Wednesday, March 13, 2013

East end Promise 1985-2000 A Story of Cultural Migrants'




Untitled Contribution to 'East end Promise 1985-2000 A Story of Cultural Migrants', 
edited by Ernesto Leal and Paul Sakoilsky
Our History, London, 2010 

Attempted (defective and incomplete) chronology and critique of at least some art (and other) developments in and around the East-London area during the cold-war and afterwards. 

Also published and available as outsize poster-print.

1967: David Medalla & Co’s “Exploding Galaxy”, commune and performance
collective in Balls Pond Road. Studio co-ops and complexes, early
1970’s onwards Beck Road (ACME, SPACE, but not A.I.R?) studios with
live-in houses. Most notaby: Genesis P’ Orridge and Co’s COMTransmissions / Throbbing Gristle / Industrial Records/ Psychick T.V/
Theee Temple ov Theee Psychick Youth; Helen Chadwick (R.I.P.); MickeyCuddihy etc. Since early 1970’s and even before that….Docklands scene
(Andrew Logan + Alternative Miss World, Zandra Rhodes, Derick Jarman,
events, parties). 1979 onwards Robin Klassnik & Co’s Matt’s Gallery
(at 10 Martello Street, also Throbbing Gristle “Death Factory”/
Industrial Studios).. Showroom (Bonner Road, mid 80’s). 
Another noteworthy presence = Gilbert & George (Art for All), based and active
in Fournier Street, exclusively using the local visual vocabulary to
embody their concerns (since late 60’s-early 70’s, then onwards).
Anne Bean, Paul Burwell, Marty Saint James and Richard Wilson etc’s
Bow Gamelan Ensemble (in memory of Stephen Cripps “pyromechanics”).
Anthony Reynolds Gallery 1st opened in Cowper Street mid 1980’s. 
Kay Roberts (New Exhibitions of Contemporary Art listings) Actualities
project space in Narrow Street, Docklands (later where Simon Cutts,
Erica Van Horn & Co’s workfortheeyetodo / Coracle Press were based
when they returned to London). 
Others include… 
Early Chisenhale. 
Maureen Paley / Interim art in Beck Road. 
Flowers East (originally near Richmond Road Squats). 
By the early 90’s, the recession then recovery halted or just slowed down gentrification and property
development. 
Many properties/ premises/ land/ buildings still belonging to the same families and companies as in much earlier
(colonial / industrial) times. 
New money / companies / enterprise /vested interests / purpose serving. 
Corporation of London and other authorities. 
Joshua Crompston & Factual Nonsense. 
Dermot O’Brien and Co’s Curtain Road Arts. 
Mark Jones’ Bedsit to Loft installation and live performance program 
– from which evolved Simon Hedges, Paul Sakoilsky and Co’s Underwood Street Arts. 
Jonathan Hatt and Michael Croft’s Annexed mid 90’s. 
1996: LIFE / LIVE major survey of U.K. art curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Co, double volume book, including
entries by and about many U.K. independent organizations -8 of which
were invited to stage projects in Musee D’Arte Moderne De La Ville De
Paris (later toured to Portugal). Interestingly enough, around the
same time as being listed and appearing in LIFE / LIVE, many such
organizations ended (due to losing spaces, funding or members, moving
on, giving up etc). 1995: Chapman Bros, Nick Waplington and Co’s
studio in Brick Lane.

Lux Cinema in Hoxton Square (mid ‘90s- early millennium). 
Evolved out of merger with London Filmmakers Co-op (similar to London Musician’s
Co-op becoming South Bank Centre’s Meltdown Festival also set-ups like
Bookworks and Artangel etc), more recently since then LUX is now part
of British Film Institute. Lux = London Filmmaker’s co-op, merged
with London Electronic Arts. 
London Filmmaker’s Co-op came out of 1960’s counterculture around Better Books (bookshop, gallery,
meeting-place, event-space etc) scene in 1966. London electronic Arts
very much took over / consumed / replaced the to-some-extent
even-then-still-alternative London Filmmaker’s Co-op. 
Mark Ærial Waller’s Glow Boys screening night with live concert by Mark E. Smith
of The Fall was listed in the free newspapers and those involved made
the effort to promote it -making it a relatively well-attended event
for Lux. 
Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas “Shop” in 1993. 
Factual Nonsense’s The Fete Worse Than Death and other events 1992-’96. 
As well as Factual Nonsense’s gallery shows, Joshua Crompton and co also
staged public festivities in the surrounding neighbourhood environs,
whereby invited young Brit Art stars and others sold editioned
multiples and also services. These became a meeting-point for various
groups and scenes in co-operation with mutual support from local
community and infrastructures. Memorable shows were 30 Underwood
Street Arts outdoing what U.K. institutions and museums dared not -by
showing the notorious veteran Viennese “Actionist”, Hermann Nitsch.
Bank’s abusive curation and placement of selected exhibitor’s work
(1994-98). Keith Farquar’s Gonzo show at the Old Fire Station in
Bethnal Green Road. Workfortheeyetodo showing Gustav Metzger after his
return to the U.K, then their memorable launch for Atlas (@las!)
press, ultimate version of Daniel Spoerri & Co’s Anecdoted Topography
of Chance collaborative and generative “Roman Nouveau” bookwork.

