Three galleries in one? That's right. The massive Edel Assanti Project Space opened in Victoria last month. Tom Jeffreys finds out more.
I suppose it's a natural characteristic of cities that individual areas tend to develop their own distinct identities. In terms of the London art world, for example, there's the contemporary edginess of Vyner Street and surrounding Bethnal Green, lots of cool contemporary stuff on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, Hackney Wick's organic DIY approach, Deptford's big friendly art family, and the pin-striped commercialism of Cork Street and Mayfair.
The good thing with these identities is that visitors can have a vague idea what to expect. The bad news is that things can rather begin to atrophy. So it's always interesting when someone sets up a new gallery in a slightly unexpected place. And that's where the Edel Assanti Project Space comes in. Victoria may mostly be about a big train station, some mainstream theatres, and its proximity to Buckingham Palace, but not any more.
Officially opened on 10th February, Edel Assanti Project Space is bringing a slice of East End adventure to Victoria. Located in a massive old warehouse on Vauxhall Bridge Road about five minutes walk from Victoria Station, the Project Space is home to three distinct galleries – Edel Assanti, Jack Bell Gallery and T1+2 (the latter having relocated from just near Brick Lane).
Edel Assanti's Jeremy Epstein explains how these three galleries came to find themselves in Victoria. “Initially, under the name of Cellar Door Projects, Charlie Fellowes and I had staged a series of pop-up gallery initiatives in conjunction with Westminster Council and the borough’s major landowners. Grosvenor Securities, the owners of the building, then approached us with the idea of doing a similar project at 276 Vauxhall Bridge Road. They have been extremely supportive throughout the process and must be given serious credit for buying into the idea.”
And the space itself? “Our attraction to the building was instant,” Jeremy continues. “The location is central and accessible, but Victoria is an area that remains uncharacterised,with a lot of potential to develop and support a new artistic community in central London. The scale was also a factor: with six floors of over 500 square foot of usable space each, it's an exceptional blank canvas.”
Ann-Marie James, 'Trefoil' and 'Pareidolia', ball-point pen and oil on birch ply panel, 2010
The other two galleries also fell into place rather neatly, as Charlie explains: “Jack [Bell, of Jack Bell Gallery] and I have known each other for a number of years professionally. We'd always said we wanted to work together, so when this opportunity arose, we seized the chance. Although we've been big fans of T1+2 / Hive projects for some time, it's only in the last six months that we've got to know Lisa Samoto personally. Following our first few meetings, we set her the challenge of preparing her floor and moving the operation from the East End in a matter of days. She set about it as though it was the most ordinary thing in the world!
As you might expect, the atmosphere at Edel Assanti Project Space is all about collaboration. As Jeremy puts it: “At this stage in our careers, collaboration is key – we believe it's crucial to make the Edel Assanti Project Space’s outlook as all-encompassing as possible. The project’s fundamental goal is to establish a creative community atmosphere”. Jack agrees: “the vibe.” he says, “is charged and collaborative”.
Despite the admirable spirit of collectivity, these are very much three distinct galleries, with their own identities and directions. T1+2/Hive Projects has been operating under various guises since 2003 and only recently moved out of their space on Cheshire Street. Their exhibitions tend to be at the conceptually inquisitive end of the spectrum. Jack Bell meanwhile is interested in post-colonial ideas around global travel. “I'm young,” he explains. “I want to engage the periphery and venture farther afield, with a focus on the social and political. I'm interested in the creative friction produced by post-colonialism where points of such difference result in incredible hybrid cultures. I also like the idea of transition, when art and culture cross from one context to another.” Forthcoming exhibitions at Jack Bell Gallery include work from Papua New Guinea, Haiti, Soweto and Pakistan.
Edel Assanti look to put on work that expresses an interesting idea or concept through an engagement with both technique and art history. “We love work where evidence of the artist’s hand is apparent,” Jeremy explains, “and where an awareness and understanding of art history is demonstrated.” Charlie continues: “an in-depth knowledge of art history pre-1900 – especially amongst emergent artists – is something that I feel has often been neglected. And that's a real shame.”
This Thursday 25th March sees three rather different new exhibitions open simultaneously. T1+2 is hosting abstract expressionist painting by Macha Poynder, whilst Jack Bell Gallery has an exhibition of photography that challenges stereotypical attitudes towards Papua New Guinea, and Edel Assanti is showing work by Ann-Marie James, whose ball-point pen and oil paintings on birch panels somehow combine an elegant romanticism with something a little more sinister.
Edel Assanti Project Space is at 276 Vauxhall Bridge Road.
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