Tag Archives: BSMT Space

My side of the Fragile show last week…

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SEAN WORRALL – Fragile at BSMT Space gallery, Feb 2016

Fragile opened this time last week, a group show and a gathering of 16 proactive artists, Cultivated in a basement gallery over in London N16. A short sharp shock of a Cultivate show, it was “eventful” pulling it all together, I’ll write about the process over on the Cultivate blog in a day or so, there are some words and images up there already, this website is more about my own art rather than my curating and artist-herding and the putting on of shows. There’s photos of the work of all the artists along with images from the busy opeing and some words and thoughts from me over on the Organ pages (where music, art and underculture is written about on a daily basis).

Here then are some images of my work on the walls of BSMT Space gallery as part as the Cutlivate curated gtoup show Fragile, it happened at the start of February, one wall full of the paiinting a day pieces and a couple of other larger pieces in there alongside the work of ther artists we selected for the latest Cultivate show

Click on am image ot enlarge or to run the fracture slide show….

 

And Then There Were Three… The 18th piece painted…

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And then there were three… Fresh growth, new leaves. Three fresh pieces, three canvas pieces painted in the cold fresh air of January in Hackney. Each canvas 15cm x 15cm, acrylic, brushwork, spray paint and Herb Robert .

The ongoing notion of a painting brought to a finished state every day of the year during 2017 went on today with “Two Leaves, Thorny Ones” and some fresh leaf growth on a small square canvas. Acrylic, spray paint, brush work, gold paint, glitter paint, varnish on canvas 15cm x 15cm x 1cm. The 18th painting of 2017.

18/365 “Two leaves, Thorny Ones” – The notion of a painting brought to a finished state every day of the year during 2017. Fresh leaf growth on a small square canvas. Acrylic, spray paint, brush work, marker pen, gold paint, varnish on canvas 15cm x 15cm x 1cm. The 18th painting of 2017.

The most recent, the 18th of the year on the 18th day of the year, “Two Leaves, Thorny Ones”, an affordable piece of art brought to a finished state and added to the Cultivate on-line shop  every day of the year, will this go on?

 

 

Meanwhile, the third in a series of Cultivate shows at BSMT Space comes up on February 9th.

“Another gathering of pro-active artists and another maximalist exercise in cross-pollination. A room alive with contemporary painters, so-called street artists, performers, print makers and more…. Watch this space…. Opening on Thursday evening and then a short sharp shock of a show through the weekend and closing on Sunday, no messing about, just artists, walls, people and….

Once more this is about taking art and artists out of those comfortable little boxes that the London art scene appears to need, mixing things up, messing with the rules, nothing fragile –

Last time Emma Harvey and Sean Worrall invited a wallpaper printer (currently hanging in the V&A), alongside a street artist currently painting East London walls, a London dress-maker currently raging against London Fashion week, a contemporary painter currently exploring the view found through a circle, a performance artist freshly returned from her LA performance next to a pro-active artist still questioning the destruction of the mining communities, this time…. well we’re working on it… ”

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Another leaf growing through the gold…..

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Gold? Leaves? Fragile? A majestic swan, looking all calm but under the surface feet are kicking and things are happening, shows coming together and plans and…. no Christmas sales here, it is the season to keep a low profile while all around the desperate need to sell sell sell. Most invites to take part in events are being politely turned down until the new year, although outside walls are being put to good use and old nails where things can be hung are being put to good use.  Gold is a show invite I have accepted, mainly because the gallery asked for a particular couple of recent pieces that haven’t been shown yet and I do rather like the gallery and the shows they put on in that space.  Gold happens at BSMT Space, 5d Stoke Newington Road, Dalston, London, N16 8BH. The group show opens on December 15th and runs until the 18th.

A Leaf, East London, November 2016

A Leaf, East London, November 2016

The leaf in the (found) gold frame is another thorny one, 110cm x 75cm, the leaf is now behind glass, it is a leaf in my mind, others see other things, no one is right or wrong. This Autumn has been about leaves, most of the rather productive year has been…

So, Debased happened, a beautifully intense show….

