In 2007 artist Vanessa Brady was commissioned by Hammerson PLC to document the development of the Highcross Leicester Shopping Centre extension. From early 2007 through to the Centre Opening in September 2008, six paintings were completed detailing various stages of the Highcross Leicester construction.

Vanessa’s bright and vibrant paintings are based on photographs. She uses the camera as a tool to capture, distort and embellish imagery with a focus on heightened colour, patterns of light and reflections.

The first painting in the series, completed while the development was an open concrete structure, is called Leicester Light and focuses on reflected patterns of light on the wet ground. Leicester Glass came next, concentrating on the John Lewis glass panels and paying tribute to those who worked on the project. The challenge with the third painting, Cinema, was depicting meticulous reflections on the steel panelling of the Complex. While Apartment 1 and 2 documented the residential quarter of the development and its proximity to the Cinema. Finally Atrium centred on the internal detailing and construction of the shopping mall.

Leicester Light

Leicester Glass

Apartment 1 and 2

Atrium

Cinema Crop

http://www.vanessabrady.co.uk