Poster girl

For those that haven’t been to Bristol, Broadmead is the somewhat run-down city centre shopping district which inspired Matt Lucas to write the Vicky Pollard sketch in TV comedy Little Britain.

Although the area has seen better days, especially since the neighbouring Cabot Circus mall by architect Chapman Taylor opened in 2008, one interesting development that has come from the area is a number of artistic projects seem to be popping up in abandoned shops and billboards.

One such project is Laura Oldfield Ford’s solo exhibition which will show her images of the urban landscape on a number of large scale Adshel poster sites around the UK.

Oldfield Ford’s work starts with the idea of a walk and incorporates geographical narratives from the past, present and future of the space. This can include competing visions of the surrounding built environment from advertisements and architectural spaces.

During a number of trips to Bristol in 2010, Oldfield Ford looked at Bristol’s history of cultural regeneration, gentrification, civil unrest and alternative lifestyle cultures to create the images for the exhibition.

A zine will be produced to guide people through the works and a number of talks will accompany the project. A map is available at arnolfini.org.uk

The project launches at Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol UK BS1 4QA on 1 Febrauary at 5.30pm.