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sw_biggoldleaf4Well that was a beautifully intense four or five days. Emma Harvey and I have been doing this Cultivate gallery thing for over five years now, we put on over 150 shows, evens and such, we’ve shown the art of well over a thousand artists, it has been almost defiant, it has been exciting, the art of sharing,  making things happen, taking over spaces and bring them to live. Last weekend we put on a Cultivate group show called Debased over at BSMT Space in Dalston, London N16.  There’s a great big article over on the Organ pages, a review packed with thought, word, image and to some extent frustration. I thought it was a very special show, intense, emotional, rewarding, very hard work…. Anyway, please do read about it and explore it all over on the Organ pages. There’s some images of the work I showed further down the page here, the art of the other artists we invited and the performances of Amy Kingsmill and Marnie Scarlet are over on the Organ pages along with the trumpet blowing and… and well thank you everyone, thanks to all who came, all who took part and all who followed the events on line and such. .

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Click on an image to enlarge or to run the slide show…

head over to the Organ page for the art of the others involved

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A gathering of some recent growth, fresh pieces, new layers, leaves, thorns, things growing…

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debased_sept2016A gathering of some recent growth, fresh pieces, new layers, leaves, thorns, things growing in found frames, some recent art drops, and such …

And so, next Thursday 22nd September, the Cultivate long weekend takeover over at BSMT Space (Dalston, London N16) starts, a show once again curated by myself and Emma Harvey, more mixing up of things

.  “This is about taking art and artists out of those comfortable little boxes that the London art scene appears to need, mixing things up, messing with the rules – a wallpaper printer (currently hanging in the V&A), alongside a street artist currently painting East London walls, a London dress-maker currently raging against London Fashion week, a contemporary painter currently exploring the view found through a circle, a performance artist freshly returned from her LA performance next to a pro-active artist still questioning the destruction of the mining communities”…Expect lots more information about the artists and the show to appear over on the Cultivate blog pages in the next few days as we lead in to the show

Click on an image to enlarge or run the slide show….

Debaser, debased and thorny in a Dalston basement…

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Debaser then, another art show from us here at Cultivate, this time in a basement over in Dalston, edges of Hackney, over in London N16.  A group show featuring seventeen artists and a whole load of cross-pollinating art on the walls of BSMT Space gallery for a short sharp four-day Easter weekend.  There’s some words up on the Organ pages and coverage of the other artists; ORGAN THING: Debaser, trumpet blowing at an art show in a Dalston basement…

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Putting together a group show can be a thankless task at times, hours and hours of organising artists and their art can be a little bit trying at times, still, all just about worthwhile when people come and explore the art, big big thank to everyone who did, I think Emma and I enjoyed it, we enjoyed sharing the walls and bringing you art from other artists, a coming together and a cross-pollination of styles and ways of doing things. “I can’t work out if you’re a street artist or a proper artist” said one inquiring mind, well I always thought street art was proper art and I don’t really need a pigeonhole do I? I’m a gardener, I garden in galleries and on the streets, just an artist (and a reluctant curator) doing what I do, no need to put an more of a label on it than that.

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Big thanks to all who made the effort to come among, always appreciated, bit thanks to the other artists who accepted our invitation to take part and yes, big thanks to those who bought art, always good to sell a piece of art and have some money to go buy more paint and plant some more thorn-sprouting seeds. here’s a few shots from the show, the art of the others artists can be found on the Organ pages.

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Debaser show @BSMT Space, March 2016

Most of the canvas pieces were on sale at £43, Debaser was hung on the 86th day of the year, 43 days on from the #43 show, most of them have sold now. 43 pieces were also painted at the gallery during the show, 43 small pieces on recycled wood, all the pieces were on sale at £5 during the show  Of course it goes without saying that all the work is on sale (well quite a few of the pieces sold over the weekend), you’ll find quite a few paintings via the Cultivate on-line shop and if you don’t see the piece you are interested please do ask.

Sometimes They Have Thorns, fresh growth, busy with a bit of gardening…

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Sometimes They Have Thorns, fresh growth, busy with a bit of gardening at the moment, preparing growth that might be for the Debaser show at BSMT Space over in Dalston in a couple of weeks …. ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎thorns‬ ‪#‎leaves‬ ‪#‎gardening‬ (should we be using tags everywhere now, still getting up to speed with this instagram thing on top of everything else).  The thorns series is growing,. sometimes they don’t have thorns…. .

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On with the painting and the cultivating and everything else, although the Cultivating might take a back seat at some point soon. The Cultivate shop has been updated today by the way, trying to keep things reasonable although they can’t realistically stay at those prices at the shows and when galleries need to (reasonably enough, they have rent to pay, they need to live, no problem with galleries that are fair and reasonable) take their cut as well….

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"Sometimes They Have Thorn (part 24)". March 2016, acrylic on canvas, 50cm x 75cm

“Sometimes They Have Thorn (part 24)”. March 2016, acrylic on canvas, 50cm x 75cm