Artist Mandy Payne’s impressions of British Brutalism
An exhibition of artworks by Sheffield-based artist Mandy Payne at Stapleford Granary explores the layers, memories and flux of British Brutalist estates. Using paint, printing techniques and collaged materials, Payne creates textured compositions of buildings and their urban environments, never shying from the realities of signposts, traffic cones and graffiti that accompany these worlds. On show are 20 paintings of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and the North, created over the past 5 years, as well as 11 stone lithographs, some of which focus on the Grade II* listed Park Hill estate in Sheffield, currently undergoing regeneration. Here, she tells us about her process and why she is drawn to Brutalist architecture.
As an artist, how do you set about exploring Brutalist estates? (Do you map a route or meander? What do you look for? Do you talk to people on the way?)
Well, apart from using Blue Crow maps (!), I often discover an estate by researching online or by seeing an image that catches my eye on social media. It's really important, though, that I visit a place in person and use my own photographs to make my work. I usually research the estates in advance so I know if there’s things I definitely want to see. I will thus vaguely plot a route although I also like to just meander. It’s always advantageous if I can go with someone who knows the area and I've been lucky in that I've visited many locations by connecting with other local artists, photographers and writers. Once I've found a location that I find particularly inspiring I will often visit it over and over again.
Other ways of discovering new locations are organised walks like Modernist Mooches run by The Modernist Society and the incredibly knowledgeable and enigmatic Steve Marland. I don’t have things that I am particularly looking for, but I will know it when I see it! It’s always nice if you can engage in conversation with someone but it depends on the situation. I try to be friendly but also to blend in.
Please can you describe a memorable or surprising experience that happened during one of your visits?
I’ve had lots! I’ve never had any major problems going around places, although I think that being female helps and also, I don’t take any fancy camera equipment with me. I just use my phone and that means I can be more discreet and unobtrusive which is important, particularly when photographing where people live.
Memorable events include being given a huge bunch of over 30 keys with no identifying markers, a hi-vis jacket and hard hat and being given carte blanche to explore, unaccompanied, the walkways of the Park Hill estate whilst it was being developed. I thought that part of the estate was deserted until I bumped into some squatters who really made me jump! Another time a friend and myself managed to get ourselves locked in the grounds of Murray Edwards College in Cambridge…
Why do you think you are drawn to the Brutalist architectural style? Why do you think you are drawn to the dystopian or bleak elements of Brutalist estates – such as the graffiti or decay?
I’ve always been drawn to Brutalist architecture, my secondary school was a concrete comprehensive on the outskirts of Bradford, built by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the architects of the Barbican. I think from an aesthetic point of view I’m drawn to the sculptural qualities of such buildings, their monolithic scale, materiality, rawness and geometry. I also think that there is a nostalgic element associated with this architectural style, a time when buildings were built with ambition for a better world, when the Welfare State provided and the ideals of many of the modernist architects was that nothing was too good for ordinary people.
I think I’m drawn to the bleaker parts of such estates as they seem to hold the most soul, you can almost feel the memories and traces of past lives and communities. I love the myriad of colours that can be found in stained, spalled concrete, if you look closely enough. The way light falls onto concrete walkways, creating wonderful shadows. Many people consider Brutalist buildings to be concrete carbuncles, but I hope by focusing on such places in this way people might look again at them and reconsider their unconventional beauty.
Which parts of British Brutalist estates do you find utopian – in what ways do you think they were successful in their original intentions?
Every estate is different and some live up to utopian ideals more than others. Brutalist architecture often gets bad press, but I think when I look at Park Hill, the estate I’ve studied most, you can almost feel the utopian vision that the architects had when designing the place. It was designed to slot topographically into the landscape with a flat roof, (at the top of the estate it has four storeys at the bottom it has 13 so it’s almost wedge-like).
Flats were designed for maximum light, with plenty of outside space (although no individual gardens) and walkways connected blocks so you never needed to get wet. The estate was built to house tenants escaping slum clearances after the war and attempts were made to keep communities together by moving neighbours next to each other and even keeping the old street names.
Having talked to people who lived at Park Hill in its early years it did seem to live up to the utopian dream and it was only later in the 80s and 90s when, like many similar estates, it began to fall into decline, largely due to inadequate maintenance and investment.
Please can you tell us more about the stone lithography process? Why do you like this medium and why do you think it works well with the subject matter?
Stone lithography is a printing process whereby an original print is made by drawing or painting directly onto a limestone slab. The limestone is very porous, and the image is created by mark making with a greasy crayon or pencil and/or an oily liquid (tusche). After drawing on the stone, it is left to rest overnight ideally, so that the greasy marks can be absorbed sufficiently into the stone. The image is then processed chemically by lightly etching it with acid and gum arabic. When the processed stone is dampened and rolled with oily ink, the water repels the ink so that the rolled-on ink only sticks to the drawn areas on the stone.
Dampened paper is placed on top of the inked stone and then the whole lot is run through a special press. The resulting print is a mirror image of the original drawing on the stone.
To re-use the stone to make another print the image is erased by abrading the surface of the stone with grit. The previous image must be completely removed otherwise it may reappear later and spoil the subsequent work! The process is quite magical as the image frequently gets darker the more prints that are taken. Often the print can become too dark and so the stone needs to be retreated with acid again to make the prints lighter. It is not a precise science which makes lithography quite experimental.
I love stone lithography as a printing medium as it so closely replicates the drawn mark. Also, it’s really easy to create textures with the process or to incise into the drawing to create fine detail. I think lithography works well with my subject matter because of how the technique can reproduce textures and tonal areas of light and dark. There is also something very satisfying and pleasurable about drawing buildings onto cold slabs of stone.
The exhibition runs: Friday 7 February - Sunday 30 March, 2025
Stapleford Granary
Bury Road, Stapleford
Cambridge, CB22 5BP