Chronicle Residency Programme

An exhibition of reportage drawings from Topolski Studio's Residency Programme. Six young artists exporing the theme 'Institutions', private view at Topolski Studio, Friday 14th December from 7pm. topolskistudio.org.uk

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Halloween 25 / 10 / 18

Our Halloween drawings took place at the Charing Cross Underground Arcade, focusing on two specific shops: Davenports Magic Shop & Mad World. The space was both deserted and slightly uninviting. We each approached drawing in a different manner, some focused on the exterior window scenes, costumes and general Halloween specialties, others, considering its location, spent time working on the landscape of the space, capturing the unusual positioning, long passageway, distinct signage ‘Where The Magic Happens’ juxtaposed by a number of homeless people sleeping in the arcade. The challenge on this location was to capture the ambiance of Halloween through space and color palette.   

Q: What room does a ghost not need? 

A: A living room!

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Chelsea + Westminster Hospital Day 1

On the 22nd of October we met up with Gary Embury at Chelsea and Westminster hospital where we where introduced to Anouk Mercier and CW+ charity who facilitated us drawing there.

We were treated to a tour of the space, whose features, unusual for a hospital, included an extensive art collection, a cinema, a chapel, a garden and other amenities to enhance patients and staff wellbeing. We where amazed at the open plan architecture and the amount of light that filtered throughout the building. We later found out it was originally designed to be a shopping mall. From the sweeping views of the top floor to the inner workings at of the ground floor, every level had a different atmosphere and stories lay hidden around every corner for us to discover.

At the end of the day we met up to discuss our drawings, which led to conversations surrounding the ethics of drawing within a hospital. Anouk, for instance, showed us her drawings of patients hands and feet which was a way of avoiding intrusive drawing. We kept these topics and precautions in mind throughout the day.

We where very grateful to have the opportunity to draw at such an interesting location, where the staff were very welcoming and engaging. As only two of us could attend this particular drawing day, we eagerly looked forward to the following Monday where the rest of our group would join us.

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Transport Day

Transport Day : 18th Thursday : week 5

On our 5th drawing location we drew on various modes of transport. We began at Paddington Station, starting off by drawing the morning commuters.

One of the observations that we were trying to make was to see how commuters and transport were interrupted by the news earlier that day - what are the everyday experiences that we go through when taking transport? and Looking at different or changes in people’s behaviours especially when disruption occurred - it was difficult because transport is such a norm for us, so to spot the irregularities that may occur when there is disruption on transport and take notice of what people do in order to contextualise our reportage drawings was a challenge.

Paddington station was the first location. A few of us were taken to the visitor centre by a a security officer (The rock!) and were told that we were not allowed to draw within the station due to health and safety issues (later to realise that was not true) - It was interesting to see how different people of the industry reacted to drawing, and only at paddington did we meet with a little hostility.

Following this we took the 205 to Bow, In which the bus was delayed so we were able to experience first hand how people were reacting at a cramped bus stop. Once we made it on. we headed up to the top deck & we had 45 minutes to draw what we saw whilst on a moving vehicle, we split up and some of us focused purely on what was happening outside on the surrounding roads whilst also capturing the space we were drawing in. The experience provided the challenge of fast past drawing, encouraging us to draw impressions of what we were seeing in a couple of seconds - In particular many of us experimented with keeping materials limited to simplify the process of capturing lots of information quickly, trying not to worry about being completely accurate, using simple shapes and specific colours to indicate London transport - using bus windows as frames.

From Bow Road we got on the underground to Liverpool Street - this presented a very different challenge to the bus trip as we were in close proximity to passengers, making it difficult to be conspicuous when drawing, and potentially created more stress as we were focussing on people in particular. The focus in the tube as very much what people were doing, how many were on their phones, reading books, watching us draw, what they were saying, reading… 
- Our final destination was Victoria Station! Announcements were being made that someone had jumped in front of a train and a series of trains had been subsequently cancelled, it was interesting to note how dissociated people were to the news and how much of an impact it had to peoples attitudes to travelling back home because of the disruption it caused for commuter trains,  people started to hit breaking point, and British values of politeness went out the window, have these announcements become part of the everyday norm?  - We take the frequency of trains for granted when something does happen we go passive aggressive. - This day created an interesting collection of narratives of the patience and behaviours of commuter culture In London.

