INTO THE ZONE

Journeys in the Thames Estuary

22nd February-11th May 2025

Artists: Anna Kroeger, Anna Lukala, Arbonauts, David George, Ian Tokelove,  Gerolamo Gnecchi and Sylak Ravenspine, Mark Taylor, Michael Upton (also curator), Mike Seaborne

‘Into The Zone’ is a group exhibition of artists who have explored the Thames Estuary territory from diverse but overlapping perspectives.

The exhibition’s title refers to the film Stalker ( Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky 1979, USSR) , which was released in the United Kingdom 45 years ago and tells a story of three men who arrange an expedition to a mysterious zone, to seek a room where dreams are granted. Each of these artists present projects which interrogate the estuary territory from different vantages and through exploratory journeys .

Anna Kroeger's cyanotypes document her long psychogeographic walks along both sides of the river, exploring her inner topography and the landscapes in front of her. Mike Seaborne’s work taken on long walks documents the area’s shifting , sometimes vanished post-industrial landscapes.  Michael Upton uses the paradoxical repetitiveness and uniqueness of sea swims to emotional response the estuary and its waters.  

Mark Taylor finds a dream of flying in swimmers caught mid-leap from Leigh’s wharves. Ian Tokelove captures the sometimes surreal natural and manmade beauty of the wild and seemingly remote spaces just beyond London, on journeys by foot or kayak. David George’s work examines the sublime in the zone’s post-industrial landscapes,  through photographs taken on precisely planned missions to rarely visited regions by day and night.  

Informed by her own relationship with the coastal landscape, Anna Lukala investigates the vulnerability of tidal ecosystems, exploring how human interference endangers these precarious environments. A film of Arbonauts’ site- specific, climate responsive  work SILT  speaks of dystopia and hope through a performance and soundscape in the intertidal zone . Gerolamo Gnecchi and Sylak Ravenspine  record their hyper-local project focused on a small square of Benfleet’s mudflats, using a collectively constructed grid as a way to pay close attention to the estuary’s seasonal changes.

Following the opening event on 22nd February from 2 to 4.30pm, Into the Zone will be accompanied by a programme of events including a screening of Stalker (1979) with an introduction by the exhibition’s curator, Michael Upton, artists’ talks and a guided photographic walk in the Thames Estuary area.  

Into The Zone is presented in collaboration with The Research Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement (CREATURE ) at London Metropolitan University.  The exhibition relates to Michael Upton’s ongoing practice as research exploration of the Thames Estuary as commons, with a particular focus on the environment. He questions how our complex and multi-faceted relationship with the river , sea and intertidal zone can be articulated through creative media, particularly photography. A publication documenting the exhibition and associated programme will form part of that project. 

The exhibition is supported by the recently established The East London Photographer’s Archive (ELPA) based at Bishopsgate Institute , two of whose photographers ( David George and Mike Seaborne) are represented.