The newly installed street art around the town centre has its appeal, the overtly hostile security policy in Centrale less so, says KEN TOWL
Second glance: shoppers in Croydon town centre might not have too many shops to visit, but the art’s good
It was quite a thrill to be described as “the IC1 male taking pictures with a camera phone”, reminding me of the old television series The Bill, in which the use of police ethnicity identity codes was a trope.
I had been approached, in the Centrale shopping centre, by an avatar on behalf of someone called “Control”.
It did not start well. I can be a little rash sometimes and when the security guard approached and asked, “What are you photographing?”, I said, “You!” and took his picture.
He relayed this information to “Control” and then repeated to me what “Control” was saying into his ear, that this was private property and individuals were not permitted to take pictures without permission.
I asked “Control” how I could get permission and his avatar gave me directions to a reception desk. “Will it be open?”, I asked.
After a pause, I was informed that there were no reception staff on duty. I could come back tomorrow. I deleted the avatar’s photo, shook the security guard’s hand and bade him farewell, very aware of my IC1 privilege.
A sense of place: some of the shop-front hoardings are attractive enough. They are just not shops, though
This exchange emphasised to me the inherent contradiction in the installation of so-called public art in an aggressively private space.
Centrale is a shopping centre with security. If it has any philosophy, it is “buy something or piss off!”
Going down a Stormzy: ‘buy something or piss off!’
The appearance of “public” art in such spaces is a sign, then, of a decline in the world of offline retail generally, and in Centrale in particular.
Business has been so bad these past six years or more (the retail rot had set in long before covid), that Centrale’s owners, Hammerson, ended up selling the centre to their rivals and “Croydon Partners”, Westfield, who already had an important stake in the shopping mall across the road, the Whitgift Centre.
Art here is tolerated as a necessary evil, covering up empty units. It confers on its hosts a patina of virtue and the kudos that comes with the overt patronage of culture.
It is not only “Control’s” anti-art sensibilities that undermine the latest art project to arrive in Croydon, it is the way that the art hides in plain sight, competing as it does with the sensory overload provided by advertising hoardings and displays.
When I was in Centrale, no one else paused to look at the art. Shoppers seemed to scan it briefly, ask themselves subliminally, “What is the product?” and then, question unanswered, move on to their next purchase. Who can blame them? They have come to the Whitgift or Centrale to shop, not to appreciate art.
Furthermore, because I was consciously looking for it, I came across more art that had nothing to do with the latest exhibition. I wonder, for example, how many people notice the rather stunning “Electric-Stormz” portrait of Croydon superstar, Stormzy?
Something to reflect on: part of Rich Simmons’ work outside Allders
The new art in question, on hoardings around the Allders building, has merit. It appears to be well-meant, too.
A look at the website of the curator, Laura Nevill, tells us that this is a collaboration between her and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield aimed at showcasing the work of local artists. URW’s website tells us that they aim “to maximise shareholder value”.
Nevill explains that she wants to rejuvenate “otherwise dull public spaces”, and given that North End at the front of what once was Allders is an undeniably dull space, her other exhibition works better.
Where once we could look at the window displays of Croydon’s favourite department store, we are now regaled by billboards representing a variety of artistic styles all of which reference Croydon in their own way. When I went on Sunday, last year’s posters were locked away behind padlocked gates, but the latest additions are visible to anyone passing by or coming out of Primark.
Nevill hopes that the art will convey “messages of hope, joy and togetherness and aim to brighten up the town centre whilst helping to raise the profiles of local artists and support the local creative community”. I hope so too, and the more people who see it the better, so go along to North End, have a look inside Centrale, and look for hope and joy in the art that you encounter.
But don’t take photos of it without asking “Control” for permission.
Read more: Westfield begins ‘cover-up’ at Allders – with pop art hoardings
- Ken Towl regularly writes arts reviews for Inside Croydon. To read his previous articles, click here
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