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Buckingham Palace

On Wednesday the 10th of October we met to begin our day of drawing at Buckingham Palace. 
We promptly headed down the Mall towards the Palace to witness the changing of the guard. This event proved to be very challenging to record as the procession moved quickly. Our drawing had to be fast to document the fleeting moments of the marching band, guards and horses as they passed us by.

We then split up as a group to draw the immense crowd and the police officers who were managing the roads. There was a great energy about the crowd and it was interesting to catch snippets of overheard conversation. Our interactions with the police as reportage artists were varied. One officer was wary of us drawing. She advised desecration as drawing, she said, could be interpreted as a suspicious activity potentially linked to terrorism. Other officers in comparison seemed to enjoy being drawn, one policeman exclaiming; ‘make sure you get my hat in!’

We began focussing on documenting the exterior of the Palace. Moving around the building and changing angles of perspective to capture an essence of place. As we observed and drew the Palace we began to draw in a crowd ourselves. A large school group from abroad began to take photos of our work, gathering around us to see what we were doing. One us got completely surrounded and had no choice but to draw the onlookers.  This brought up interesting questions about drawing as performance and what it means when the observers become observed. 

At 2pm we began our guided visit inside Buckingham Palace to draw from Topolski’s Coronation Mural. We were all very excited and felt honoured to have the opportunity to draw inside the Palace. Isobel Muir led us through the mural painting pointing out the variety of moments Topolski had chosen to capture from the rubbish sweepers to the famous and important dignitaries. In contrast to our hectic morning of drawing in wide open spaces our drawing session in the Palace corridor was one of calm and quiet doing studies in a confined space.  

We ended our day at a Wetherspoons pub to reflect on our day and draw some of the locals. 
Our conversation touched upon themes related to aspects of our experience and what Buckingham might stand for as an institution; we discussed the monarchy and it’s place in contemporary British culture as well as the ‘security theatre’ we have today.

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The Royal Court of Justice

It was peen alleged that on the morning of the 5th of October, seven self-described ‘’artists’’ did with a sound mind and knowing intent, disguised as upstanding citizens, enter the premises of the Royal Court of Justice in order to record the behind the scenes, smuggling with them their sketchbooks.

The first thing we noticed as we walked into the building was the ‘’airport security’’ reception with guards, X-ray bag checks, a metal detector alarm for us to pass through, and wood signs telling us all about the forbidden actions in four different languages. After successfully passing, we wondered the vast corridors and halls of such an emblematic location and its gothic architecture that was overwhelming with detail in all fronts: this could be easily associated with places of worship. This immense sense of respect took over the air as if the court was masquerading as a cathedral with all the connotations it implies. Consequently, everyone spoke in hushed voices as if a great show was about to start.

As walking inside specific rooms, where trials usually had begun, we encountered judges and barristers wearing their costumes and wigs, performing on these wood-paneled courtrooms to their audience: us, the members of the public. Initially hesitant to enter the room and disrupt the performance we realized we actually had become part of the scene, playing the role of justice witnesses.

This role consisted on us, disguised artists drawing behind the tall benches we were observing, on law students typing at a fast pace on their laptops and some random couples from time to time stepping in and quietly trying to make sense of what had happened because what better way to spend their Fridays than in court. We were drawing on hiding mode as we weren’t sure how well our documentation of the court would be taken. It was great to have captive subjects to draw for a long period of time. Certain statements stood out, as they usually do, giving context to our drawings and emphasizing the gravity of the situation which wasn’t always easy to grasp.

In many of the courtrooms, an incredibly loud clock marked the passing of time, increasing the tension in moments of silence and emphasizing perhaps this tedious and slow proceedings.

It was definitely an interesting and challenging task to come to the Royal Court Of justice and visually document all we could. Its un-realness and oddness are, without doubt, difficult to find anywhere else so it became a spectacular place to discover. It shouted in all directions tradition and theatre.  As of the drawings, the restrictive small scale forced on us and the secrecy of the action itself made it even more relevant. It was a great opportunity to draw people and events that felt timeless, and somehow to feel timeless ourselves.

