rrrrrr. whoosh whoosh, whirr. hm
frontal is in for his last couple days painting, rather airbrushing. he’s sequestered behind and between long plastic sheets that look more like thinnest coated muslin. backlit blue neon. the effect is reminiscent of chinese shadow theatre. add to that the weirdy sounds of the airbrush machine. and a penchant for stockhausen-say-anthony and the johnsons…. every now and then laughter, a sigh, whistle, hum. the artist at work, painting. making theatre. airbrush samurai.
saturday is frontal’s last day. please join us from 12-5pm for a viewing of the completed work, and sale of framed and non-framed originals and prints.
verity keefe: premiere of ‘rooms with a view’, 28.01.09 lintons estate, barking
best of luck verity and look forward to having you on site here soon.
verity begins her residency on 2nd february and will be at the gift shop until february 14th.
every light casts a shadow
for a large part of my life i grew up thinking there was only one way to look at things: mine. i learnt (thankfully but often painfully) that this m.o. was far from being either the truth nor complete. i am reminded of this as i greet the body of work currently in the gift shop by frontal in the morning and then again at night. in the morning, the pieces are so light and radiant; almost neon. however under the weight of the evening, they take on a more intense look and feel. it’s almost smothering and i find myself attracted to the densely packed section of each piece. i like wading there. and so with that thought, i want to share two takes on frontal’s work – one by day, one by night. he’s currently in residence through to the end of the month so if you get the chance to stop by the gift shop and see him and his work, please do so.
second generation bunting
17th january 2009. just as the fairhead brothers sat sketching we had our first gift exchange. ‘whitechapel beautiful’ was the first gift to leave the shop.
shalini, a good friend of the gift shop, exchanged her bunting for the original gift (a representation of whitechapel made from doodled letters) in the letters line of the 5 gifts… “This is second generation bunting - the original was made (by me) for our wedding. It introduced something indian into the very british countryside wedding and it matched both our flowers and the colourful saris that my Indian aunts were wearing”. the bunting is the perfect gift to exchange for ‘whitechapel beautiful’. i love that in this very eastern bit of london we have a bit of very english country. in shalini’s words: “it represents me, an asian woman living in a multicultural english city: it’s indian but also very ‘village green’ and therefore quintessentially english.”
now. i know quite a few of you have said you have an idea for the gift exchange…. well, the first gift has gone, so it’s time to get going (especially if you have your eye on one of the original 5!)
the hidden hospital comes home
as of tomorrow, wednesday 21st january, another chance to see victoria nightingale’s photographic portrait series ‘the hidden hospital‘, now at the hospital.
the royal london hospital, main corridor, just past reception. 24/7. congratulations victoria and claire.
nobody panic, everything’s all white
it’s monday morning. 00:45 to be exact. and as you can see, the next show at the gift shop is about to begin.
here. we. go…
“if you liked it then you should’ve put a ring on it”
it’s an hour before closing and people have been coming in to say adios to the world created by richard and chris fairhead. the body of work consisting of 40 pieces (41 including the wall) has broken out in purple dots since it was created as people seek to take a piece of ‘god’s sketchbook’ home with them.
having the fairheads in house has been an absolute delight. the sense of lightness you get from being around them and their work is infectious. it’s been great witnessing people’s faces as they come in from the wind tunnel that is east mount street and break into smile. being next to the hospital, the space is serving as a bit of a respite for those visiting loved ones.
as for chris and richard, we wish them continued success as we do to all the people to date we’ve been honoured to collaborate with. keep an eye out for them.
last chance to see god’s sketchbook
saturday 17th january, 12-5pm.
unframed prints and cards will be on sale, alongside framed prints and originals (but the wall stays).
just as i suspected
i was also on close up duty today in the gallery (call me multi-talented. mmhmm). as everyone left the place took on a different look and feel, and as darkness settled in there unfolded a whole different story:
