Around a River: Paintings and Drawings by Anthony Nesbit
New perspectives on familiar Thames landscapes at the Irish Cultural Centre
A riverside scene from Anthony Nesbit
September 5, 2026
A new exhibition at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith invites visitors to look again at the riverbanks, bridges and pathways they may pass every day. Around a River: Compositions is a collection of paintings and drawings by Hammersmith-based artist Anthony Nesbit, whose recent work is rooted in the landscapes that connect the villages of west London beside the Thames.
Born in Liverpool in 1944 into a family of Irish heritage, Nesbit originally trained as a sculptor, studying at Gloucestershire College of Art before completing an MA at Manchester College of Art. His work has appeared in group exhibitions at venues including the Serpentine Gallery and South Hill Park in Bracknell.
Now based in London, he works from a studio in Hammersmith, where his close relationship with the area has become central to his practice. The paintings and drawings gathered for this exhibition “are rooted in the landscape immediately around him, exploring the River Thames and the familiar places, pathways and landmarks that connect Hammersmith with Chiswick, Barnes and Putney.”
The exhibition includes paintings of Hammersmith Bridge, Duke’s Meadows, the Hammersmith riverbank, Barnes Bridge and the river walk from Hammersmith to Putney. These are locations well known to residents and visitors, yet Nesbit’s work encourages viewers to see them anew. His approach is not to reproduce a single scene or fixed viewpoint, but to explore how we move through landscape. His compositions “incorporate multiple perspectives and shifting points of view,” inviting the viewer “to become immersed in the space of the picture – to move through it with the eye, just as the artist has moved through the landscape itself.”
Although trained in sculpture, Nesbit’s practice has increasingly shifted into two dimensions, with drawing at its core. His drawings emerge from sustained engagement with the local environment: walking, observing and sketching as part of a continuous process. His attention moves from foreground textures and surfaces outwards into the wider landscape, creating works that feel both intimate and expansive. In doing so, he transforms familiar stretches of the Thames into places of discovery, reminding us that even the most everyday views can reveal new perspectives when we pause to look.
For a local artist, the river becomes more than a subject. It becomes “a place of observation, memory and continual discovery.” Around a River: Compositions offers a chance to experience that discovery for ourselves — to see Hammersmith Bridge, Duke’s Meadows, Barnes Bridge and the river paths between Chiswick and Putney not simply as landmarks, but as living, changing spaces of light, movement and texture.
The exhibition runs from 10 September to 27 November at the Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Blacks Road, W6. It is open on weekdays from 9.30am to 5.30pm, with weekend and evening visits available by contacting the Centre in advance on 020 8563 8232.
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