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DAY [1]

For our first reportage outing we explored the city as the institution covering four main locations; The city skyline, the Tate observation platform, St Paul’s, the streets of Strand Fleet street and lastly The diamond District of Hatton Garden.

It was an interesting to see the comparison between what we saw from above the city and below. When we started at the observation platform at the Tate, we were met with an overload of information in the clusters of buildings, and the challenge was trying to select and edit what was interesting from such a packed skyline. When you’re up above it disconnects from the bellow - you focus more on the architecture, more on the buildings themselves in order to get a mapped out sense of the city space.

In comparison to drawing from above, St Paul’s gave us the opportunity to draw from the opposite perspective, looking up at the grandiose architecture. Strangely most of us did not focus on the activity of the people for this section.

Following this, we then were met with the challenge of being amongst the busy streets of Fleet Street along the Strand. It gave us the opportunity to capture the movements at ground level, picking out different fleeting moments that people may miss when they are just walking by. We started to consider keeping an ear out for conversations more and taking notice of signage. The challenge here was working amongst the busy environment, where do you try and place yourself and what reactions you received from each of the locations so far. Working in Fleet Street also made us aware of the many people moving around the space and so we began to observe and implement these into our growing collection of architectural drawings through layering.

Hatton Garden was the last location, known as the Diamond district. After amongst being in places with larger institutions Hatton Garden was a stark contrast with its smaller institutions. The series of small shops, and narrow streets allowed us to focus on individuals and overheard conversations, and playing with more signage, conversations and seeing how this influences on our visual outcomes. Taking notice of the different people and behaviour and the types of conversations or interactions we had with people, all helped shaped differences experiences from place to place. It was a good introduction to drawing on location, we realised the different methods of mapping our journey, some using concertina, collage, layering and how chanced experiences can open the possibilities of drawing on location.

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Say hi to our 2018 residents! They will be exploring the theme of INSTITUTIONS over the coming months, so stay tuned for their posts here and on our instagram - @topolskistudio. 

The private view of their work combined with Topolski’s original drawings will be held at Topolski Studio on December 14th from 7pm, everyone welcome. 

L-R: Marcos Henson, Luke Nichols, Shana Pagano Lohrey, Marta Raimundo, Georgie Bennett, Natasha Howie.

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Freemasons / Scientology / Church

On Friday 3rd November we started the day visiting the Freemasons museum at the United Grand Lodge of England near Covent Garden. We were treated to a very entertaining tour of the building and history of Freemasonry by an English Freemason gentleman. The focus of the day was on symbolism and the spectacle of religion and traditions. The museum gave us plenty of symbols and extravagant traditions to look in to. Then we moved on to Fleet Street, walking towards the Royal Courts of Justice taking note of symbols and signage along the way. We then made our way to the church of Scientology drawing the sci-fi style symbols outside then comparing these with imagery we found in the protestant church next door at St Andrew by the Wardrobe and London’s oldest church, All Hallows-by-the-Tower. 

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Light and Colour festival Wembley 

28/10/2017

Light and colour festival in Wembley was a festival which was aimed at bringing together the British Guy Fawkes tradition and the Hindu tradition of Diwali (Festival of light). The day was filled with performances by ‘Transe express’ and ‘Dhol Academy’. These were a group of drummers and some which were even suspended from cranes! The chaotic atmosphere and vibrant characters allowed us to create some great fast paced drawings atmosphere.

Drawing by Laylah, Luca, Holly, Lydia and Laura.

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We spent some time at ‘Bar Wotever’s events at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The event is a celebratory open mic, a ‘Royal Queer Variety Show’. 

From stand up comics, lamp impersonators, and full on drag lip syncing, the incredible performances made for fab drawing inspiration. The bar history and relevance to the LGBT+ community meant that drawing in such an institution was a real honour, and the company was exceptional.

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Gravesend with Olivier Kugler

On Saturday 21st October, we took the train down to Gravesend with reportage artist Olivier Kugler to document the spectacle of the shipping ports and vast horizon the landscape has to offer. The day was cold and wet, coinciding with the bleakness of the environment. 