What is strenuous to believe now, is, despite the increasingly
computerised admin and digital graphic design, all promotion then was
still mostly or only done by print and post, therefore publicity was
another factor demanding advance-planning pre-event and ahead (as well
as production and cost). Circa 1995-’96 onwards, the beginning of
increased intensity, bringing both energy and action but also an
expanding burnout of potential. Intake and usage of alcohol and drugs
multiplying. Corporate and financial factor, as well as funding host
spaces and facilities…alcohol sponsorship! Anthony Fawcett… Becks/
Absolut/ Bombay Sapphire Gin/ J&B Scottish Whisky, mutual promotion of
artists and ventures -as well as alcohol brands. Back in the 1980’s
(before this critical era), the hitherto unknown German Becks beer
name was made when Becks sponsored U.K. public / institution/museum/
space, shows of new work by living artists.

Circa 1996-1997-1998. Negation of state funding (London Arts Board Etc)…..

Dilemma options: at least attempt becoming more commercial and / or
join the establishment and / or move on etc. More new blood and faces
“on the scene”. Brick Lane area. Alfred Camp / 97-99 projects in
Sclater Street using Anthony Howell’s former Holyrood old leather
market / performance space. Void nextdoor, later used by Decima (most
notably for their Daykin-Day, in honour of Mike Daykin, with
“Daykinisms”). Ambitious and enterprising - verging on desperation
and even ruthlessness. Anthony Wilkinson move eastwards. Stuart
Shave & Co’s Modern Art Inc opens in Redchurch Street (1998). 
1st phase of Man (nee: Joost) Somerlink and Co’s Fordham. 
Sheila Lawson’s Platform, Wilkes Street. 
Chapman Fine Arts, Fashion Street.
Occasional shows of connections and artstars (David Falconer, The
Chapman Brothers themselves, Thomas Grunfeld, Bank etc). 
Jamie Robinson’s space in Brick Lane. 
Harold Werner Rubin’s Rivington Gallery, at a remove from the immediate “scene”. 
Arrival of Prince’s Trust into Charlotte Road, 1999. 
White Cube move into (and becoming?!) Hoxton Square after six years in Duke Street. 
1996: The Commercial Gallery (Keith Ball & Co.) Spitalfields. 
Root project with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and guest contributors, David
Goldenburg’s Martin group shows. 
1999: advent of…The Foundry! Trendy shops, like Sho! In Curtain Road, selling Cuban posters and Clockwork
Orange memorabilia. 
Michael Landy’s At Home show in his and Gillean Wearing’s Fashion Street loft, of preparatory material and other works
toward what later became Landy’s Breakdown Artangel commission
(cataloguing, then mechanised destruction of all Landy’s possessions).
Increased tourism (as well as Jack the Ripper Walks!). Free-Range
regional art and design college and department, graduation shows in
Brick Lane (around Truman Brewery etc). Bodyworld, preserved human
anatomy, street exhibition by Herr Doktor Gunther Von Hagens.

2000-2001-2002. Street art, Banksy and Co. Dragon Bar (1998
onwards). Banksy, Faile, Bast, Nok, Eine, Stella Vine, Santa’s Ghetto
Xmas. 2002 Dragon Bar. Gary O’ Dwyer & Pierre Coinde’s Centre of
Attention. 2001: Richard Priestley and Milika Miritu, ¢ell Projects.
2000: The Stuckists (Billy Childish et all) at Jo Compton’s furniture
and design shop in Leonard Steet and Viner Street. Much later / more
recently (with advance-footprint of the 2012 London Olympics) Hackney
Wick(ed), Time Out® 1st Thursday of the Month, Shoreditch Ball, Ashwin
Street Studios.

