What should we expect from the London art scene in 2011? Tom Jeffreys asks those best placed to know.
We always try to be as forward-looking as possible here at Spoonfed, so instead of the usual end of year round-ups and what-not we like to look ahead to what the capital has in store over the next twelve months. I say "instead of" but of course we've done lots of the lazy round-up type pieces too. And I say "we" but actually I prefer to ask other people what they think. It's more interesting that way, don't you think?
Mark McGowan
Artist
www.markmcgowan.org
Let's all face it, Art is on its Arse. There has been absolutely nothing great or surprising or even relevant in 2010. Some of the rubbish presented at Frieze, at the Turner Prize (Susan Philipsz is really not good) and through out the East London hotbed of art galleries has been appalling. The Ryan Gander effect is contagious and, mixed with the demise of older but certainly not wiser artists, it's gone, it's all gone; the galleries are on the floor.
In fact the gallery is now DEFUNCT. Really the gallery is finished, it has nothing left. The future is bright though; the STUDENTS ARE COMING.
For art to move forward in 2011 it has to politicise itself. For too long it has pandered to the rich and to commercialism. My prediction for 2011 is for the Slade Occupation, the Camberwell, Goldsmiths, RCA and all the other uprising students to take 2011 by storm, bringing with them their tutors and like-minded artists.
What we have is so precious. For too long people have been sleeping and revelling in some sort of coma-induced, "I am so cool, I am an artist", attitude – painting bloody trees, collaged magazines?? Watch for Politicized Art from the Students in 2011.
Crystal Bennes
Critic, curator, and director of SALON (LONDON)
waywardsentiment.blogspot.com
So, this is supposed to be a predictions piece, but instead of predicting, I’ll tell you what I wish would happen in the London art scene in 2011: that all those exhibitions with better press releases than art would actually make good on their PR promises; that the burgeoning art/food/design trend would give itself a kick in the ass so that cock-shaped cakes disappear and clever artists team up with talented foodie folk like Blanch and Shock instead; and that one of my favourite art blogs, Cathedral of Shit, would stage an exhibition. One can but dream.
Right. On to this business of telling you what to see. Two artists who have both had an excellent year are the darling of delicate little savages, Tessa Farmer, and the maîtresse of evocative photographs, Noemie Goudal. Tessa’s got a show of new work opening at Danielle Arnaud in May and you can catch Noemie’s work at Edel Assanti in January and at the new Victoria Cob gallery in February.
While I love London for its independent galleries, the 2011 shows I’m most looking forward to are both at major institutions. The Wellcome Collection’s brilliantly different curatorial approach – a mash up of art, science, and cultural theory – means that even the lowliest of subjects, dirt, as in the case of their next exhibition, captivates.
But given that I’m completely obsessed with Gordon Matta-Clark, the exhibition I’m most looking forward to is the one on Trisha Brown, Laurie Anderson, and Gordon Matta-Clark opening at the Barbican in March. As an added bonus, arty Birmingham foodies, Companis, are hosting an event in April. After trekking up to Birmingham a few months ago for their recreation of Matta-Clark’s infamous 1971 Bone Dinner, I’m sure it’ll be a doozy.
Victoria Browne
Founder of KALEID editions
www.kaleideditions.com
Spotted at this years Goldsmiths MA graduate show, Alex Milne's performance and video piece Ultra Safe Riot was one step ahead of the game. Winner of the Start Point Prize 2010, Alex Milne's slapstick alter ego is uncomfortable viewing. In this current unstable climate, a new generation's first taste of violent demonstrations may be a sign of things to come. What is the artist's role as political activist? Could John Latham's burning books still resonate with us today or has fear and cynicism finally led to a detachment from the state we're in?
Charles Thomson
Artist and Co-founder of The Stuckists
www.stuckism.com
The Turner Prize will need something even more farcical than someone singing a whiny song in an empty room. After sound, I suggest smell as the next big thing at the Tate. It shouldn’t be difficult, as the whole institution already stinks to high heaven.
There will be a major Stuckist show in April at Lauderdale House, Highgate, called The Enemies of Art, an epithet kindly coined by Guardian critic, Jonathan Jones, about the group.
Alex Danchev’s book, 100 Artists' Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists, published by Penguin Modern Classics in January 2011, will piss a lot of people off.
L.A. artist, Lori Precious will get wider acknowledgement for originating stained glass/kaleidoscopic images made from butterflies, and Damien Hirst’s imitations will continue to sink in auction value.
There will be further incisive critiques from Stuckist artist, Jasmine Maddock, who said Damien Hirst should have his arms cut off so he couldn’t copy any more people’s work.
