Exhibition
Ben Westley Clarke - The Cock Tavern Paintings - part I
7 Mar 2015 – 15 Mar 2015
Event times
Gallery open Saturdays and Sundays 12 - 6pm
Cost of entry
free
Address
- 55 Cossall Walk
- London
- SE15 2TN
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- Queens Road Peckham
The first part of the Cock Tavern project, an installation of oil and acrylic paintings, documenting the characters of this Somers Town pub.
About
Run by landlady Sheila Gavigan, the longstanding Cock Tavern, an Irish pub in Somers Town, was the favoured pub of the late union leader Bob Crow and has long-served the working community of the neighbourhood. Possibly the last of its kind in London, the pub has been threatened with redevelopment. It has managed to resist gentrification despite the closure of several other local pubs.
In May 2014, Ben Westley Clarke embarked on a project to document the pub, its goings on and its characters. Spending days and evenings immersed within this environment over the past few months, Ben began by making drawings and portraits of the customers and later brought an easel and a camera to the pub.
Ben Westley Clarke is a painter based in Camden Town. Much of Ben’s recent work has been based on authentic, personally sourced material, whether from observation, memory or from photography. His artistic practise, which incorporates plein air and studio-based painting, is rooted in experimental drawing.