Becoming Part of Something

Holy friggin wotsits! The website is up! Still needs to be added to , but at last we have the holding page live

http://www.coregallery.co.uk/

I cant tell you how thrilled I am !

The banner ,has also arrived today! Hooray !

The last couple of days we have been setting up Exquisite Corpse with Nick Kaplony and Helen Griffiths, sorting out and tidying the existing space, everyone mucking in and now all but one piece is up and it looks Exquisite. Justin Richel’s work is stuck in Customs and we are hoping will arrive any minute. …

We have all actually fallen a little bit in love with Nick, he is such an excellent, fun and intelligent guy. Although he is laidback, he is super competent and knows exactly what he is doing- a refreshing attitude in my experience!

Yesterday we had 3 prestigious curators in the space for meetings, Nick of course, then Zoe Whitley from the V& A and Eva Langret from Delfina. All here gladly. Zoe and Eva came here to talk about our next exhibition at Core Gallery which they are curating: Wilderness, featuring me, Enver Gursev and Neil Kelly, opening in May. A night of group discussion which was fantastic.

I cannot believe the progress that has been made in the last few months. I genuinely feel astounded. I came to Cor Blimey Arts Studios just 7 months ago and here we are with a gallery about to open, working with some incredible people.

I was remembering how I met Nick, through a one to one on Artquest about 3 years or so ago, I kept in touch and now, well its unbelievable to think here we are now, working together on a show. An unbelievably Exquisite exhibition and an ambitious exhibition programme that people want to be part of.

Right now I am dancing!

Tomorrow, gulp, we launch!

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It really is a bare knuckle ride this Core Gallery craziness!

We wait on tenterhooks for the website to be up and running, a little overdue, but of course as someone is helping us out with this our hands are tied- however as we have 2,500 flyers with our non existent website it is quite a nightmare!

The gallery, artist led, is coming into its own in terms of people coming together with a shared vision and making things work!

I spent 3 days designing/ advising /liasing on a new banner for our front gate with Leyla, Gillian and Elizabeth. Leyla was a star thrashing out changes and layout with me making charming but nonetheless firm phone calls to the banner company as I slowly wept over fig rolls …oh and the banner has the website too in very big letters…..yes as I say fingers crossed on that front!. So in the interim, all our info is here:

http://www.deptfordartmap.com/core-gallery

Chantelle, our press officer has worked tirelessly on mailings and has managed to get us featured on artrabbit and updated listings endlessly as each artist in the chain is announced, revising press releases, distributing press releases etc ;

http://www.artrabbit.com/all/features/features

http://www.artrabbit.com/all/features/features/apr…

Kasia has put together all the posters and invites- again endlessly updating and revising!

At the gallery we have our first artist Iris Priest who has come from Newcastle to draw her work directly onto our walls….the other works are still to come but its very exciting to have someone here making works here!

Enver our efficiency co-ordinator ( self named! ) and my partner has been sorting out the gallery space and the launch night in terms of entertainment ( which is going to be the excellent La Donne and the Islington Boys Club) and generally holding my hand, making coffee, soothing noises and listening to my ideas and backing me up.

Not only do we have this going on but we also have an external studio members exhibition which opened last night near to the Tate Modern , which was selected by the excellent artist Silvia Battista.

The Truth is Rarely Pure and Never Simple
Nolias Gallery
60 Great Suffolk Street
SE1 0BL

Gillian our studio manager is part of the London Fringe Festival committee and our exhibition was part of the launch of a visual arts competition. Gillian answers about 50 emails from me a day and is super efficient juggling all her commitments all with a beaming smile on her face. The PV was very good fun although I found many blank holes in my brain where people’s names were meant to be- as Core Gallery consumes my every thought!

There have been meetings and meetings and meetings, teaching and guest lecturing, and a little bit of soothing painting in between.

More plots are afoot about core gallery and my own place in being part of something may become a lot more entrenched as I am interested in creating a professional development network with my clever studio mate Elizabeth in Deptford and nearby areas……just a teeny tiny funding bid to put together in 2 weeks amidst the Exquisite madness!

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Exciting news from Nick about the artists who have been chosen for Exquisite Corpse :

(In the order they appear in the chain)

Liv Pennington, Lucy Newman, Tasha Aulls, Justin Richel, Leni Kauffman, Nicky Deeley, David Raymond Conroy, Linda Florence, Iris Priest, Jock Mooney and Rebecca Birch

Due to our excellent press officer Chantelle Purcell, Art rabbit are going to feature Exquisite Corpse on their home page, the South London press and BBC may also be attending the exhibtion which is also great news!

http://www.artrabbit.com/all/features/features
http://www.artrabbit.com/all/features/features/april_2010/corpse

I also may even be given the gift of an intern if I am super lucky!

I cant believe we are already near the end of April……and the launch of Core Gallery

So after a little glutting on much wine and chocolate over stupendously late night backgammon over easter the race is back on and :

Ta Da! The first phase of Exquisite Corpse is done, all the curators are confirmed and my my they are pretty dazzling and an honour for them to work with Core Gallery

Nick Kaplony

freelance curator, artist and Exhibitions Officer at Battersea’s Pump House Gallery and genius behind Exquisite Corpse:

www.nickkaplony.com

Claire Heafford

Art consultant and curator

http://www.heaffordandhall.co.uk/profile.html

Matt Roberts from Matt Roberts Arts and the famous Salon competitions,

Gallery in Vyner st

http://www.mattroberts.org.uk/

Sarah Schuster, Curator at Pumphouse Gallery Battersea

Medeia Cohan-Petrolino, Curator of The University of the Arts London

www.ual.ac.uk

Angelica Sule, Curator of Gallery Primo Alonso in East London

http://www.primoalonso.com/

Laura Eldret

Collecting Live Art

www.lauraeldret.com/

Zoe Whitley

Curator from V&A, Contemporary Collections

www.vam.ac.uk

Julia Alvarez, Curator, Bearspace Gallery , Deptford

www.bearspace.co.uk

Helen Griffiths

Bea De Souza

Agency Gallery , Deptford

www.theagencygallery.co.uk

The chain of artists is also coming along and sure to be as dazzling hurrah!

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