Paul Catherall | This Was Tomorrow | 11 May - 18 June 2023

Sadly, so many of these ambitious buildings are left to fade and fall into a state of disrepair. Coventry Central Baths are no longer in use and barely known - the building's future is uncertain, though it was once at the edge of cutting edge design. Architectural Review wrote about the building in 1967:

The whole impression of this pool both inside and looking in from outside, is of a happy optimum climate of water and air and light … the distant city landscape seems to rise beyond a platform of water.

Fortunately South Norwood Library seems to have garnered appreciation from a dedicated fan base just in time to save it.

I wanted these prints to have a different atmosphere or feel from my other works; and particularly with Cov Central Baths, South Norwood Library and the Commonwealth Institute where I've conveyed the buildings as almost ghostly and faded. The sharp lines, dramatic angles and peculiarities are still on show but fading from view.

- Paul Catherall, 2023

The Southbank

The Southbank represents a more positive side to the theme. For a start it's home to at least three brutalist / mid century giants in The Hayward, National Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall, but also the whole area works as a living and breathing monument to that utopian vision.

It's also a fine example of how breathing life into a place can transform it. When I first moved to London in 1989 it seemed at times a rather desolate semi-deserted place with only the National Film Theatre bar for the non-theatre/ concert goers. Slowly the regeneration of the area over the years has made it the lively, bustling destination that it is today. A little part of me is nostalgic for that time when it could look like the setting for a dystopian 1970s film and it topped the most hated buildings list.

Southbank Steps

I’ve been fascinated with the iconic staircases for ages and have integrated them into the prints when possible. There’s one particular photo that I must have taken years back as it was before they were saturated in bright yellow and were a quite cool, clean white. Funnily enough it was a solitary fluffy cloud in a clear blue sky in that photo that somehow echoed how I felt about the place. Such a cheerful optimistic little cloud that contrasted with the sharp lines and dramatic shadows but was at peace with its surroundings.

Obviously the brilliant, stark angular architecture of the staircase helped - you almost can’t go wrong when you have something that looks so good to work from. Though I looked at this photograph many times it looked too pictorial for me to use. I generally use multiple references for prints and I think I’m used to having a struggle, drawing and re-drawing a design - moving it away from the original reference until I’m satisfied. I eventually came to my senses and realised I just had to use this reference and so created the first Southbank Steps in 2019 - since then there’s been another three using that same composition and always with the cloud!