Fleet Street Express Building by Cathy Read

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Cathy Read

Fleet Street Express Building

Watercolour and Acrylic ink

56 x 76 cm (22.05 x 29.92 in)

Inv: 713

£1,350

Meditating on a Fleet Street Painting
What do I notice first?

The Express building dark and dominant, reflecting colour but from where? You can't see.

There's a band of fire across the bottom. The red and gold of the buses queuing on Fleet Street. The gold continues up the building on the right, golden stones stacked upon each other. The lamp on the wall held aloft by a bracket. Like an Olympic Torch, waiting to fire up when it receives the flame.

There's a queue of buses. "You wait an hour for a bus than three show up at once” as the saying goes. Delayed by an unseen obstacle or waiting for passengers to alight or disembark. The buses illustrate the scale of the Express building, as it Towers over the scene, along with the surrounding buildings. There may be people but the people are lost from sight in this picture. Wandering around at ground level, they are too tiny to be significant. The human role in creation complete, we are left to admire the glittering result.

The former Daily Express Building stands proud of its heritage. A former powerhouse of a media empire, now relegated to a footnote. its function reassigned. to embrace its new life as naturally as as the old. If buildings had feelings would it be celebrating its new life or mourning the loss of the old.
Who knows? We can but speculate. The adjacent buildings are transparent next to the bold Daily Express building. Like the supporting cast to the star of the show, who can't be ignored, dares you to look at her. Notice her shapes and style, draws all eyes to her.
The little flecks of bright blue contrasting with the light absorbing depths of darkness that surrounds them.

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