Quiet British Accent

What’s happening this week at the ever evolving art chute that is Cultivate? Well one thing we’re almost definitely definite about is the fact that this week is guest change-over week, our two guest wall spaces are vacated by LEWIS BANISTER and JACK FLORISH, it has been a pleasure having the two artists compliment and contradict on our walls for the last two weeks, their work comes down on Wednesday and the spaces they occupied with be taken over by rather renowned latex artist MICHELLE MILDENHALL and the intrigue of London artist ASHLEY SCOTT FITZGERALD. We have no idea what Ashley is going to do with his space, well we do have a vague idea or we wouldn’t have invited him to come be involved. We’re as intrigued as we hope you are, we expect it to be three dimensional, we expect it will be tactile, we saw Ashley’s work, offered him the space and we await his art. Michelle meanwhile will be bringing more of her slightly fetish-flavoured latex art – we expect ball-gags, royalty and bold use of flat colour from Michelle. Both artists will have a wall of work (and maybe some plinths, at Cultivate Evolved from Thursday 27th March until April 9th including a late evening opening on First Thursday April 3rd from 6pm until 9pm.

Michelle Milldenhall

As you probably know, we change guest artists every two weeks, each guest artist gets a nice big slice of white brick wall to show a body of work or a larger piece or, well we’re open to all ideas. If you’re interested in being a guest artist then please do get in touch – we are picky, it has to be right for both you and us, if you think you’d like to get involved please do get in touch. We don’t have many/date spaces available right now, we have just had a cancellation for one of the April 10th – 23rd slots, these things happen, artists are precious creatures….

What else this week? Well EMMA HARVEY’s international Women’s day wall has now been in place for almost the month we planned for it to be in place, the work will be there for one more week before it all comes down on April 1st. So you have one more week and indeed one more weekend to explore Women’s Day wall alongside the work of our in-house artists that waiting to be explored – the sculpture of MOB, the Cockney Rhyming Slang of QUIET BRITISH ACCENT, the things JULIA MADDISON made today, the pink flow of painter JESSICA BALLANTYNE, the angles of GARETH MORGAN.

Actually there’s a lot to explore around the area at the moment, excellent show at SPACE just along Mare Street, really strong mixed media show called Future Map. There’s Charles Atlas work to be explored a VILMA GOLD, really like what they have on offer at CELL PROJECTS right now, you find Cell just along Cambridge Heath Road (at the top of Vyner Street). Billy Howard Price’s films and installations can be found at the rather compact XERO, KLINE and COMA gallery along the Hackney Road (by the Co-Op Supermarket. It really isn’t so much about just Vyner Street anymore, as the creep of gentrification, giant new blocks of flats as developers push us out, the so-called urbanists all combining to close art spaces in favour of offices and such, that and the sickening spectacle of the salespeople up the road closing their beautiful gallery and converting it in to office space for their internet art-selling business – whoops, going off and things again, someone told me a couple of days ago that I should “shut my big mouth”, that “things are changing and if there’s no room for art and artists any more then tough, times change, shut up and accept it” I probably would be better off shutting up, but for me art is about community, what good is art if you just lock it behind closed doors and exclude most people? I’ll shut my big mouth, well in terms of today’S big mouthed blog, sweetness I was only joking when I said…  It isn’t just about Vyner Street now, well there is still WILKINSON and HADA down Vyner Street, and we’re still here of course, if you want to explore the galleries in the immediate area, then there are plenty, all shapes, sizes and attitudes, more about streets now though, rather than just a street….

WHAT JULIA MADE

Well yes, we are still here, the developers are moving in though, the wrecking ball is getting closer – we’ve known for ages the building that currently houses Cultivate was going to be pulled down one day soon, pulled down to make way for another block of flats that none of us can afford to live in. We have no timeline yet, an no one has said anything officially to us so far, be we do know that Tower Hamlets council sent out letters to all our neighbours in the last couple of weeks inviting anyone who wanted to to object to the plans to do so.  Objectors had until today to speak up, we have no idea what  happens next or how long we have, we’ll get on with doing our artist-run thing until the developers get us, until then we have an open door, a room full of art and lots to explore, and all around us there are galleries and art spaces to explore, all about streets now, not just a street, the East End is alive and well .

I’m rather pleased with the way our walls are looking now, a strong set of artists and some exciting art…

SEAN WORRALL  / CULTIVATE

Michelle Mildenhall

JESSICA BALLANTYNE