Balfron Tower was designed by the renowned architect and furniture designer Ernö Goldfinger, whose post WWII Brutalist designs were seen as a popular but controversial solution to the shortage of housing, after nearly 4 million houses in London were damaged during the Blitz.
In celebration of this landmark building, Bow Arts has curated a programme of artistic and cultural events exploring the past, present and future of Balfron Tower. Running until October 2014, visitors are invited to take part in a broad range of interactive events and activities.
Inside Balfron Tower, in Flat 135, artist Lucy Harrison has been commissioned by The Legacy List to create a new body of work, Home on High. The project explores the varying ways in which locals from the Brownfield Estate relate to Balfron’s past and future, and has been installed in a top floor flat formerly lived in by two of the project participants.
Alongside this Lucy will also be hosting Supper Clubs in the exhibition space, producing dishes inspired by the work, and the stories that were shared with her by the local community while researching the project.
Meanwhile, resident artist Leonie Lachlan is setting up a temporary printroom in Flat 131, offering free workshops to children aged 11-16, providing them with the opportunity to design, draw and create printed works inspired by the building.
On 13th September Leonie redesigns Flat 131, opening it up as a one-day Adult Drawing Workshop. With limited places available, would-be-artists will produce a series of works inspired by the modernist building’s formal characteristics and surroundings. More Details HERE
On the weekends of 20/21st September, over 22 of the Bow Artists, resident in the building, will be hosting an Open Studio, exhibiting a range of specially created shows from their live/work studios within the building. This includes a design exhibition by RCA Master Silversmith Haidee Drew, whose interior accessories collections are on sale in Liberty, Heal’s and the National Gallery among others. Haidee’s collections are steeped in historical references and narrative, often inspiring nostalgia yet always with a contemporary twist.
Further projects include Bright Spark by artist Wolfram Borger, who plans to alter the perception of the brutalist icon by introducing bright colour to the grey facade, with flourescent needles of colour seemingly piercing the building and intersecting the internal structure.
More Info and to book: BalfronSeason.com
