MARCH 4th – PRESS RELEASE:: SPRING OPENS THIS FIRST THURSDAY at CULTIVATE (but not officially)

SPRING at CULTIVATE, VYNER STREET – A GROUP SHOW

Following on from the  rather successful Yeastie Girls show, Ten, and our latest Free Art Friday event,  SPRING is the name of our latest group show at Cultivate, Vyner Street. Spring is a simply-named, deliberately vague, title of our latest open-call group show.  As we feel the warmer days and fresh green of new shoots, we hope Spring will be a forward-looking painterly celebration, an anticipation of things to come, of the longer days and the greenness around the corner, of the new year finally coming to life…

Once again, in line with the open-door, open-gallery policy, on our very visible corner right in the middle of Vyner Street (no hiding behind great big unwelcoming unsigned always-closed black doors for us, we rather like the public to come in, we like to engage with people, to welcome, to include…), Once again, in line with the gallery policy, Spring is an open call group show for the first Thursday of March as well as the two weeks that follow….

We open on First Thursday evening, March 7^th and run through until 19th March.(usual gallery opening times)

Once again the title of the show was left deliberately vague and open to the interpretation and imagination of the artists invited to submit work.   We were thinking the fresh shoots of spring, lush painted canvas, greenness, ripeness, freshness, leaves, buds, flowers, life, green green green, fresh fresh, new threads, throbs.  The invite was thrown out to everyone, and once again we waited to see what the responding artists would submit – Cultivate is all about getting involved. We went through lots of submissions, debated the work and the artists, made our careful selections, and the result is, sixteen (mostly) London-based artists (from all over the world)m will share our space….

THE SPRING ARTISTS…

CAIT SWEENEY, DAVID DAVIES, ERNESTO ROMANO, HERVE CONSTANT, JANE WEBB, JESSICA BALLANTYNE, JULIA MADDISON, KAVITA SAGAR, MALINA BUSCH, MARGOT DAVIS SAPPERN, NADJA GABRIELA PLEIN, TRACEY MOBERLY, YUKI OTAKE, ZOE CROSSE, as well as gallery curators SEAN WORRALL and EMMA HARVEY…

We’re excited by the fresh mix of contributors we have, some artists will be familiar to Cultivate regulars, some are new to us and maybe you as well? We’re excited, we can’t wait to hang the show and open our doors, to welcome the new artists, our old friends, and the fresh art that hopefully excites you as much as us. Spring does excite us, First Thursdays excite us, new shows and opening our doors excite us, simple things like daffodils excite  us….

So SPRING opens this week, everyone is invited, we open at 6pm on Thursday March 7^th, we’re officially open until 9pm that evening (I expect we’ll be open much later, we always are on First Thursday s) Isn’t all about the opening evening though, the show runs for two weeks (before we change the art and open the next show – we don’t close, we haven’t for the almost eighteen months, and 50 odd shows, that we’ve been in the street  – Surely art galleries should not be exclusive elite places only available to the few? Surely one or two should be actually  open, buzzing, engaging places, doors open to everyone? SPRING opens this Thursday, No need to RSVP or get on a list , just turn up so what we have, see what the always rewarding Hada Contemporary have over the road, what Wilkinson have, or what Wayward and the rest have, always lots to explore down the ever evolving street  (bring your own drink, we’re artists, not gallery people here at Cultivate, we can’t afford to dish out free drink – bring daffodils, bring yourselves, bring your friends, go grab a free beer from the big gallery down the road, then come see us). Come say  hello, we’re right in the middle of the street, door wide open, lights on, right over the road from the Victory pub – surely you know where we are by now?. You don’t need lists and maps and official guide so you?

Sean (Cultivate, Vyner Street),

Please note: Although we are right in the middle of what is still one of the busiest art streets in East London, and we are one of the most visual gallery spaces right in the middle of the rather unique, rather special, East London street – a street that currently boasts a dozen or more galleries,  not to mention a couple of new ones opening later this month.  Although this will be our 19^th very busy First Thursday event in a row at Cultivate (no other gallery in the street can claim to have been open nineteen months is a row without a break – open and supporting the Time Out Whitechapel gallery- organised event that is First Thursday – open and happily acting as some kind unofficial info-point for the rest of the street, the hidden galleries that don’t look open when they are. Please note that, although we’ve been constantly there, consistently welcoming and engaging with people, there every single month for nineteen months, constantly there, with what we believe have been rather decent, exciting, evolving shows. Please note that, even though this is our nineteenth none-stop First Thursday in a row, please note, we are NOT part of the official Time Out First Thursday event,

You won’t find Cultivate included in the official  First Thursday event listings, you won’t find Cultivate mentioned on the official First Thursday website, on their mailing list, on the official on-line or printed event map or anything else officially associated with East London Tine Out Whitechapel gallery First Thursday (although they did use a photo of the crowds at Cultivate on the front of the official First Thursday website for over a year, guess they liked the image of the packed gallery and the crowds our front?)    We don’t know why we’re constantly excluded, we’ve politely asked the Whitechapel First Thursday people too many times now, I guess, whatever they may claim, real artist-run spaces don’t really fit in with their agenda, I guess it really is about marketing budgets and PR companies, I guess  that a (sometimes forthright) DIY attitude doesn’t really fit in with their cosy world of well behaved galleries that hardly ever open or hide behind closed doors?

Don’t ask us why we’re never part of the official First Thursday event publicity, the listings, the maps, the website or anything else? We consistently give them all the information they need, they constantly leave us out. So, for those of you asking why we’re not listed, it would appear we’re not listed because we’re not part of it.  Meanwhile, this First Thursday, baring some kind of disaster before Thursday, we’ll be open, as we have been every month, for the last tear and a half, right in the middle of it all. Not officially part of First Thursday, but very much a big vibrant welcoming part of the event of the first Thursday of the month. …come join in and see what we have for you,  Spring is here, come celebrate, running an art space excites us, who’s needs maps and official websites, we’re doing it ourselves…