MENIER GALLERY Wendy Brooke-Smith

ref: bJq Nov 13-17 2012 MENIER GALLERY Wendy Brooke-Smith - Open a 'pdf' of this press release - return to Galleries PR Index

Press Release

51 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RU

www.meniergallery.co.uk

nearest tube: London Bridge

Wendy Brooke-Smith

Upstream

An exhibition of paintings of the River Thames:

the sea, the City, the shires

13 - 17 November 2012

Opening Reception 13 November 6.00 - 8.45pm

open:Tues - Thurs 11-6, Fri 11-8, Sat 11-4

admission: free

Wendy Brooke-Smith, Wharf, 2012, 122 x 91cm, oil and acrylic

Bankside’s Menier

Gallery is a fitting venue

for this exhibition of

paintings by an East

Anglian artist who now

brings not only her work

but also her subject matter

to the capital. Inspired by

layers of history in the

landscape, and with an eye

for the overlooked,

Wendy Brooke-Smith

takes the River Thames as

the central theme for her

latest exhibition.

Upstream presents

glimpses of the Thames, as

experienced by the artist

over the last year, from the

Wendy Brooke-Smith, Bermondsey Barges, 2012, 102 x 122cm, oil and acrylic

docile banks of Oxfordshire to the wild outer reaches of the tidal estuary, while familiar

London views shift their emphasis away from transient ‘iconic’ skylines to the timeless

qualities of the ancient river: jetties, moorings, houseboats, the play of the ebb tide on

mud, and the occasional royal pageant...

Wendy Brooke-Smith said: “I’ve always been interested in the contrast between the

ephemerality of human structures and the inevitable persistence of nature, and The

Thames is such a rich example of this tension. Gherkins and Shards will come and go over

the centuries, but the water will continue to form the same patterns in the mud!”

Wendy Brooke-Smith, Weeping Willows Blackwall Reach, 2012, 61 x 92cm, oil and acrylic

Wendy graduated in Fine Art from UCS, incorporating Ipswich Art School, in 2008. The

regeneration of Ipswich’s historic Waterfront was the inspiration for both her Degree Show

and subsequent corporate commissions. Her highly successful first solo exhibition in 2010

further explored coastal decline and renewal, from erosion to container traffic.

As Wendy explains, her preoccuption with the Thames begain with a wet walk along the

notorious Broomway on the Maplin Sands: “Following this ancient and perilous route

across a gleaming expanse of reflected thunderclouds was an intense experience of

historical and natural forces, yet within sight of passing oil tankers and Southend Pier.”

Upstream closes on 17 November.

For more information, text or images, please contact:

Wendy Brooke-Smith

T: 07740 799869

E: wendy.brookesmith@gmail.com