London Fields exhibition pays tribute to an area 'in the midst of change'

The show, called London Fields, features paintings completed over the past few months.

Landscape artist Stephen, says they are still "very much a work in progress", depicting both the "familiar and unexpected" aspects of the area.

Stephen Harwood's painting Lamb Lane shows a former factory in London Fields in contrast with a new-build apartment block being built directly opposite (Image: Stephen Harwood)

He told the Gazette: "I am interested in places in the midst of change, often that's why the skies are in flux or turmoil - it suggests movement and atmosphere."

"A sunny day or a blank blue sky just doesn't have that same level of drama. It doesn't begin the suggest the sort of energies at play in a place undergoing gentrification."

Hackney artist Stephen Harwood with artists Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore, known as Gilbert & George, at Stephen's 2021 exhibition Gone Tomorrow at studio1.1 gallery in Shoreditch (Image: Stephen Harwood)

Stephen says when places like London Fields change "there are winners and losers".

But he adds that his work is not meant to be taken as a commentary on whether changes in the area are good or bad.

Stephen's work focuses on Hackney landscapes such as Regent's Canal (Image: Stephen Harwood)

"I see it as my job to present the landscape as I find it," he stated.

"Which may include whatever graffiti is there at the time. Or a building that is being demolished or a new one being built."

"I am also interested in forgotten or undiscovered places, hidden corners and forgotten backstreets."

The artist, whose painting worth £1,500 was stolen from a Shoreditch gallery last year, says his work was previously "heavily" focused on Hackney Wick.

However, during the Covid lockdowns he explored more of east London.

"I was drawn to various random places - sometimes Bow or The Greenway, sometimes Commercial Street or the Hackney Road depending on where my explorations took me.

"My show Gone Tomorrow at studio1.1 last year was quite wide in its catchment area - and mostly it was the quietude of lockdown that brought these places alive for me."

London Fields exhibition leaflet (Image: Stephen Harwood)

Although, he says that landscape as a genre "has a terrible reputation for being dreary or staid", Stephen adds that a "good landscape painting can do what good art should always do - remind us of ourselves and our situation, our place in the world".

London Fields exhibition is being held at Finch Cafe and restaurant's gallery on Sidworth Street near London Fields park.

It will run from February 24 to March 19.

Learn more about Stephen Harwood at www.stephenharwood.co.uk