©, Copyright, Douglas Park, 2010


activity that took place in London’s East End between 1985 and 2000 – is set to be one of the cultural events of the year. By exhibiting a large collection of representative artworks selected by the artists themselves, together with a mass of archive material (video, photography, audio), and a number of specially-commissioned new pieces, East End Promise will attempt to provide the first complete picture of one of the most significant movements of the late twentieth-century British cultural scene.
The show charts the activities of the ‘cultural migrants’ who came to the East End from all over the UK and abroad, moving into derelict spaces and filling the vacuum left by previous migrants. Unlike preceding post-war youth and cultural movements, which had mainly been based on consumption, these individuals – from a range of social and economic backgrounds – took advantage of the cheap rents to create a culture based on ideas and the processes involved in bringing them to fruition.
To reflect the vibrancy and immediacy of the DIY ethos of the time and place East End Promise celebrates, an accompanying catalogue will be compiled and sent to press in the first week of the exhibition, and launched on the last Thursday.
Artworks: BANK art group (‘VIPER/BANK TV’ from the 1996 video show of 130 artists); Gavin Turk (‘tip’ – bronze painted sculpture of bin bag – and early works and archive reworked specifically for the show); Darren Coffield (artwork and personal ‘Factual Nonsense’ archive); Anthony Oliver with Andrew Herman (‘Dogs Must Be Carried’, 35 mm slide installation of over 300 portraits, at 30 Underwood St Gallery, 1996); Adam Dant (‘The Donald Parsnips News Stand’, 1997); Stewart Home (‘Red London Video Promo’); Swifty (Large scale Installation from the famous designer); Simon Bill; Cedric Christie; Sean Dawson; Cathy de Monchaux; Lucy Wood; Geraldine Swayne (‘East End’ – the first ever Super 8 to Imax film – a documentary short about Spitalfields, past and present, including Nick Cave, Ian Sinclair, Gallon Drunk, Nick Cave, Bill Drummond, among others); and many more.
Photographs, Video & Archive: Bonnie Venture (the ultimate shoreditch portraits or 90’s and Liam Duke, unseen documentary photos of East London Strip bars from the early 90’s); Giles Moberly; Diego Ferrari’s panoramas; Dafyyd Jones; photographic archive of important East End show throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s of Peter Lewis (Artist/Curator and editor of /seconds journal); Chris Shaw (never before shown Shoreditch Portraits 1996/7, from the photographer behind, ‘My Life as a Night Porter’); Normski (Photographs of the legendary Metalheadz Sunday Session Club Nights at the Blue Note from back in the day, Bjork and Giles Deacon on the dancefloor, etc), and more.
Archive Material: Containing photos and video of just about EVERYONE – the great, the good, the beautiful, the bad and the ugly – from the East End art and cultural scene 1985-2000. Including Tracy Emin, Gilbert and George, Bob and Roberta Smith, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Damien Hirst, Angus Fairhurst, Commercial Gallery, Matt Collishaw, Jarvis Cocker, Fee Doran aka Mrs Jones, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Carl Friedman, Sarah Lucas, Nitsch show at 30 Underwood St Gallery in 1997, Max Wigram, Gary Hume, Rachel Whiteread, Maureen Paley, and more.
artists and contributors included: Chris Allen • Arthrob/Tomato* • Atlas Press • Howie B • Tim Bailey • Keith Ball • BANK • Paul Barkshire • Bass Clef/Blue Note* • Simon Bill • Andreas Bleckmann • Andrew Capstick • Darren Coffield • Joshua Compston/Factual Nonsense* • Commercial Gallery* • Commerical Too* • Michael Yee-Chong • Cedric Christie • Adam Dant • Sean Dawson • Lucy Day • Decima Gallery* • Dragon Bar* • The Ditch Magazine* • Liam Duke • Alison Dunn • Don Eales • Ben Eine • Everything Magazine* • Gordan Faulds • Diego Ferrari • Five Years Gallery* • Grant Fleming • Roslyn Gaunt • Matthew Glamorre* • Alexander Guy • C.A. Halpin • Mark Hammond • Falk Hindes •Stewart Home • Marc Hulson • The Indo •Dick Jewell • Daffyd Jones • Mark Jones • Fee Doran aka Mrs Jones • Peter Lewis •Lo Recordings* • James Lynch* • Kate Kotcheff  • Marco • Phil Maxwell & Hazuan Hashim• Steve Micalef • Jamie McDonald • Sean McLusky & Martin Tickner* • Giles Moberly •Matt Mitchell • Yuki Miyake • MTJ* •  Mute Magazine* • Hermann Nitsch • Normski • Anthony Oliver • Jamie Robinson • Imogen O’Rorke • Pav • Esther Planas • Danny Pockets • Brendan Quick • Kirsten Reynolds •  Jason Royce • Paul Sakoilsky • Chris Shaw • Swifty • Geraldine Swayne • Duncan Telford • Suzanne Treister •Chris Tupper • Gavin Turk • 30 Underwood St Gallery* • Nick Waplington • Simon Wheatley • Winston Whitter • Lucy Wood • Bonnie Venture • Mole Vessey •  Wai Hung Young • PYMCA/Sleaze Nation* •
Publications: Atlas Press; The Ditch Magazine; 30 Underwood St; Lo Recordings; Straight No Chaser; PMYCA/Sleaze Nation; Mute Magazine; Everything Magazine; and more.
http://www.redgallerylondon.com/content/east-end-promise-story-cultural-migrants

youtube exhibtion viral: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioqbPK0mfGE

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