This place is brilliant, I love walking through it, I love buying fruit and veg there, actually this is where all the fruit painting started with the Ridley Road Lemon that one of the traders threw to me back at te srt of last year. I love the colour of the road, the people, the conversations, the creativity, the sound, the community. Hackney now is mostly about unaffordable new build flats, a new breed of people who don’t like you walking down their streets, a mayor who appears more far interested in gentrification and designer label outlets than the people who have lived and worked here in Hackney for years. Ridley Road and the Market is one of the few places in Hackney that still has a heartbeat, a place that is still about people and yes, about people from everywhere…
“Ridley Road 2020” is a film that;s coming soon, a film by Alfredo Broccolo in conjunction with Bill Parry Davies and Tamara Stoll. “Ridley Road 2020” tells the story of a local London street market under attack from developers, bureaucrats and gentrification. It a local story with a universal message.
There is little point in living and working as an artist if you’re not going to reflect the place you are licing and working, the Ridley Road Lemon was where the Fruit shop paintings started, back at the start of 2019 I wrote ““The Ridley Road Lemon ” – a short series of studies. I do love Ridley Road Market, one of the best things about doing shows at BSMT Space over in Dalston is having to walk through the market a couple of times every day. I bought a bag of about 50 bananas for a pound last week and yer man on the stall said “here painter man, have a lemon to paint”, said lemon had been demanding I paint it all week, there’s a pleasure in trying to paint a lemon quickly, these three hour-long studies were painted over the weekend, painted on pieces that were already evolving, canvases and piece of wood that were waiting for a taste of lemon. I might painting it again tonight, then again I might go buy an orange…”
“Just Another East London Pomegranate” (October 2020) – Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm x 1cm 
“The Last Apple of The Year” (December 2019) – Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm“The Last Apple of The Year” (December 2019) – Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm 
“The Last Apple From That West London Tree” (Dec. 2019) – Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm. 
“An Apple That Didn’t Fall Out Of A West London Tree Until Autumn” (November 2019) – Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm 
“Another Apple From Mare Street” (October 2019) – Found a small seven inch pizza box thrown on a street in Hackney 
“The Hackney Wick Pomegranate” (July 2019), Acrylic, spray paint, brushwork, gloss varnish on found canvas, 100cm x 100cm 
The Fruit Shop as a market stall, Whitecross Street Party, London EC1, July 2019 
The Fruit Shop as a market stall, Whitecross Street Party, London EC1, July 2019 
The Fruit Shop as a market stall, Whitecross Street Party, London EC1, July 2019 
The Fruit Shop as a market stall, Whitecross Street Party, London EC1, July 2019 
Sean Worrall at the 2019 Art Car Boot fAIR, Kings Cross, London. 
“An Apple From Well Street” (May 2019) – The ongoing matter of fruit, still life, quick studios. Last night’s painting was of an Apple bought in Hackney. Acrylic on canvas, 15cm x 15cm 
“The Hackney Red Pepper” (June 2019) – The ongoing matter of fruit, still life studies, paintings. Acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 30cm, 
“The Camden Pomegranate” (June 2019), the ongoing matter of fruit, still life studies, quick paintings. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20cm 
The Fruit Shop, April 2019, a taste of the show … 
“The East London Mango” (March 2018 – the ongoing matter of fruit, quick studies, still life/ Acrylic on found board, 30cm x 48cm 
“The Well Street Grapefruit and the E9 Blood Orange (No.2), March 2019. Acrylic on recycled cardboard, 32cm x 32cm 
“The Well Street Grapefruit (no.1) – an ongoing series of quick fruit studies, acrylic on #recycled cardboard, 31x32cm. 
“The Hackney Pomegranate and the Well Street Grapefruit” (Feb 2919) – acrylic on canvas, 20x30cm. The ongoing series of quick fruit studies, small paintings just for the pleasure of painting. 
Back to Columbia Road for April 
The Ridley Road Lemon (No.4)” – acrylic on wooden board, Jan 2019:(15 x 20cm). 
The Ridley Road Lemon (No.3)” – acrylic on canvas, Jan 2019:(15 x 20cm). 
The Ridley Road Lemon (No.2)” – acrylic on canvas, Jan 2019:(15 x 21cm). 
“The Hackney Pomegranate (No.1) February 2019. Acrylic on found wooden board, 21cm x 15cm. – SOLD 
“The Ridley Road Lemon and The Hackney Pomegranate (February 2019). Acrylic on found wooden board, 30cm x 20cm.
Sean Worrall 