News

Whats happening in the gallery

LAST WEEKEND

26/10/2022

Friday to Sunday 12 till 5 last chance for a free portrait and to participate in the Memorial Project.
we have been meeting in the studio with people coming up for a portrait ,no need to make an appointment

Toby Shaw works with the Hastings Mayor

21/10/2022

The Mayor of Hastings Councillor James Bacon

LOVED AND USED BUT FORGOTTEN STUDIO TO BE REVIVED IN OCTOBER 2022

14/06/2022

A FREE PORTRAIT EXPERIENCE
THE MEMORIAL STUDIO PROJECT

This October, a Victorian daylight photographic portrait studio in Hastings, forgotten for over a hundred years,will re-open for one month only. Visitors will be invited to sit for portraits or to make selfies. Pets and props welcome.
The Memorial Studio is a rare survival.,More than a thousand photographic portrait studios were established in the UK between 1839 and 1901. Fewer than
two dozen are known to remain.
Purpose built in 1864, The Memorial Studio was an attraction in Hastings for 54 years until 1918, then disappeared for 104 years.
Among many other things it became storage for British Telecom, an insurance company office and a workshop making orthopaedic supports.

BEATRICE LACEY ARTIST AND GALLERY CURATOR IN THE MEMORIAL ART GALLERY

In 2012, artist Beatrice Lacey took it over as her studio and removed the false ceiling that had long concealed the North skylight..
In 2022 Beatrice invited photographers Alexander Brattel and Toby Shaw to collaborate in exploring, reviving and celebrating this exquisite space.

revealing the glass ceiling
 


YOUR INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

Visitors will be invited to become part of The Memorial Studio Project, a portrait record for future exhibition and
publication. Toby Shaw will offer free individual and group sittings, to include a still or
moving image file. Visitors will also be invited to contribute their own portraits and selfies made in the studio.

A SHOWING OF A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF MEMORIES ATTATCHED TO THE CREATION OF THE MEMORIAL GALLERY

A changing exhibition in the studio’s waiting room will showcase The Memorial Studio’s activities and history,just as it did in the nineteenth century.

AN EXPERIEMENT IN AND WITH TIME ,TECHNOLOGY AND IDENTITY

The visit to the photographer’s studio, a formal and intimate moment of
recording presence and identity for posterity in a way that also connects us with our past, is now in danger of
becoming forgotten as a participatory event. An experiment with time, The Memorial Studio Project is inspired
by the conditions of the past to record the present, creating memories for the future.

0PENING TIMES

12-5, Fridays to Sundays throughout October 2022. Free entry.

7 Cambridge Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 1DJ.
We apologise for no disabled access, there are three flights of stairs
(originally the trade entrance. The main entrance in Robertson St no
longer survives).https://clikoriginals.s3.amazonaws.com/photolacey/images/32593DB7-3AA1-4DFF-B9664A7E93245702.jpeg
For further information see Photolacey.com

FURTHER INFORMATION

instagram @thememorialstudio2022
facebook The Memorial Studio 2022
Contacts:
Beatrice Lacey: bea@laceyfineart.com / 07775 734874
Toby Shaw: tobyshaw.co.ukhttps://clikoriginals.s3.amazonaws.com/photolacey/images/4E437EF2-726F-40ED-BA3D6378DDE0F0DA.jpeg
Alex Brattell: alex@brattell.com (for hires images) / 07767 611388
On Monday 3rd October at 8pm there will be an informal lecture
in Hastings on Victorian portraiture and The Memorial Studio. See
photology.info
Part of PhotoHastings 2022. photohastings.org