Tower Bridge and The Monument

• Tower Bridge presents a new exhibition from its first ever Artist in Residence, Alex Evans
• The main exhibit will consist of 2D drawings, digital print making and fabrication processes such as laser etchings and cutting
• In addition to the main exhibition, located in the South Tower, Alex will be showcasing a local community engagement project with Boutcher Primary School, Southwark, in the West Walkway
• The exhibition will run from 17 July to autumn 2017
• Exclusive press tours of the studio with Alex Evans will take place on 19^th and 20^th July, held in the South Tower, Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UP
• The Artist in Residence initiative is part of an eclectic programme of arts, installations and intimate events to establish Tower Bridge Exhibition as a new cultural venue in London
• For further images or information contact towerbridge@kallaway.com or 0207 221 7883

Tower Bridge Exhibition launches its inaugural Artist in Residence programme with a new exhibition by artist Alex Evans. Alex’s densely intricate pen and ink drawings use mathematic traditions to explore the relationship between architecture, geometry and nature. His new work consists of 2D contour drawings, digital print making, and 3D pieces in Portland stone (one of the key materials used in the construction of the Bridge), mirror and silk which will be displayed inside the Bridge’s South Tower.

Alex’s exhibition and Residency follows an open call to artists in December 2016, where Tower Bridge was impressed by the visual artist, director and creative facilitator, and the proposal he made in response to the brief.

Throughout his Residency, Alex has explored the concept of the ‘sublime’ - a literary, artistic and scientific understanding of landscape, materials and the human experience. Using the Bridge as artistic stimuli and exploring the themes of appearance and disguise, Alex has been working on a series of artworks in response to this internationally recognised symbol of London and incredible feat of Victorian engineering.

The resulting exhibition invites visitors to explore the Bridge through new perspectives, gaining greater insights into the Bridge as a space open to new interpretations. The Bridge is shown as an active and living building, transforming, multiplying, dissolving and coagulating into new forms and geometries. 

A central component of the Residency was the artist’s engagement with families, schools and the local community. Working closely with Tower Bridge’s Education Team and drawing on his strong educational experience, Alex has led a series of dynamic, interactive and thought-provoking workshops with children aged 7 to 10 years old from the Boutcher Primary School in Southwark. By exploring the unique architectural qualities of Tower Bridge through drawing, collage and photography, the children produced a series of kaleidoscopic visions, which will be on display in the West Walkway as part of this exhibition. These playful artworks share an engaging vision of Tower Bridge as seen through the eyes of young Londoners.

Alex Evans says “It’s an honour to be the first Artist in Residence and hold such great responsibility for shaping the Residency at the Bridge for future artists. This amazing experience been socially engaged, responsive and critical and has allowed me to really develop my practice. Tower Bridge has such fantastic spaces; intriguing, conflicting and surprising. By opening its doors to creatives who see the potential of the spaces for events, artworks or narratives, the building can thrive as a cultural centre and space for the development of new works and interpretations”. 

Chris Earlie, Head of Tower Bridge, says:“We’re thrilled to host our inaugural Artist in Residence exhibition here at Tower Bridge with Alex Evans. It is exciting to showcase the work Alex has created as part of his Residency based on the world’s most iconic bridge. The launch of our new Artist in Residence programme marks an exciting time for the Bridge. Alongside the Bascules Chambers programme of art evenings and concert events we are further establishing Tower Bridge as a new cultural space in London”. 

The exhibition runs from 17 July to autumn 2017 and admission is included in the entry price for Tower Bridge Exhibition.

  

Notes to Editors:

About Alex Evans

• Alex Evans is an artist who explores the intersections between drawing, performance and engagement practices. He works with a range of mediums to create geometric shapes and patterns that depict dense city structures, exploring spaces and places as they evolve and pass through time. http://www.alexanderevans.net.  Follow Alex on Twitter, Instagram or Vimeo. 

 

About 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 123year 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