the thames group of artists
Formed in 2015, the Thames Group is an ever evolving art collective of painters, printers, ceramicists, sculptors, mixed media artists, graphic artists, photographers, a milliner, a film maker and more.
exhibitions
THE SCENE BY THE SEA (2025)
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Thames Group took its inspiration for its biggest show ever, from a double-sided fold-out map that was the brainchild of author and musician Will Birch, artist and former ‘Clash’ right-hand man, Kosmo Vinyl and graphic artist Jules Balme.
Called ‘The Scene by the Sea’, the map is a guide to many of the hippest clubs, pubs, discotheques, dancehalls, coffee bars, music shops and fashion boutiques that were pivotal in helping to create Southend’s rich pop culture heritage. The work has been inspired by the venues.
The Scene by the Sea, introduced by Will Birch
ALL KINDS OF NAUGHTY (2020/21)
March 27th 2020 marked the twentieth anniversary of the passing of the iconic post-punk musician, lyricist and artist Ian Dury and it was this landmark that was the inspiration for the Group’s second major project, 'All Kinds of Naughty'. Named after an unrecorded Dury song, the exhibition was due to open at the Stash Gallery, London on the anniversary of Ian's death, until Covid got in the way that is. One year later and with the full support of the Dury family, the show finally got on the road touring to art galleries across London, Essex and Kent.
SWEET THAMES RUNS SOFTLY (2015)
The Thames Group first appeared on the British art scene with its Arts Council England supported ‘Sweet Thames Run Softly’ exhibition. Inspired by TS Eliot’s modernist masterpiece, ‘The Waste Land’, the exhibition toured to festivals, art galleries and colleges between London and Southend throughout the summer of 2015 in a unique, self assembly cardboard gallery designed by internationally renowned architect John Lyall.
