NOW Gallery

August 7 2024

New Interactive Exhibition to Enjoy with Kids at NOW Gallery – ‘Up in Smoke’

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Celebrating the industrial history of Greenwich Peninsula in a colourful way, a new exciting exhibition opened at NOW Gallery: ‘Up in Smoke’ is showcasing five vibrant installation of chimneys and you can climb them and peer through them.

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Fun day out with kids 👧🧒 [BLOG POST IN BIO] NOW Gallery: ‘Up in Smoke’ exhibition is showcasing five vibrant installation of chimneys @NOW Gallery Visitors can climb the chimneys, go inside them and peer through them 👀 You can also design your own colourful chimney on the spot ✂️🖍️🎨 📍NOW Gallery | Soames Walk, London SE10 0SQ 📆 Until 22 September 🎟️ Free #nowgallery #dayoutwiththekids #familydayout #familytime #kidsactivities #exhibition #funtime

♬ A Sky Full of Stars – Coldplay

‘Up in Smoke’

'Up in Smoke' Exhibition at NOW Gallery

Photo: Urban Adventurer

NOW Gallery is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, and to mark this milestone, they have teamed up with designer-architect duo John Booth and Mat Barnes from CAN (architecture and ideas studio) to transform the gallery into a vibrant, colourful and interactive installation, kids and grown-ups can equally enjoy.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Climb, peek, colour and design!

‘Up in Smoke’ is a fully interactive exhibition, featuring supercharged chimneys that visitors can climb, go inside and peek through them.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Visitors also have the opportunity to express themselves by creating their own chimney artworks.

There’s everything you need from templates to scissors, pencils and glue to express yourself and create your very own chimney design.

No skills needed. Simply sit down and enjoy yourself.

Celebrating the Historic Skyline of Greenwich Peninsula

Photo: Urban Adventurer

The 5 reimagined chimneys are representing the diverse history of Greenwich Peninsula. One of the chimneys represent the Powder magazine which was used to store gunpowder in the 18^th century, while more slender tubes represent modern gasworks, others look like those we often see on the roofs of terrace houses.

Despite technological and industrial advances, chimneys still define our collective silhouette of a city, and they can be found in any child drawings of a house.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

‘Up in Smoke’ combines John Booth’s playful, colourful design aesthetic and Mat Barnes fresh, outside-from-the-box approach to architecture.

Chimneys are something we all link to the view of a city, and they hold a collective romanticised position on how we view and inhabit the city.

Practical Info

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Address

NOW Gallery | Soames Walk, London SE10 0SQ

Opening Times

21 June – 22 Sept 2024

Mon: CLOSED

Tue to Fri: 10am – 7pm

Sat: 10am – 5pm

Sun: 11am – 4pm

Tickets

FREE | Booking recommended. You can book your time slot on Eventbrite

Ready for your next adventure? Check out Harry Styles famous silver outfit at Somerset House’s new pay-what-you-can exhibition, ‘The Lore of LOVERBOY’.

Like a Melody - Myths, Memories, and Fantasy by Charlotte Mei

April 4 2024

Like a Melody: Myths, Memories, and Fantasy Exhibition at NOW Gallery

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If you’re a lover of anime, fantasy, and mythology, you will love NOW Gallery’s new exhibition. ‘Like a Melody: Myths, Memories, and Fantasy’ by Charlotte Mei has transformed the gallery into an otherworldly realm with a 3-metre tall plushie cat, a female chain armour and ‘excavated’ artefacts from a fantasy world.

About Charlotte Mei

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Charlotte Mei is an emerging British-Chinese artist and illustrator. The London-based artist is heavily inspired by anime and fantasy world.

“I have been obsessed with fantasy stories, films, literature, anime, and art for as long as I can remember. I wanted to create a fantasy world because I want to live in one.” – she says.

Let’s confess it! Us anime fans and lovers all things fantasy, we couldn’t relate more! Who doesn’t want to escape to a magical realm full of wizards, enchanted forests, and mystical places?

Charlotte Mei’s exhibition shows us that we don’t have to leave behind our enthusiasm towards fantasy as we’re leaving our childhood. Fantasy world is something that always have space in our lives regardless our age.

Charlotte Mei has collaborated with brands, such as Nike, Hermès, Beams Japan, and The New York Times, just to name a few; and exhibited in cities all over the world, from London to Tokyo to Hong Kong.

Like a Melody: Myths, Memories, and Fantasy

Photo: Urban Adventurer

As a life-long fan of fantasy and anime, Charlotte has created her own magical world as her answer to the male-dominated, Eurocentric genre.

‘Like a Melody’ is a reference to a soundtrack from a 2001 film, ‘All About Lily Chou Chou’. Lily is an enigmatic character in the thriller, a singer whose music bewitches her listeners. The film is melancholic and sometimes disturbing, but its soundtrack is ethereal and enchanting.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

The exhibition is featuring large scale artworks, such as Mei’s signature pastoral style meadow paintings and a giant 3-metre tall adorable plushie cat.

Mei really enjoyed working with her large-scale artworks. It provided a sort of immersive experience to her, as the artworks’ sizes physically engulfed her which she found really fun.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

The process of preparing for her new exhibition with NOW Gallery gave her confidence to authentically and boldly express her ideas and herself.

In front of the enchanting meadow paintings there is a mystical display featuring ‘excavated’ artefacts from a fantasy realm, such as ceramic vessels, grooming tools, and a ceramic cat with wings.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

There are also sword fragments embellished with a pink heart and wings as well as a female chain armour on display to subvert the male-dominated fantasy genre.

“Some ideas are expressed best in painting, some in textile, some in clay.” – Mei explains. Adding that she often doesn’t really know where the artwork she is working on will go. She just lets to the process lead itself and see what the final outcome will be.

Mini Workshop

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Why not participate in a mini workshop while you’re there?

Activity sheets, pencils, glue, and scissors are all provided for a fun activity for kids and adults still kids at heart.

Simply colour and cut out the character and dress her in armour, a cat fancy dress, as a Lolita, or as a painter. The activity is completely free.