14th February to 21st June – Pleasure 2015

From Valentine’s day until Summer Solstice, the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre presents Pleasure.

Pleasure is a neon sign, positioned on the Community Centre’s roof. It acts as a beacon for the centre and for the historic Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens below. Produced by Studio Long & Scenografika, both tenants of artist studios at the centre, the sign is an expression of the joy taken from all the centre has to offer the local community. It’s also a nod to the wide range of recreational activities that have been and continue to be enjoyed in and around the gardens.

The plant boxes in front of the Pleasure sign are embedded with evergreen shrubs common to coastal and cliff top environments. The light and the plants will be visible to users of the Pleasure Gardens, to railway commuters and to those who live and work in the rapidly developing area. The installations are just the beginning of a longer term project which will make greater, more colourful use of the roof and centre.

The Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, variously known as ‘New Spring Gardens’, ‘Vauxhall Gardens’ and ‘The Royal Gardens, Vauxhall’ were a popular cultural destination over the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. People headed to Vauxhall for an outdoor stroll, for food, drink and entertainment. The gardens gave London its first public art gallery and a first hearing of Handel’s Fireworks Music. Today, they are enjoying a new lease of life, hosting an ice rink in the winter months, outdoor cinema screenings in the summer and festival events throughout the year.

Around the gardens, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and a variety of clubs offer late night entertainment, while the Cabinet and Hirst Galleries, together with Beaconsfield promise access to high quality contemporary art. The Pleasure Project sets out to celebrate and contribute to this vibrant cultural landscape.

Light Manufacture: A1Designs

Horticultural Advice: Daniel Lobb MSGD

Generously funded and supported by the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre and the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with additional support from CLS Holdings, Martinspeed and Neal’s Nurseries, Wandsworth.

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