Viva Brighton Issue #76 June 2019

ART
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Lothar is well used to creating largescale works
– previous commissions include the Southbank
Centre in London, and Leeds Art Gallery – but
the Towner will be a first for the artist. “What
is very unusual about this project is that I’m
painting the whole of the outside, which will
turn the building itself into a giant public art
sculpture. It crosses over from architecture or
painting and becomes part of the topography of
the town. It’s not like going into a gallery and
saying, ‘there are the paintings’. People will
walk along the street, not necessarily expecting
to look at art, but then suddenly there it is.
It will create quite a landmark in the town
centre and that’s very special. It doesn’t happen
very often, to have an opportunity to do
something which is so visible to the public.”
The installation is set to take three weeks
and, when we speak in early May, Lothar isn’t
sure how much paint he will need for each of
the 15 colours, each needing four coats. But,
with Brewers Decorator Centres sponsoring
the commission, he is guaranteed a sufficient
supply. Nor does he know how much tape it
will take to mask the crisp diagonal lines across
such distances (one of the walls is more than 30
metres wide and 15 metres high), but he’ll be
working with an expert team from the London
Mural Company to manage the process. What
is certain is that the Towner – always a striking
building – is about to become an artwork in its
own right. And an eye-catching centrepiece for
Eastbourne’s new Devonshire Quarter.
Towner’s celebratory summer season launches
on the 15th of June.
Lizzie Lower
townereastbourne.org.uk
Xanadu: Acrylic on wall, Victorian Staircase, Leeds Art Gallery, 2017. Photos by Jerry Hardman Jones
Double-Take: Acrylic and emulsion on wall, MAC Belfast, 2013. Photo by Jordan Hutchins
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