Review : Walls Of Authority by Alexandra Unger
The Old Police Station, situated on Amersham Vale is home to a newly formed creative hub of do-it-yourself artists. The imposing and somewhat aggressive looking building has been transformed, housing over 40 studios, exhibition spaces and an amazing museum with tearoom and supper club. The venue is large and impressive, the original police cells remaining intact, still tiled, cold and unwelcoming, the finger printing room, now the tea room, filled with old crockery and tea pots. The exhibition runs throughout the interview room, the holding cells, the old police gym and the private members club. The work itself is varied in its form. Large scale installations, paintings, film, photography and performance are interspersed within the confines of the looming bricked walls. The exhibition shows work of 30 artists, which works incredibly well. The juxtaposition of format and size offers the viewer an exciting and diverse experience.
The exhibition claims to exorcise the building from its past of violence and power, and celebrates its new creative identity. Standing outside the station this seems hard to comprehend, the building looming into the sky, still seeming to possess all of its power and ruling the street it inhabits.
Inside the building however, something changes. White washed walls, though still bearing the original structure, are transformed. The space is large and airy, and work is well placed. Some together, other work isolated in its own cell, it appears considered. Following the hoards of people through into the tearoom, the walls are covered in old photographs, obsessive collections of old analogue cameras, dinner plates and teacups. Move through into the holding cells, and large scale works fill each space. A highlight is Poppy Jackson, a performance artist, who gives a bodily show involving thick, black, treacle-like paint and her hair. Commanding her audience throughout the performance, she appears stoic and in control, using the walls of the cell as her canvas, though remaining within them, raising questions of power and heightening the relationship of the audience and the artist. Other works include a powerful photographic installation depicting a couple covered in brightly coloured paint, a darkened room filled with small scale delicate drawings embellished with dead beetles and a pair of pink stiletto shoes altered so that the heels are in fact birds feet.
Puppet Republic was the final performance that I managed to see, and what an amazing end to the night. An unbelievably well made mannequin-esque puppet commanded my attention for ten minutes, its movements so realistic and reactions to the pre recorded music and script so perfect, it was mesmerising.
My night at the Old Police Station drew to a close all too quickly. ‘Walls of Authority’ is an amazing show in an original and pioneering venue, and is well worth a visit.
The Old Police Station
114 Amersham Vale
New Cross
London
SE14 6LG
theoldpolicstation.org