We were invited by Croydon artist Wesley Baker of CDN Creative to be part of group exhibition ‘Never Mind The Concrete’ at Turf Projects in April 2022, celebrating Croydon.
Julia was inspired by the rainbow header she designed for the opening Croydonist feature of 2021 symbolising hope for a post-Covid Croydon. So, for the exhibition, she has created three different rainbows for 2022 (now each containing 22 arcs), and focusing on three different Croydon themes: art; green spaces; and architecture.
Jump to: Croydonist Art Rainbow 2022 | Croydonist Green Rainbow 2022 | Croydonist Built Rainbow 2022 |
Croydonist Art Rainbow 2022
For our Art Rainbow we collaborated with six Croydon-linked artists who kindly shared work to be included.
You can view each shared artwork in full and find out more about the six artists below (artwork shown in order from outside in).
Thank you to Kate, Christopher, Lis, Miguel, Gavin and Tina for contributing their art.
‘Croydon’ by Kate Marsden
Kate Marsden is an illustrator, printmaker and textile designer based in South London. Kate’s work is inspired by the city around her as well as her travels, and her style leans towards the mid-century look, frequently highlighting her love of architecture, in particular Modernism and Brutalism.
Read more about Kate in our Croydonist features here and here.
See Kate’s website and Instagram.
‘South Norwood Library 2’ by Christopher Hope-Fitch
Croydon-based photographer Christopher Hope-Fitch has been working as a professional photographer for the past 8 years, contributing video and stills to Getty images and architectural stills to the RIBA photographic collection. In his personal work, Christopher first began working specifically with long exposure in 2006 while exploring the derelict west pier at Brighton and photographing it by the light of a full moon, with light pollution coming from the promenade. The results from the contrasting light sources were very pleasing and gave the remains of the structure an ethereal feel. The combination of contrasting light sources and long exposures both come into play with the recent Brutalism in Colour project.
Read more about Christopher in our Croydonist feature here.
See Christopher’s website and Instagram.
‘St George’s Walk, Croydon’ by Lis Watkins
Describing her practice as ‘drawing her way through life’ Lis Watkins is a South-London-based illustrator, specialising in drawing on location and hand-drawn maps. She is a keen sketchbook user and a member of the worldwide online ‘Urban Sketchers’ community.
Read more about Lis in our Croydonist feature here.
See Lis’ website and Instagram.
‘Mycenae I’ by Miguel Sopena
Miguel Sopena, originally from Valencia, has been based in the UK since 1998 and now works out of his studio at Turf Projects, Croydon. He trained to be a figurative artist after obtaining a PhD in Theoretical Physics. He draws and paints from life ranging from conventional portraits to free interpretations of the human figure, as well as abstract pieces, working in media such as charcoal, pastels, ink, acrylic, oils and printmaking, He mixes paint with impasto medium and marble dust to achieve unique textures in his abstract work.
Read more about Miguel in our Croydonist feature here.
See Miguel’s website and Instagram.
‘It Came From Croydon’ by Gavin Kinch
Calling himself a retrofuturist graphic artist, Croydon creative Gavin Kinch is possibly better known by his pseudonym ‘The Town That Love Built’. He likes to draw his hometown, saying it feeds his imagination.
Read more about Gavin in our Croydonist features here and here.
See Gavin’s Etsy and Instagram.
‘Girl with the Croydon Facelift’ by Tina Crawford
(permanently exhibited at The Oval Tavern, Croydon)
Croydon-based free embroidery artist Tina Crawford says of her practice, ‘As an artist, I use all sorts of materials but the sewing machine makes me come alive; the fluidity, the speed, the risk – it’s an incredible instrument that I found by chance to keep me sane and is now an extension of my hands. It’s how I draw, even for my sketchbook.’
Read more about Tina in our Croydonist features here, here and here.
See Tina’s website and Instagram.
Croydonist Green Rainbow 2022
For our Green Rainbow Julia selected a handful of photographs we’ve taken over the years of just a few of Croydon’s many beautiful green spaces, to create the rainbow.
You can view each photo and find out more about the chosen green spaces below (photos shown in order from outside in).
Above left: Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above right: South Norwood Lake. Read more on the Croydonist about a run starting from this green space here.
Above left: Kings Wood. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above right: Coombe Wood. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above left: Addington Hills. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above right: Park Hill. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above left: South Norwood Country Park. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Above right: Kenley Common. Read more on the Croydonist about the green space here.
Croydonist Built Rainbow 2022
For our Built Rainbow Julia selected a handful of photographs we’ve taken over the years of just some of our favourite Croydon architecture, to create the rainbow.
You can view each photo and find out more about the chosen buildings and structures below (photos shown in order from outside in).
Above left: Croydon B’s chimneys, Ikea. Read more on the Croydonist about Ikea and the chimneys here.
Above right: Easy Hotel (formerly Alico House). Read more on the Croydonist about the borough’s space-age architecture including the Easy Hotel here.
Above left: Leon House. Read more on the Croydonist about the borough’s space-age architecture including Leon House here.
Above right: Saffron Tower. Read more about the building here.
Above: No. 1 Croydon (affectionately known as the 50 Pence Building). Julia’s favourite building and direct inspiration for the Croydonist logo. Read more on the Croydonist about the borough’s space-age architecture including No. 1 Croydon here.
Above left: Pumping Station, Exchange Square. Read more about the pumping station and its link to the Park Hill water tower here.
Above right: Shirley Windmill. Read more on the Croydonist about the windmill here
The exhibition private view was on Saturday 2 April 2022, 12-6pm, then it runs from Wednesday 6 to Saturday 9 April 2022, 12-6pm, at Turf Projects. Read more about the exhibition here.
