Art in the Park: interview with artist Neville Gabie, Olympic Park Artist in residence
About this record
As part of Art in the Park: the Cultural Olympiad Heritage project, Sylvia Morgado met with artist Neville Gabie at St Margaret’s House, in east London, to reflect on the legacy of his work, ten years on from the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Stratford.
Text by Helen Browne.
Artist Neville Gabie interviewed by Sylvia Morgado. Image © Cristiane Vasconcelos
Neville was chosen to be the Artist in Residence for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for two years prior to London 2012. Originally a sculptor, Neville’s work is driven by specific locations and communities focusing on capturing moments of change particularly in urban regeneration.
“I think there were something like 10,000 people on that site every day. When you leave that site, you have no real visibility in a sense, but [I wanted to] give visibility to the construction staff who were making this park. So that's why I really wanted to apply for it. I was desperately keen to get it. And I was really chuffed that I did.”
His body of work for this commission includes: ‘Freeze Frame’, a photo highlighting the diverse landscape of the park and the roles required to build it, based on the infamous painting ‘Bathers at Asnières’ by Seurat; ‘Twelve Seventy’, a video about Semra Yusuf, an Olympic Park bus driver at the time and passionate long distance swimmer; ‘9.58’ a video based on Husain Bolt’s world record for the 100 metres which includes the faces of the constructors of the main stadium; plus a video registering his attempt to sit in every seat in the main stadium, among others. The full collection of Neville’s work on the site can be found here.
“It meant that I was the one artist on that huge side during the entire time it was being constructed. I mean, there's lots of other work that's on the park now, but it was mainly commissioned and made or installed later. I was there pretty much every day for nearly two years.”
Exhibition preceding the Games
As part of the delivery of the Games, the Sparked exhibition showcased Gabie’s film and photography works inspired by his time in the park, from January to March 2012, at View Tube, a community arts and education venue on The Greenway, in east London.
You can find more in this link.
Inspired by the public art pieces in the London 2012 Olympic Park, Sparked was an eight-month educational exhibition series as part of the View Tube Art Education programme, that ran from October 2011 to May 2012 in a venue next to the Olympic Park.
You can find out more in the website dedicated to this project.
Join us for an afternoon of poetry readings by young Newham residents inspired by a tour of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park FULL DETAILS +
Additional record details
- Contributor: Sylvia Morgado and Sylvie Belbouab
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