SCREAM PRINT at FORMANS SMOKEHOUSE GALLERY.

After a little detour that skirted Victoria Park and with a little help from Gina Southgate’s ipad we finally we eventually found our way beneath the AI2 and arrived at the Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery on Fish Island in Hackney Wick to check out the Scream Print exhibition. The gallery is an impressive upstairs space punctuated by white metal girders that overlooks the Olympic park and it currently plays host to an eclectic quartet of artists- Swifty, David Apps, Lynn Blackburn and Ian Bailey

Having recorded the building of the Olympic Village and the changes in the surrounding area since around 2008 Lynn Blackburn is no stranger to the Hackney Wick area. Her delicate digitally manipulated multi-layered screen prints are based on her own photography of buildings and the objects within and are well worth exploring. I was drawn to her ‘Scary Steps Seven Kings’ which a bit of a departure from her other works.

Ian Bailey‘s bold screen printed wallpapers are the centre pieces of his show and boast titles like Dirty Money, Funny Money and Come Rain or Shine Do Your Thing Rebellion and are apparently inspired by such luminaries as Augustus Pugin, Joe Strummer, Jamie Reid and George Orwell.
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Another east London based artist, David Apps is deep into digital photography and the imagery he’s chosen to show includes an array of antique mirror art that take us into the realm of the “dark and angelic” with more than a touch of kitsch.

For this show Swifty revived his classic re-interpetation of Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans in a bold colourful sequence and delivered a new screen print featuring a quartet of his favourite jazz artists.. Yusef, Roy Ayers etc. The Herbie Hancock, Fela Kuti posters on wood still look great and was interesting to see him revive the abstract ideas in various colourways from the early Mo Wax 12″ – MW003. His recycling and restoration of a vintage radiogram and a record player pay homage to the tradition of Jamaican sound system. As artworks he’s quite attached to them and seems, at times, reluctant to sell them.

Swifty stereogram + MW003 prints….

It was excellent to see the posse in the house – respek to Mitch, Robi Walters, Jessica Lauren, Beatrice Venturini, Janine Spike & Jake, Richard Spaven, Angelo, Kath Willgress, Gina, Neil Spencer, Tony Minvielle and Ian Wright…. and
f you can find you way to Fish Island… check out Scream Print – and snap up some the fishy delicacies in the Forman’s shop or check the restaurant which has a rep for quality fare.

Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery, Stour Rd, E3 2NT / smokehousegallery@formans.co.uk + 44(0)20 8525 2375
PS… If you go by rail to Hackney Wick … use Google maps and not the map from the Forman’s website!