawling building to do with as I wished, the room was an old jail cell. It took me a half a day to sweep away all the dirt in the room, as it was covered in a layer of thick black dirt. It dawned on me whilst sweeping the room that this dirt was a build up of black carbon from the car exhausts passing by outside which had filtered through the small vents in the windows over the last decade as the building lay dormant. I was shocked at how thick it was and much of it there was. Once the room was cleared I headed to the paint shop and picked up two giant tubs of bright pink paint - the shop assistant pointed me in the direction of white recycled paint which could still be custom mixed with a pink of my choosing! Apparently all the stores have this section if you ask. I then proceeded to paint the whole room a gleeful shade of pink...and I mean everything! I used a paint spray gun to hose the whole room pink including cables, light fittings, air vents, the floor and obviously the walls. Nothing escaped the pink emulsion!

Once everything was dry I installed The Pink Bear in the centre of the room on an old fashioned pink bicycle, with a bucket of paint in his back basket. The installation is presented next to my painting of a girl standing with her bicycle and The Pink Bear, titled "Freedom". To me bicycles have always represented freedom, and freedom is what we all want and need after this long winter of lockdown from Covid-19. Bicycles also represent free and green travel, no thick black carbon coming out the back of this bike only fun, happy, positive pink friendly vibes.

 

Artists Exhibiting at Art in the Age of Now

Ben Moore, Joe Rush, Charlotte Colbert, Patrick Boyd, Ariadne Dane, Tim Gatenby, Eliot Haigh, Liam Hayhow, Ru KNox, Anna Kenneally, Thomas Lumley, Peter Mammes, Chris Moon, Jeff Robb, Ernesto Romano, Conrad Shawcross, James Vaulkhard, MC llamas curates, Art Wars, Stations of the Cross, One Small Step, Skip Gallery, Christabel Milbanke, Hoxton Gallery, Sam Haggerty, Liam Hayhow, Angry Dan, Don, Ben Eine, Kucy Flynn, FORCE, Paul Insect, LUAP, Jack Laver, Dot Masters, Gary Mansefeild, NERONE, REZ, SPORE, UNVRSL NMD, Matt Web, Mr Doodle, Nettie Wakefield, Kiera Bennett, Nancy Fouts

Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now
Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now
Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now
Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now
Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now
Fulham Town Hall - Art in the Age of Now