Why is the next Cultivate show called Fragile? Well no one asked why the last one at the same gallery was called Debased. What’s in a name? You decide, is it Fragile? Is the making of all art a fragile thing?  Cultivate is nomadic now, the Vyner Street period is almost ancient history (we were offered the chance to return to the street recently on a permanent basis but the soul has been sucked completely out of that once wonderful street and anyway, the rent demanded to occupy the not so pleasing newly built space at the foot of an ugly block of over-priced flats on that same corner we occupied in such a stylish way for four years back there was in no way realistic, rent quadrupled, space not as big, no front door, more like an office shoebox really). So Cultivate is nomadic, we kind of like it that way at the moment,  when we find the right space we’ll throw out the anchor and call it home but for now we happily wander (or wonder) from space to space.

Last year we put on shows in conventional galleries, on streets, under railway bridges, at the seaside, in car parks, in drapers shops, at dog shows, at the Art Car Boot Fair. Our first show this year is at BSMT Space gallery, over on the edges of Hackney, right there on the main street at Dalston. The third in a trilogy of shows in the rather fine space.  Stay turned for news of more shows in strange and maybe not so strange places, watch this space.

Here’s the details of the Fragile show

Cultivate returns once more to Dalston and that beautiful basement known as BSMT Space .(5d Stoke Newington Road, Dalston, London, N16 8BH)

Fragile will be 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…. 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 coming together to make it happen

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 is fragile.

Last time we 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…. .

Opening night is on Thursday 9th Feb, 6-9pm at BSMT Space, 5d Stoke Newington, Dalston (then open Fri, Sat, Sun 11am until 6pm)

OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCES
Amy Kingsmill
Marnie Scarlet

ARTIST LINE UP (confirmed so far)
APPLE TART
ADAM ESPIRA
BRUCE LOVELOCK
CAIT SWEENEY
CHARLIE McFARLEY
DEBORAH GRIFFIN
ELIZABETH SANDFORD RICHARDSON
EMMA HARVEY
JOANNA GEORGIADES
MODES OF BEING
MIA JANE HARRIS
QUIET BRITISH ACCENT
ROSSO
SEAN WORRALL
and T.B.C

Emma and I shall be pulling the  final bits of the line up together in the coming days, we like to hold back a little space for some spontaneous last minute gathering together of things like a banner or two from that Anti-Trump Woman’s March last week (have you got one?). Expect a couple more names to be added to the Fragile before the window closes.

Facebook event page

 

So anyway, we’re busy working on new shows and new events right now, as well as a few on-line things, we’re feeling far from fragile around here and right now we think group shows are vitally important. We’re working on a few things, we’ll throw out some open calls soon.

RED – An open call…

One small thing we’re going to do is start running regular on line “shows”. Art needs ot be seen in the flesh o course, you need to sense it, smell it, fell like you can touch it, sense the texture, walk around it, sense the size. Viewing art on line can be positive though, if nothing else it builds an awareness, lead people to an artist’s website and news of where the art can be seen in the flesh.And so throughout 2017 starting in February, on February 20th, we shall have an on-line show.  To keep it simple, we shall repeat the first “proper” Cultivate gallery show and call it Red.

RED (On Line)  will feature the work of 20 selected artists. Submissions are being accepted now. The show will go live on line on the Organ website and on the Cultivate website on February 20th and will run until the world ends (or we do). There is no charge to submitt a piece, some galleries will tell you it cost them lots of money to open an e.mail so they have  to charge, well know that’s a load of rather cynical rubbish on the part of the galleries who do this. There will be no charge in anyway in terms of taking part, all we ask you to do is to post links and do a little bit of sharing once the on-line show has gone live  We’ll select the 20 most exciting artists or pieces of work and post it all along with those all important links to the artist’s website.

You can submit up to three images of your work, all disciplines are acceptable (no photography though, sorry) but please make it VERY CLEAR  what we are looking at please (are you submitting an image of a painting? A print, a piece of digital art a piece of sculpture). We need to know medium, size, and we need a link to your website (your website or a Facebook page, not one of those damn Saatchi type on-line shops please). We’ll respond within five days to all submissions.. Let’s keep it simple and easy, nothing more annoying than e.mail tennis and having to ask the obvious)

Submissions via e.mail to info at cultivategallery.com   Please dark subject line “Red Submission”    .

If this on-line Red thing works, we’ll do it every month, if it doesn’t then we’ll screw it all up in a ball and throw it in the corner  These things are only as good as you artists make them. Same as everything we do via Cultivate teally.

 

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