Volume: Picturing Lockdown Collection: Artists' Submissions - Chloe Dewe Mathews

Description

The Picturing Lockdown Collection was created during April and May 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This group of five images, representing the South-East region, was created by the artist Chloe Dewe Mathews over the course of five days, to represent her experience of the lockdown. Alongside her submissions, the artist wrote the following to describe her creative approach to the project:

"The English seaside promenade was conceived as a social space for the Victorian public to relax, exercise and convalesce at the point where man-made and natural environments meet. I live in St Leonards-on-Sea, on the south coast, in a flat without a garden, but four minutes walk from the sea. In 1937 Sidney Little (later known as the ‘concrete king’) created Bottle Alley, an innovative 330m stretch of double deck promenade with a lower walkway, designed for taking cover in bad weather. It is a unique space in this town: a refuge from the rain and sun and a wonderful architectural framework through which to view the sea.

During lockdown, people everywhere are craving open space, fresh air and distraction from news of the unfolding pandemic. The hour of allotted daily exercise offers, in this town, a particularly valued opportunity to "promenade". This week I will make a series of photographs of people walking through Bottle Alley - some masked, others alone, or with dogs – all enjoying time outside, next to the sea."

Content

This is part of the Sub Series: HEC01/036/02 Picturing Lockdown Collection - Artists' Submissions; within the Series: HEC01/036 Picturing Lockdown Collection; within the Collection: HEC01 Historic England

This Volume contains the following materials:

Photograph (Digital): 6

Rights

© Chloe Dewe Mathews