It was interesting to compare how each of us captured the landscape in our drawings. Whether they were bare, quiet and desolate, or busy, chaotic and energetic.

Our lunch stop was quick, at a small fish & chip shop in town. We were all glad to warm up and reenergise for the afternoon’s drawing around the town and back at the coast. 

We ended the day in the pub (classic). With some interesting locals around us, perfectly captured by Luca and Holly.

Drawings (in order) by: Laura, Luca, Lydia, Holly, Laylah, Lorna, Luca, Lorna, Laura, Lydia, Holly, Laylah, Lorna, Luca, Holly.

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Trafalgar Square.

We spent the weekend at Trafalgar square, participating in and drawing ‘Africa on the Square’ and the Diwali festivities on the Sunday.

The vibrant, colourful and excitable events were teaming with smells of food, great characters and provided a vast contrast to the grey brick of London’s streets.

It felt like an intriguing comparison to look at how the Mayor of London created spaces that were both corporate and celebratory, and the busy nature of the space meant we had to come up with creative ways to create imagery in a crowded environment.

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Deptford High Street- Grace Wilson masterclass 

On Saturday 7th October we went to Deptford High Street for our first masterclass workshop with Illustrator Grace Wilson. We did some warm up drawings then were given 4 envelopes with drawing challenges in each one. For example, write a continuous stream of sounds, and draw the same place every five minutes to see how it changes. The focus of the day was to zone in on details rather than the full scene, noticing everything and being aware of the surroundings through sounds, smells, conversations and music. 

Saturday is market day in Deptford and the area was full of characters and life. There were different sections of the market, one part was a car boot sale full of wheeler dealers, the main street was cheap household items and clothes, whilst the permanent high street was full of Hallal butchers, fishmongers, barbers and African fabric shops. The whole place had a community feel with the regulars bartering with stall holders, and locals sitting outside cafes on a Saturday morning.

There was the feeling that Deptford is on the cusp of becoming another gentrified East London hotspot, with it being so easily commutable from Canary Wharf. A few more upmarket bars and cafes have appeared in recent years and the train station area has been developed. However there is a strong community and the sense that it won't change without a fight.

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Parliament Square - Canary Wharf - DLR - Bank - Guildhall - St Paul’s

A long and challenging day of drawing with the Topolski Studio residents. We started off by drawing tourists in Parliament Square. From there we took the clipper all the way down to Canary Wharf and then we walked around the main square and mall. After lunch we took the DLR down to Bank and ended up in Guildhall Art Gallery where we had a crit comparing the drawings we made in Canary Wharf and Bank, the new and old financial districts of London. We ended the day by drawing more tourists around St. Paul’s.

The main issue in Canary Wharf is money and security. The whole place reminded me of a much cleaner New York, with its spotless streets and concrete, towering buildings. It really didn’t look like London at all. Canary Wharf has its own private police force, which is not part of the MET Police, and they definitely don’t like people drawing around the big important banks. Drawing everything while walking through the crowds of impatient, flustered bankers was challenging. The whole experience of walking through Canary Wharf was a spectacle and we all felt like outsiders by the end of our journey. Drawing was a suitable way of documenting this place because it is the medium which captures the fast-paced environment the best.

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The Old Kent Road

The spectacle of the everyday is something that is often overlooked, where people go about their daily lives unaware of the performance going on around them. We went to Old Kent Road to document this spectacle of the ordinary, recording the small moments without trying to let them go amiss, whilst understanding the ease in which they can still get lost amongst the bustling atmosphere along the road.

We spent the morning walking from New Cross Gate towards Elephant and Castle, drawing whilst constantly moving - documenting buildings, people and signage. It was interesting to see just how busy the area was despite the type of development that has happened to the area.

Southwark Borough Council apparently doesn’t consider Old Kent Road to fit the characteristics of an urban town centre, and large retail parks more in character with the out-of-town schemes had been developed.

In the afternoon we went back to our favourite locations from the mornings walk and spent more time on our drawings, focusing on ways we could document the hustle and bustle of the road. 

Images in order: Luca, Lorna, Lydia, Luca, Lorna, Laura, Laylah, Laura, Laylah, Lorna, Lydia, Luca, Lydia