MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Vauxhall collective

Furniture designer Gareth Neal reclaims neglected spaces of the East-End to create pop-up urban picnic sites for Londoners.

One of the UK’s largest arts bursary schemes, The Vauxhall Collective, kicks off another year of outstanding art events and exhibitions around this year’s theme; The Great British Weekend. The design commission sees award winning designer Gareth Neal devise a stunning range of playful objects for London’s first urban picnics.

Popping-up in mystery locations in East London, this August, stretches of city tarmac and concrete will be temporarily transformed into grassy spaces inviting Londoners to meet, mix and consume their picnic under the summer sun.

Picnickers will enter an interactive and fantastical space featuring traditional weekend fare with a contemporary craft twist. From ping pong, hula hoops and egg and spoon races, to logs and benches to sit on, the creators intend to bring jaded city dwellers back to their childhood memoires of the quintessential British weekend. Objects will be beautifully rendered in birch and veneered with combinations of traditional English Timbers in intricate patterns.

Designer Gareth Neal comments: ‘The East London area was once home to hundreds of traditional furniture manufacturers, so it’s the perfect location for the project. The objects within their locations refer to this lost industry and claim back pieces of land for relaxation, fun and play.’

Selected by a panel of industry experts including representatives from the Design Museum, Crafts Council and London Design Festival’s Tent and Origin, Gareth was chosen for his irreverent and interactive approach to the brief.

Annabel Campbell, Exhibitions and Collections Manager of the Crafts Council commented: “The Crafts Council is delighted that Gareth Neal has been selected to receive the 2010 Vauxhall Collective bursary. Neal’s approach to making is exciting and radical. He tests the boundaries of craft practice through utilising new technologies as a complement to traditional hand skills. His work is an culmination of contemporary and recognised techniques and the final pieces acknowledge historic furniture forms, styles and decoration with a uncompromisingly contemporary edge; they unveil the ghost of furniture past inside a unquestionably contemporary piece.

His response to the brief; to question and explore notions of The Great British Weekend, mirrors his approach to making. Neal will be presenting a contemporary experience that clearly pays homage to the tradition of the family picnic. But in true Gareth Neal fashion he imbues a breath of fresh contemporary practice and context on this much loved and familiar pastime.”

Gareth Neal’s furniture design practice was established in 2002 and is currently located in the creative heart of East London. Neal specialises in the production of unique pieces, which are exclusively developed for individual clients and companies. His practice combines the technical modes of 3D computer drawing and CNC processes, with the intricacy of professional craftsmanship.

Gareth Neal graduated from Buckinghamshire University in 1996 with a BA Honours in Furniture Design and Craftsmanship. His work has received critical acclaim and has featured in numerous publications and exhibitions, both in the UK and internationally. Neal’s selected exhibitions include Collect at Victoria and Albert Museum, London and The Unexpected at Sotheby’s, New York.

Gareth Neal was selected by a Style Council panel of industry experts including Jimmy MacDonald, Director TENT and CREATE; Catherine McDermott, Professor of Design History and Curating at Kingston University; Annabel Campbell, Exhibitions and Collections Manager Crafts Council; Josephine Chanter, Head of Comms, Design Museum; and Tamsin O’Hanlon, Director Free Range Art & Design Show.

Vauxhall Collective urban picnics for London announced

11am-7pm on both days