ARTISTS BEING PUSHED OUT

FOUR out of 20 artists chosen to take part in a prestigious contemporary painting exhibition are based in Hackney – and one of them has warned that the borough s future as an artistic haven is being threatened by the Olympics...

FOUR out of 20 artists chosen to take part in a prestigious contemporary painting exhibition are based in Hackney - and one of them has warned that the borough's future as an artistic haven is being threatened by the Olympics.

Michael Samuels, 43, who lives in Culford Road, De Beauvoir, is angered that developers are pushing artists out of Hackney by taking over their studios to make way for sites for the 2012 Games and housing.

He said: "Hackney always had the most artists this side of the river, but those days are numbered.

"Slowly, artists are getting pushed out."

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