Last year in association with the London Borough of Croydon, Purelake held an art competition to celebrate Croydon’s distinguished aeronautical past.
The winning artist was Alan Potter MRSS, who created a striking sculpture inspired by the famous, record-breaking female pilot Amy Johnson and her equally famous aircraft, the Gypsy Moth. Alan is a Scottish artist based near Glasgow, he carries out commissions throughout the whole of the UK and specialises in public art installations such as this. He works in a variety of different media and creates each piece to uniquely reflect its location and environment. Alan’s winning submission has now been mounted on the building in full view of the passing public.
So why did the LB of Croydon specify the brief to be aeronautically related?
The answer is simple; London Croydon airport was Britain’s first international airport! It was instrumental in the development of worldwide travel following World War I, and became Britain’s busiest airport between the two World Wars and the predecessor to London Heathrow Airport. Many world record breaking flights took off from Croydon airport, most notably one, Amy Johnson, who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930 at the tender age of just 27. Click the photo below of Amy Johnson, to find out more about London Croydon Airport.
