Portobello Road Arts Project
The Portobello Road Arts Project is a series of year-round
artist commissions for the Portobello Road North Wall linking North
Kensington’s Portobello Road and Golborne markets.
The project aims to help regenerate the Golborne area through
creating a visual link between Portobello Road Market and Golborne
Road Market. The project hopes through this to encourage visitors
to continue their journeys further up Portobello Road to discover
the vibrant Golborne area.
Current commissions
Claire Morgan
Mandala 1 April 2010
The third commission of the Portobello Road
Arts Project is ‘Mandala’ by the artist Claire Morgan.
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.
Previous shows
Liane Lang
La
Muralla 15 July to 14 September 2009
The next commission to be displayed on the wall is by local artist
Liane Lang.
Lang’s work consists of a 60 metre 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. Some stride by, some
pause, point or pose with the lonely figure, which is just out of
reach. 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.
Hew Locke
Share 24 April to 26 June 2009
The first commission to be displayed on the wall was
Share by the artist Hew Locke.
Share featured a series of giant share
certificates with relevance to the mix of cultures, businesses and
produce available in the local area.
The certificates have been investigated and transformed by the
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.