East London Art Students Meet…

15 July-16 September 2024

Half Moon is delighted to be hosting our ninth annual exhibition of work by young people from local secondary schools and alternative educational settings, in partnership with Tower Hamlets Artist Teacher Network (THAT).

This year we are working collaboratively with London East Alternative Provision (LEAP) and Swanlea School to present a vibrant and diverse range of work in different media by a range of Key Stage students, including GCSE and A-Level Art students.

The work being exhibited in East London Art Students Meet… is striking in its range of styles and maturity. Created in response to the specifications of the curriculum and examination courses, this exhibition provides an engaging visual overview of the practice of contemporary Tower Hamlets students in their early creative careers.

East London Art Students Meet… is part of Half Moon’s on-going commitment to showcase the work of local art students from across our home borough and to inspire more young people to see the creative industries as a fulfilling and exciting career choice.

East London Art Students Meet…. I, Me, Mine: Identity, Protest and Collaboration

At LEAP, Year 10 and Year 11 students have explored ideas of working collaboratively while considering what makes us who we are. The result is a striking collection of work experimenting with photography, illustration, creative writing, sculpture and psychogeography.

The students have looked at their experiences of being a young person in East London and how ‘others’ perceive them to think about the world we live in.

Using a selection of artists’ work as inspiration, the students interrogated their experiences of being a young person in East London to think about the world we live in and how ‘others’ perceive them.

East London Art Students Meet…. West Africa

At Swanlea School, KS3 students have responded to traditional and contemporary West African Art and learnt about the importance of the representation of African artists. This included Ghanaian Kente textiles, making connections between Kente designs and a variety of European and Islamic designs.

Delving into the formal element of Art, especially colour, students explored symbolism in colour in Kente pattern and its importance for the wearer.

Other students were inspired by the portraiture of British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare – whose work is influenced by Dutch wax fabrics, which are often used to sew West African garments, and the pop-art styles of Andy Warhol – to create portraits in response.