Change and gentrification in Hackney Wick

Felstead Art presents 'Wicked Changes: Exploring the narratives of change and gentrification in Hackney Wick' as part of London Festival of Architecture.

Comprising the work of six artists and photographers, the exhibition aims to present their response to the physical changes their local environment has had and continues to undergo and, ultimately, underscores the necessity for communities to support and preserve the creativity they bring to the area.

Emily Hana is a multimedia artist concerned with the concept of light as a three-dimensional medium and how it can be used to change our experience with any given space. Her recent work revolves around the gentrification of London's warehouse and creative districts through her repurposing of debris material into polished pieces of desirable art objects. Done so with such care, this fact is not immediately evident and requires further inspection to appreciate the heavy manipulation applied to the once discarded objects. 

Matt Payne is a photographer based in London whose work focuses on capturing people and their environment to portray the community's intricate connectedness.

Blair Zaye is a curator and multidisciplinary artist, employing painting, video and installation, and interactive technologies to explore his varied interests, including art history, counter-culture, urban art and post-graffiti, technology, consciousness, phenomenology, the transcendental, and the nature of realities. 

Xenz, whose name evolved out of 'sense', is a graffiti artist heavily inspired by film and literature that explores the New York subculture scene. His work hybrids graffiti with traditional painting techniques to depict scenes from his imagination and specifically utilises the quality of spray paint to capture fragments of memory and the condition of metamorphosis. 

Sweet Toof has a background in traditional painting and printmaking, merging the two disciplines to blend urban detritus with bygone decadence. His work masterfully combines the new and old through layers of current and historical references in the hope of creating unconventional and iconoclastic art.

Matthew Beck is an architect working with varied typologies.

'"Wicked Changes" offers an insight into the way new architectural language and the new stakeholders in decision making have shifted the currents of creativity.'

'Wicked Changes' is curated in collaboration with Dr Maja Jović; an architect and senior lecturer at Architecture + Cities at Westminster University and a researcher in post-conflict places, placemaking and critical destination development. Produced in partnership with Point101 & Pearl. ‘Wicked Changes’ is open until 8th July 2021 at their studio on Felstead Street.