A celebrated satirical artist has launched his new exhibition in Medway .

The 11 works by Cold War Steve, who has featured at the Glastonbury Festival and appeared in Time Magazine, are being showcased at Riverside Country Park in Rainham.

Medway Council hopes the high profile and free show will boost its bid to become UK City of Culture for 2025 .

The artist had planned to tour the country before lockdown put a stop to this idea.

Now, four of his new outdoor works have been unveiled for the first time, in Medway.

The exhibition was launched yesterday and will remain until next Sunday.

Cold War Steve, who specialises in surreal, satirical collages originally made on his phone and iPad, said: “I’m well excited to start the Cold War Steve Meets The Outside World exhibition in Medway.

"The Riverside Country Park is the perfect spot for this nature trail installation; the mix of beautiful shoreline, wildlife, industrial and post industrial landscape is wonderful.

"The 11 pieces on display are a kind of 'CWS 2020 best of’, some of my biggest pieces from this crazy year that have never been displayed anywhere before, plus a brand new piece made especially for Medway.

"The event has been designed to be viewed from a distance with social distancing in mind.

"There is an art trail throughout the park and on the shoreline."

Paul Cowell, head of culture and libraries at Medway Council, said: “It is fantastic that Medway will host the first part of Cold War Steve’s national exhibition.

"We understand how important creativity is to both our own personal wellbeing but how it can also help boost community spirits, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is incredibly exciting that Medway is attracting national artists to exhibit their new work here.

"This exhibition supports Medway’s aspirations to become UK City of Culture 2025 which is a huge opportunity to put Medway on the map and show the rest of the country what we have to offer.”

Imogen Robertson, Bid Director at Medway 2025, said: “Our Medway 2025 City of Culture bid is all about turning Medway’s green spaces, shopping centres, stadiums and public areas into venues that showcase world-class creativity for everyone.

"We’re proud to welcome people from across Medway and the rest of the country to Rainham to see Cold War Steve’s artworks at Riverside Country Park as we bid to be UK City of Culture in 2025.”

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