LONDON, ENGLAND.- Bethnal Green is the spiritual heart of the East End of London, with a vivid past of gangsters, boxing and poverty, an area with a notorious history of prostitution and murder.
Englisheritage is a photography installation by Gavin Fernandes, comprising of sixteen, large format colour prints that document ten portraits produced in Spitalfields E1, interjected with six landscapes of Bethnal Green E2.
The work explores the notion of a future, urban-aristocratic culture residing in the afore-mentioned geographies of Tower Hamlets. The people and environments represented communicate dual identities that define an elaborate hypothesis of an extended class and sub-cultural merge. Aspirations of the English country estate are integrated with the expressive realism of the English council estate.
The portraits depict fictional characters wearing the debut collection of fashion designer Quentin Mackay, a luminary of Central Saint Martin¹s. Entitled ŒLL vs L,¹ short for Lord Lucan vs Liberace, the collection evokes the chameleon persona of the infamous gentleman including him as charmer; exhibitionist; gambler; sportsman; lover and rogue. Displayed alongside his associates Lady; mistress and nanny, the gallery environment; formerly a public house and site of a Victorian murder, has the air of mystery.
The photographs are influenced by eighteenth century artists Constable, Turner, Stubbs and Gainsborough. Historical notions are tailored with a contemporary and militaristic edge alluding to class hierarchies of Old England and the class wars of Modern England. Strategic positioning of the photographs in-between the large gallery windows provide an opportunity to engage in parallel views of the authentic landscapes of Bethnal Green alongside decadent images of it’s Nouveau community.
Gavin Fernandes was born in Kenya and originates from Goa, India. He was co-curator and fellow exhibitor of the seminal exhibition 000zerozerozero at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. He has also exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Station Gallery, Frankfurt. Fernandes art-directed and photographed all front cover imagery for the first issue of The Stealth Corporation.
