Artist Benjamin Bridges takes a trip across London to visit some burgeoning creators. On the way he visits a bank, takes a trip to the sci-fi future, reads a map and finds out where paints are born.
There is so little
time. There is so much I want to do each day. Recently I met up with four people
involved in some interesting projects – artists and curators not satisfied with
what they have already achieved, and not waiting around to be discovered. It’s
hard not to look for some heroic or romantic pattern in their struggles.
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| Caroline Kha and the Encounters project space in High Barnet |
First I headed North. I can’t think of a venue on the high street that makes me feel more uncomfortable and anxious than a bank. Even a lingerie shop or bookies would be preferable, and yet in a gutted former Santander in High Barnet, a quiet and contemplative space had been crafted.
Artist and curator
Caroline Kha applied for the space from Moderna Art an organisation who
currently offer more than thirty disused commercial spaces to artists. Originally she was granted the space for 6 weeks, which changed to 3 weeks, then 6, and back to 3. It was
an uncertain and temporary venue but that transient feeling was welcomed.
The former bank
already had natural divisions within the space. There were waiting areas,
offices and even an exposed the concrete floor
indicating a torn out tellers desk. In this last space Caroline performed daily, staining the floor with a large
water circle that faded throughout the day; a metaphor for the transient nature of
the venue.
In the next room artist Andy Wicks had laid heavy blocks of purpose
cut parquet atop a carpet, which left me with that somehow painful dilemma of
whether to walk on it or not. Another space contained a private reading room
with a transcribed
painting of a Rembrandt hung on one wall
and a guide to painting techniques sat on a small table in the far corner.
I think every artist
would love a vast white cube as their personal project space, but this is unlikely to happen. Yet as Caroline has demonstrated, the history of an unconventional building can
bring its own solutions and character.
However, even when a space is so carefully
and sensitively used it is hard to persuade other artists and the general public
to come along. This is in part due to awareness, but I also believe we subconsciously
judge if a show is worth seeing based upon whether it is in an impressive venue, in the right
part of town and maintains a certain respectability. And that is sad.
A project
space is free of pretention, free of the market and free of the sterility so
common in larger galleries. It's more akin to viewing an artist's
studio, with works in progress and materials scattered around. You can see the living quality of the work before it is embalmed for the viewing public. Caroline achieved this freshness in High Barnet with works in
progress, an open day rather than an exhibition and by creating an environment
that is an honest reflection of the
practice of making.
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| Gretchen Andrus in her studio in Shoreditch |
Next I journeyed South
and East. I got to wear a pair of Google Glass. I was in the studio of painter
Gretchen Andrus. To be honest I was not that impressed with the glasses but I
was with the person wearing them. As artists go I have not met a more
determined one and she is quickly becoming more successful than most of the
schooled artists I know.
She studied information
systems in Boston before moving to California to work for Google. She joked
that in Silicon Valley Google is so 2008, but for me I was meeting someone who
worked in the future, at the heart of sci-fi technology, with the hardware on
her face to prove it.
She has a couple of
projects coming up and an impressive network of friends and contacts already. I
guess that her degree in many ways prepared her for the art world better than
many art degrees, a fact I find immensely frustrating. My professional practice
module at school included a 2-hour session on how to make friends and not much
else. It strikes me as vital for artists to be taught how to run and develop
their careers and projects or we will end up with a market filled only by the
lucky and generic few.
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| Jenny Judova in Whitechapel |
Further South to the
river. Where do you go to find out which private views are on tonight? I
thought that maybe galleries didn’t want to advertise them. Do galleries really
want people to go to their openings? As soon as I wrote that down I realised it
was a daft thing to think.
Of course galleries do
and the next project I was shown is proof of that. I met with Jenny Judova near
the Whitechapel Gallery and she told me more about her site Art Map London, which
displays all the upcoming shows she can get information on.
It is a reasonable
site but it currently lacks a little finesse. And it was for that reason that
we met. She is putting together a Kickstarter campaign with a number of artists
donating work to help generate funds for a much-needed project. The plan is to build a custom website, with an
app to follow where you will be able to see all the openings near you.
And this is great news
for emerging artists and galleries. You can see more than just the places that have
paid fees. You can see pop-ups, artist’s spaces and hopefully a range of new
and innovative projects.
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| John Kelly in residence at Griffin Gallery |
Finally, I headed West.
Just beyond the Westfield shopping centre you can find Griffin Gallery, which
runs exhibitions aimed at helping the careers of emerging artists. Above the
gallery is the Daler Rowney Lab where paints are born.
Artist John Kelly won
a residency there and is currently in situ developing a new body of work. Large
canvasses are stapled to the wall. The paintings are built from layers of American
football like logos, with wry puns stamped on top in block letters, interwoven
with symbols of a culture observed from over the sea.
They are powerful
pieces and a step forward from the gritty and visceral pieces I had seen him
produce before. They feel like the space he is in, clean and ordered, light, balanced
and purposeful. And I found myself wanting to just stand and absorb them, the
references adding up and pointing towards some noble idea before they made fun of
their own order. Previous work of his often felt a little contrived and
overstated but John has fully pulled these paintings off.
A little walk and I
was home.
There are few if any
who get so lucky as to make a career in the arts without having to put in the
legwork, but for those who are willing to try and find new projects to invest
in, the possibilities seem genuinely endless. These four artists and curators
exemplify this, by taking, making and developing opportunities. In my mind that
is what the emerging art scene needs, and upon reflection, is what the best of
it is made from.
Benjamin Bridges
Encounters - http://encountersproject.tumblr.com/
Art Map - http://www.artmaplondon.co.uk
Gretchen Andrus - http://underscoreg.com/
John Kelly’s Residency
- http://griffingallery.co.uk/event/jonathan-kelly-residency-experience/
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| Ben Bridges wearing Google Glass |
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