I was commissioned to do a new piece for a new gallery/bar opening in September. Located in Southbank, I was taken by how the area has radically altered in the last 10 years. The dusty old streets are being replaced by shiny new skyscrapers and the usual crowd of branded coffee shops, ubiquitous retailers and supermarkets. Southbank has a proud tradition of working class residents, but over the years has been gentrified replaced by upper middle class.
I wanted to do a piece that questions gentrification of cities, not just London.
'Where have all the natives gone' shows a faceless native (local) sitting on a horse as he is being forced off his land by the looming presence of big business and multi-story developments.
The burning building is symbolic our disregard for when things get old, also acknowledge the tragedy of Grenfell Tower, where the dispute of rich and poor, old and new took battle.
The piece will on show end of September at SAMA Southbank.
