Tower Bridge and The Monument

• Art at the Bridge, a showcase of talented local artists returns to Tower Bridge Exhibition
• Working across a range of media, 13 artists’ works will exhibit around the theme of ‘Construction – Destruction – Reconstruction’
• Now in its eighth year, Art at the Bridge #8 is a collaboration between Agenci and Tower Bridge
• The exhibition will run from 19 May – 31 December 2017 Private preview: 31 May 2017
• Press contact:towerbridge@kallaway.com or 0207 221 7883

Tower Bridge Exhibition is delighted to announce the launch of Art at the Bridge #8, the eighth exhibition to be held in collaboration with leading local arts charity, Agenci (formerly Southwark Arts Forum). This successful partnership was established in 2011 as part of Tower Bridge’s on-going commitment to engage with, and acknowledge the talents of the local creative community.

The collection will be on display in the atmospheric Engine Rooms, from where the mighty bridge lifts were once powered, offering the perfect chance to explore the exhibition theme at the heart of one of the London’s most famous symbols of industry. This year’s theme perfectly complements the new Engine Rooms interpretation, unveiled this spring, which explores the social history of the Bridge.

Art at the Bridge #8 draws inspiration from a city continuously in flux. The work of 13 artists will explore the theme of ‘Construction – Destruction – Reconstruction’ through a variety of media, including paintings, photography, drawing and sculpture. Among the artists exhibiting are:

• Elaine Breinlinger, a sculptor. Her work ‘Blue Horns’, brings new life to abandoned metal musical instruments by constructing abstract forms from the disassembled parts 

• William Lindley, an artist who works with different mediums. His work ‘Perpetual Transformation’ explores the on-going transformation of a part of Lancashire. The piece physically juxtaposing a record of the area being demolished against a backdrop of its subsequent reconstruction

• Imogen Perkin, a painter. ‘Demolition’, explores the exhibition’s theme by commenting on the metaphor for our own experience that is conveyed by the landscape of ruin

• Marta Corada, a mixed media artist, creates  ‘Picnic Opposite Tate Modern’ a composite piece which takes direct inspiration from the City of London by mixing the real with the fictional 

Chris Earlie, Head of Tower Bridge Exhibition, says: “We are excited to be working with Agenci for the eighth edition of Art at the Bridge. With over eight hundred thousand visitors to the Bridge a year from across the globe, Tower Bridge Exhibition is a fantastic platform to showcase the talented artists living and working in the local Southwark borough.” 

Bridget Edwards, Agenci Director, says: “Agenci is thrilled to work again with the team at Tower Bridge Exhibition to produce the exhibition ‘Construction – Destruction – Reconstruction’. Not only are the artists exhibiting at one of London’s most iconic buildings, but their work will be seen by thousands of visitors from across the globe.”

The exhibition runs from 19 May to 31 December 2017 and admission is included in the entry for Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Notes to Editors:

Tower Bridge (http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/)

#InsideTowerBridge

• Tower Bridge was the creation of architect Sir Horace Jones and civil engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry. It took eight years to complete and was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra)

• Tower Bridge Exhibition opening hours:

o   Summer Opening Hours: April - September 10:00 - 17:30 (last admission)

o   Winter Opening Hours: October - March 09:30 - 17:00 (last admission) 

• Admission prices for Tower Bridge Exhibition:
• Adults: £9.80
• Children aged 5-15: £4.20
• Groups of 10 or more adults: £8.30
• Concessions: £6.80
• Family tickets from £15.30
• Under 5s free

• The nearest underground stations are London Bridge or Tower Hill

• Starting the journey in the Bridge’s North Tower, visitors are taken back in time with never-seen-before film footage of Victorian London and the first ever recorded bridge lift.

• Visit the Glass Floor up on the high-level Walkways, which gives visitors a unique perspective of London 42 metres above the Thames. “Look up on London” – a mirror installed over the West Walkway’s Glass Floor offers visitors a dizzying experience of the city. Guests are able to tread on the glass floor panels whilst traffic passes beneath their feet. It can withstand the weight equivalent to one elephant or two London Black Cabs.

• Download the Family Trail appto explore Tower Bridge Exhibition like never before with an innovative app and activity packed booklet for 5-10 year olds.

• Offering refreshed collections and bespoke ranges of gifts and souvenirs, the Tower Bridge Gift Shop reopened to the public in November 2016 following a 6-week redevelopment.

• Explore the new Engine Rooms permanent exhibition to discover the unsung heroes who kept the Bridge in motion. Set among the original steam engines, coal burners and accumulators that once powered the raising of Tower Bridge, uncover the histories of the cooks, coal stokers and engineers behind the Bridge.

• A brand new ‘Walk of Fame’ links Tower Bridge’s South Tower to the Engine Rooms. This pathway of plaques, designed by students from the City of London Academy Southwark and the London Sculpture Workshop, celebrates some of the workers from the Bridge’s 122-year history, each selected to illustrate the diversity of roles behind the Bridge. 

• Tower Bridge is owned, funded and managed by The City of London. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

• Winner of the 2016 Sandford Award for Heritage Education. This prestigious award recognizes the importance of formal, curriculum-linked education opportunities offered to schools by heritage sites.