Shoreditch Heart Galleries

By Marika Mathieu
May 28th, 2007

This one's for the politically minded among you. Since its opening in 2001, Trolley Books has been publishing a wide range of photography and art books focusing unflinchingly on hard-hitting and gruelling subjects.

Envisioned by Gigi Giannuzzi, Trolley, as well as being a publisher and outlet, also holds art and photography exhibitions having already held thirty to date. One of the latest of these is an exhibition of photographs donated by Patti Smith in order to raise awareness and money for the release of a forthcoming book that deals with the 2006 war in Lebanon and features photographs by Magnum, photographer Paolo Pellegrin. Entitled, ‘Sur les Traces’.

Trolley fits snugly into the vibrant, bohemian and youthful atmosphere of Shoreditch, Gigi himself saying that he, “likes a bit of roughness, of rawness and the fact that our work is seen and appreciated by a younger public.”

Trolley
73A, Redchurch St,
London E2 7DJ

The rock combination of NoMoreGrey:

At home in a converted factory, ‘NoMoreGrey’ is an amalgamation of art work and furniture design, which opened in March 2006 led by the up and coming 29 year old Luke Carson.

On the art side, ‘NoMoreGrey’ is project led, hosting regular art shows by established as well as emerging artists and curators. Encapsulating ‘NoMoreGrey’s’ free and culturally aware approach to art, the exhibition is featuring artists such as, Natasha Newton, Edward Ward, Harry Pye, n Rowland Smith and Peter Davies.

Besides being a gallery ‘NoMoreGrey’ serves as a space and outlet for the owner, Luke Carson’s own individual furniture designed using industrial lightweight material. Coming from a surprising background of finance and medicine Luke Carson is enthusiastic about the prospects not just of his gallery but of the area in general, describing the area as similar to, “Camden Town twenty or even ten years ago, it’s a place where things are beginning to happen.”

Reflecting Carson enthusiasm is his current efforts to bring together the art galleries within the area in order to communicate to a broader public in the hope of raising the profile of Redchurch Street and the Shoreditch area in general.

As one of the most recent galleries to grace the area it is also one of the most dynamic and ambitious leaving in the words of Luke Carson only one trajectory possible, "Onwards and Upwards”.

NoMoreGrey
23-25 Redchurch St,
London E2 7DJ
www.nomoregrey.co.uk

Studio 1-1: A matter of taste

Previously a sex-aid shop run by an amateur artist, Studio 1.1’s transformation to an art gallery was largely accidental, starting out as a rent-saving initiative.

Since then Studio 1.1 has come to characterise the free artistic and individual approach to art which makes art galleries in and around the Shoreditch area so exciting.

Run by three artists, the space display’s work that speaks personally rather than commercially to the owners. In the three years they have been open the gallery has so far displayed art, photography and installations including the acclaimed artist Phyllida Barlow who exhibited the installation labelled, “untitled: Demo”.

As a consequence of their individual approach it is impossible to sum up the diverse spectrum of art that is displayed in the gallery beyond the common factor of genuine appreciation and love held on the part of the owners for the art on display.

Studio 1.1
57a Redchurch St,
London E2 7DJ
www.studio1-1.co.uk

The "EYE" of the Rivington Gallery:

Rivington Gallery is worth a visit if only for its director Harold Werner Rubin. Rubin is a veritable behemoth in the art world, having amassed in the 60 years he has been in the business an encyclopaedic knowledge of art and artists matched only by the forthright and candid nature of his views and opinions.

Having first established himself in New York during the 1960s Rubin set himself up in East London some ten years ago and since then has concentrated upon championing what he describes as ‘thought imagery’, that is art which is built from serious work and thinking and executed with real visual awareness and craftsmanship whatever the medium.

Regarded by some artists as the ‘Eye’, Rubin has dedicated himself to the visual world and becomes incensed by what he sees as the trivialisation of nearly all things in modern society which for him reflects a reluctance to think on the part of many people. Despite this Rubin says painting is making a comeback triggered by major exhibitions of great artists such as Holbein and Velasquez.

Rubin is not without his opinions, regarding conceptual art, video art and installations as, “boring- done to death” explaining that, “this kind of art has been going for twenty years and there was not much to say of it then and nothing to say now”. The galleries choice of exhibition and work reflects therefore Rubin’s tastes, featuring the first British exhibition of Antoine de Bary who has produced paintings, collages and constructions which are politically aware and appear at once to be both abstract and drawn from nature.

Rivington Gallery
69 Rivington Street
London EC2A 3AY

The Contemporary Art Project: Here and Now

‘Contemporary Art Projects’ remains faithful to its name focusing on displaying and exhibiting exclusively contemporary artwork by a large pool of artists.

Leanne Barber who established the space some three and a half years ago, has great passion and energy for the contemporary art world explaining her dedication to it, “because it’s current and is being taught in art colleges at the moment. It’s the art that is being developed now right here in London and we are in the centre which makes the movement so exciting”.

Far from being the representative of a specific group of contemporary artists the gallery serves as a conduit for a horde of artists which caught Leanne Barber’s eye, numbering between 100 to 150.

As well as the gallery, Leanne is also aiming to tie together the local galleries and raise the area’s profile having already organised weekly East London Art Walks on Saturday’s and Sunday’s providing the public with an informed guide of the most exciting exhibitions in the area as well as talking about the history of art in East London.