No footpath at ground level is an exhibition of paintings and prints on tin of the Heygate Estate by Reuben Powell, who has lived and worked in the Elephant and Castle for more than 35 years. His work focuses on the fast-changing landscape of his local neighbourhood, the disappearance of the old and emergence of the new.
The works displayed are of the Heygate Estate that once stood at the top of the Walworth Road. The Heygate Estate was built in the early 1970s and together with its neighbour the Aylesbury Estate provided homes for thousands of people. The inhabitants were to be elevated above the then decaying Victorian streets of Elephant and Castle to homes interconnected by aerial concrete walkways; the rumoured intention was they would be able to walk to Camberwell without touching the ground. A sign once stood by a locked gate on Heygate Street; “No footpath at ground level”.
The Heygate Estate was demolished in 2014 to make way for new blocks of flats themselves echoing the Victorian tenements that stood on the site before the Heygate itself was built.
The artist’s use of tin plate as a surface is unusual. It references its use in folk art and the ex-voto paintings of Mexico (a major influence on Freda Kahlo) as well as the material decay of the environments he paints. There are echoes of JMW Turner’s works of the River Thames (another of Reuben’s favourite subjects) and the distressed landscapes of Anselm Kiefer. The reflective surface and use of rust have the effect of increasing the depth of the picture plane and defies the viewer to find a single viewpoint; the work changing dependent on the viewers’ place in the room and the light of the day. This absence of any static resting place resonates with the speed of change of the subject matter it depicts.
Yard Café, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, 43 Renfrew Road, SE11 4NA throughout May and June.
Tue – Fri: 8 – 4 Sat: 9 – 4 Sun: 10 – 4. Admission: Free.