SHADWELL BASIN/ GORDON HOUSE, TOWER HAMLETS 2019-23. - JAVIER GALERA

Javier will be showing a series of photographs from his latest installation project Aquascaping, curated and produced by creative label Katharsis. Combining digital prints with found everyday objects, Aquascaping explores notions of community and home, capturing the summer months at Shadwell Basin, London - a mass of water in urban East London that acts as a beach for the residents during the hottest days of the year.

The show will include a print sale of previously unpublished photographs, as well as a black andwhite 28 page zine that completes the narrative of the images.

"When I first visited Shadwell Basin, it didn’t seem special at all - just another disused dock by the River Thames, with occasional fishing and a few runners. It all changed during summer: everyone was there, ignoring the “Swimming is forbidden here” and “People have drowned here” signs, jumping into the green-brown water and socialising with neighbours they would have never even said “hi” to.

It’s these yearly short heatwaves that transform the place temporarily. London suddenly brings boyhood memories of growing up by the Mediterranean seaside, and everyone else seems to share this same feeling of belonging to the Sun, heat and water.

This is a project about a place that, even during uncertain times and very far from what I considered home, has always made me feel at home."

Javier Galera is a London-based artist with a focus on urban photography. Javier’s work navigates through different media such as collage, sculpture, installation, printing and zine making; pushing the possibilities photography offers from its original negative film form.