Beverley Knowles
Art consultant, curator and writer
www.beverleyknowles.com
I've come to the conclusion that predictions take two forms. For a pessimist, predictions are what they hope won't, and therefore anticipate will, happen. An optimist's predictions are what they hope and therefore also anticipate will occur. I'm not going to tell you which one I am when I tell you that I 'predict' in 2011 we will continue to ride the wave of performance art that has crested these last couple of years. I further imagine that the auction houses and a tiny handful of ultra high-end dealers (Go-Go basically, and Iwan Wirth) will continue along their roads to world domination. Britannia Street and Bankside will increasingly appear to be morphing into one. And whilst all of that's going on I shall be keeping an eye on a few new favourites and possible stars of the future age – Pablo Wendel, Anna Barham, Ed Fornieles and gallery-wise Peres Projects and Carter Presents.
Justin Hammond
Curator, Publisher
I've just finished editing The Catlin Guide 2011 – a survey of new artists in the UK – and we'll launch it at Art Projects in January. Invariably, I'm asked to highlight current trends emerging from our art schools, but I won't be championing any spurious new movements because (thankfully) they don't exist. At least not in an organised sense. Having said that, such a comprehensive survey is bound to throw up a shared reference point or two and ironically – given my reluctance to invent some tenuous new agenda – next year's shows may well see a flurry of elaborate fiction, false narratives and dodgy back-stories. Basically, don't believe all you see in 2011.
On the subject of myths and of fables, I'm looking forward to working with Jacob Dahlstrup Jensen. His tattooed sailors and banana boats are a lot of fun. Next year he'll be documenting a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean as a deckhand aboard a ship. That's the kind of dedication I like to see. More pop-up shows on pirate ships, I say. Or desert islands.
Away from art, 2011 is shaping up to be a re-run of 1981; there's a royal wedding, widespread civil disobedience, lads in ski jumpers and The Specials on a UK tour. Therefore, I'm predicting a comeback for pixie boots, a narrow victory for Bucks Fizz in the Eurovision Song Contest and a cup final win for Spurs.
Cathy Lomax
Transition Gallery
www.transitiongallery.co.uk
Generally artists are going to be moving towards work which has more relevance to the world around them – there will be less of the clever joke irony and more engagement. The current politics and art students' re-engagemnet with actual events is exciting for an art world that has been safe and stymied for quite a while now.
I am particularly looking forward to Annabel Dover's solo show, National Velvet, at Transition in January – she is drawing on her own personal history and historic events, and her small-scale paintings are beautiful and poignant.
I think that there will be a continuing Northern European influence on art – there are exciting things going on in Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. That dark brooding menace will influence everything.
Laura Oldfield Ford
Artist
www.arnolfini.org.uk
I think 2011 will see a proliferation of radical collectives in the wake of savage cuts and increasing social upheaval. Already many artists and writers are forming collectives in the college occupations. I think this might have an impact on the way young artists show their work, reconsider who their intended audience might be and what function art might have in a wider political context. I think the X Factor days are over in the art world after the double dose of reality TV embarrassment in 2010 with the BBC4 Goldsmiths documentary and the atrocious Saatchi show. One collective who have excited me recently is Null and Void – they've been doing some interesting street interventions as well as staging strong group shows.
I think performance art will continue to be strong in 2011 as artists shun the commercial gallery circuit and move into occupied buildings and onto the streets. The work of video and performance artist Alexis Milne is harnessing the zeitgeist.
[Editor's note: back issues of Laura's wicked magazine, Savage Messiah, are being published by Verso in Autumn 2011]
Alex Chappel, David C West, Larry McGinity
Decima Gallery
www.decimagallery.com
2011 will be characterised by boundary-breaking, both literal and conceptual, in the face of adversity. As more artist-run East End galleries and strip clubs close to make way for the estate agents’ feasting fest in preparation for the Olympics, and as people get more skint, London srt will continue to do what it does best and rise out of the ashes. Spaces are getting ever more quirky and multi-purpose, with events being held in garden sheds (Model Gardeners, Stoke Newington), pub toilets (The George & Dragon, Hackney Road), dry cleaners (Unit 24 Gallery, Bankside), and market stalls (Netil Market / Spitalfields Market) so we're sure to see London curators pushing the envelope further. We'll be seeing art shows in saunas, strip bars, health clubs, WI meetings, bus stops and maybe even trees.
On the higher end, a new museum trend will be to place Renaissance / Baroque art in minimal white wall settings – smaller the picture bigger the wall – and anything minimal from Malevich onwards in Victorian clutter – and clutter will be making its own comeback. Listen out for increasingly violent juxtapositions of modern/ancient music with ancient/modern art in gallery shows.
Also, artists themselves are becoming more multi-purpose and media-conscious. Video artist Quilla Constance is one to look out for. Having recently released an album, she’s on the up-and-up with her recent brand of mental electro-punk performances making Lady Gaga look like Paul McCartney, while dubstep punk band Nova loved by the art world and squat world alike, will tread the much-feared boards of fame. Art musician Eve La Lune will also see more exposure.
Gideon Cube Sherman could be making a comeback when he opens his School of Art on Fournier Street, and street art gets even more chic with the wonderful train-window-scratchy art of Jackie Clark. In photography, Stephen Gill’s Nobody Books will become a best-seller.
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