Artist explores controversial seafront shelters

Whether you like them or loathe them - Bexhill’s beach shelters on the West Parade seafront have divided opinion since their completion as part of the Next Wave project in 2011.

Some opponents have criticised the shelter’s functional failure to do what they were designed to do, while others have dismissed their aesthetic value as non-existent.

Yet at the same time they have won prestigious design awards and have appeared as iconic images of seaside architecture alongside others on Royal Mail stamps. Whatever your opinion, Murmurations Gallery based at 17a Parkhurst Road, is holding this exhibition of paintings by local Bexhill artist Rebeka that explores these shelters along with other seaside architecture in a way that firstly deconstructs them then reconstructs them to make new objects.

Gallery director Joe Nguyen commented: “Rebeka says she likes to explore how people perceive objects differently and how certain points can act as points of deconstruction and construction in creating new objects in negative/positive space. She loves how modernist architecture, and its fascination with angles, helps create objects and structures that expand possibilities and imagination.

In the exhibition, everyday structures become alien and unfamiliar as angles transform and accentuate new lines of perception.

So whatever your opinion of the Bexhill Beach Shelters, come along and see them as you have never seen them before – who knows, for some they might be an improvement. The exhibition titled Angles Are Awesome is only for two weeks from March 8-20.”

Murmurations gallery is open six days a week, Tuesday – Sunday 10.30am-4.30pm. For further details visit www.murmurationsgallery.co.uk or www.rebekalord.com