Conduit Exhibition at Formans Smokehouse Gallery

2010-04-01

Invitation to the Opening Reception - Thursday 1st April 6-9pm

The latest in a series of events organised by WATER CITY ARTS FESTIVAL opens on Thursday 1st of April at the our new gallery based at H. Forman & Son’s salmon smokehouse on Fish Island with a speech from social entrepreneur Lord Andrew Mawson OBE. There will also be music from renowned violinist, Michael Bochmann, local acclaimed Bengali singer Akash Sotor and students from Trinity College as well as food and drink served from Formans Restaurant. The exhibition runs from the 1st of April to the 2nd May, we'd be delighted if you could join us.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SELECTION OF IMAGES BY EXHIBITING ARTISTS

“CONDUIT EXHIBITION brings together many Artists that I know personally; they demonstrate in diverse ways a passion and commitment for their neighbourhoods and communities, bringing creativity to their work place, documenting the changing world around them or dreaming playfully, lifting the gritty urban environment onto a realm of beauty.”
Frank Creber, Curator of Conduit and Creative Director, Bromley By Bow Centre

“The Water City Arts Festival and Formans Smokehouse Gallery are coming together to connect people, places and businesses. We are creating a Conduit through which the historic communities of Bromley-by-Bow, Fish Island and Hackney Wick can come together as part of a new metropolitan district of London - Water City.”
Lord Mawson OBE, Chairman, Water City Arts Festival

“Opening a gallery at my family salmon smokehouse means we open our doors to the local community and vibrant Arts scene of Fish Island. Through hosting events and our new restaurant we allow East Londoners to reconnect with the smoked salmon that is part of their heritage.”
Lance Forman, Managing Director, H. Forman & Son Smoked Salmon / Forman & Field

RSVP
For more information and to reserve your place at the Opening Reception please contact William Chamberlain  on +44 (0) 7947 175 283 or smokehousegallery@formans.co.uk

Forman's Smokehouse Gallery
Stour Road
London
E3 2NT
 
Gallery Opening Hours
Opening Reception Thursday 1st April 6-9pm
Friday 5pm to 9pm
Saturday 12pm to 5pm
Sunday 12pm to 5pm

CONDUIT EXHIBITION EXHIBITING ARTISTS

Yvonne Coughlan is showing mixed media minimalist paintings, the Practice Nurse at Bromley By Bow Health Centre and has been key in developing the innovative Arts and Health projects at Bromley By Bow.

Caroline Holden-Hotopf is exhibiting prints based on brass rubbings, she works as an illustrator and cartoonist on children's books, poetry books, and Private Eye.  Caroline is also working with Rober Planer on 'Danny the Dolphin' book.

Sheenagh McKinlay is resident artist at Bromley by Bow Centre, Sheenagh runs her stained glass business from her studio at the Centre.  She also runs workshops with community groups. Sheenagh is a stained glass maker working with salvaged painted glass shards, and more recently with antique lantern slides.

Eva Bachmann says, ‘The key element of my photographic work is to compare and document how local cultures react to their built environment. Hackney Wick has been undergoing a major transformation since the Olympic regeneration programme.’

Chris Wheeler says, ‘The starting point for my most recent work concentrates on the concrete slab used in construction and the idea that with a foundation of a square concrete pad, any structure can be built on top. Chris has worked in the community art workshops at Bromley By Bow Centre.’

Paula Haughney is a resident artist at the Bromley by Bow Centre, and runs the sculpture studio. She is perhaps best described as a natural object maker, who invests the influences she soaks up from myriad sources into the materials she works with. Paula has completed many public commissions including Homerton Hospital, St Katherine’s Dock, BP Brussels and Herne Bay Kent.

Frank Creber is Creative Director at Bromley By Bow Centre, Frank Creber has been making a series of paintings since 2006 as the 'Water City Artist' which explore the connections between, community, individuals and the neighbourhoods they live in.

Nick Creber has been part of community life at Bromley By Bow from a young age, he has been very active supporting the Water City Arts Festival, teaches at the Centre and lives and works as an artist in Fish Island.

MUSIC AT THE PREVIEW NIGHT
At the preview night on Thursday 1st April 6-9pm, there will be musical interludes. Akash Sotor, celebrated local Bengali Singer, and Michael Bochmann, renowned Violinist, leader of the English String Orchestra and the Bochmann Quartet, will play alongside students from the Trinity College of music in Greenwich, in music especially arranged and composed for the event.

WATER CITY ARTS FESTIVAL
Brings a new element to the Cultural Olympiad in East London. It is drawing together a rich mixture of events, which connect the lives of local people with the physical development of the place. It is connecting the lives of local children with professional musicians and thus raising the game for everyone. It is show-casing the talent that exists in this exciting new metropolitan district of London. It is adding a new dimension that will bring to life the Olympic legacy for local people.

Key aims of the festival are:
• The creation of a new amateur orchestra for East London based in the Lower Lea Valley.
• A new concert hall at the heart of a media and cultural cluster.
• Working with CREATE and others, the creation of an annual arts festival which in time will gain international significance.

FORMANS SMOKEHOUSE GALLERY
With an unrivalled view of the London 2012 stadium and set in a spectacular 600m2 loft space on top of the Forman’s salmon smokery on Fish Island, Hackney Wick, the gallery is brought to you by Lance Forman and William Chamberlain.  Each month, invited curators will select artists from the local, national and international art community to create a dynamic and varied program of exhibitions.
 
H. FORMAN & SON
A 4th generation family owned salmon smoker, established in the East End in 1905. Smoked salmon was brought to London by Eastern European, Jewish immigrants in the late 19th Century. They employ 90 staff who supply smoked and fresh fish to top hotels, restaurants, chefs and retailers. Forman’s Fish Island events venue, Formans Smokehouse Gallery and Formans Restaurant are situated above the salmon smoker itself.
 
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN
The manager of Forman's Smokehouse Gallery, William is also the Company secretary of Hackney Wicked CIC, a social enterprise founded to organise the annual Hackney Wicked Art Festival which in 2009 featured the work of more than 500 artists in 19 galleries, 17 open studio buildings and 3 live music stages in Hackney Wick and Fish Island.  www.hackneywicked.com

LORD MAWSON OBE
Founder and President of the renowned Bromley by Bow Centre in east London and Co-founder and President of Community Action Network (CAN), a national charity supporting 850 social entrepreneurs across the UK. He is one of the leading social entrepreneurs in Britain and has created a family of projects, which demonstrate in practice the potential of social entrepreneurs. Andrew's career in the social sector has spanned over 25 years.