ART PAGE Bet you’ll never look at the Purdown

THE ARTS

SNAPSHOTS OF BRISTOL’S CULTURAL LIFE

TOWER POWER

“Hi! I am organising an art show celebrating this guy,” read the email from Matthew Healey, aka Spot the Badger. The guy in question turned out to be the Purdown Tower.

“I never really paid the Tower much attention” the message went on. “I would only really look at it while on the M32. But then I moved within the city, and I can now see the Tower from my window. It stands alone on a hill, away from the main attractions of Bristol. Everyone knows it, yet there is very little information about it. Technology has moved on, and its heyday has passed, yet it feels like it still has a purpose.

“Is it an eyesore? A relic of the past, a monument, a beacon perhaps? Either way, there is something hypnotising about those rings. Once you start paying attention to it you start to realise that it’s always there, commanding the horizon, looking over rooftops or appearing from behind the trees: Bristol’s unconventional lighthouse, watching over the motorway and welcoming weary travellers to our city.”

To honour ‘this guy’, Matt has assembled an impressive roster of largely Bristol-based artists, including Inkie, Alex Lucas, Anna Marrow, Used Pencil, Acerone and Andy Council, whose pieces will exhibit alongside his own work, such as the one shown here.

“The brief was simple: create a piece of work using the Tower as your muse. It’s thought by some to be a refuelling station for passing UFOs, so a lot of people have gone down that route...”

All pieces are available to purchase, so that’s Christmas sorted, then.

The Purdown Tower Art Show runs until 31 October at The Farm pub, Hopetoun Road, St Werburghs For more: spotthebadger.com/tower