This week the annual Art Licks Weekend returns for its fourth edition with another jam-packed programme of free events and exhibitions of artists’ work.
Taking place at various venues across London, artist-run projects, curatorial collectives and young galleries will open up their spaces for the public. Last year over 87 spaces took part, showing the work of 442 artists collectively.
The main focus of the weekend is on east and south London, including Bermondsey, Elephant and Castle, Hackney, Hackney Wick, Haggerston, New Cross and Peckham.
Galleries and venues confirmed to be taking part include: ASC Studios Stockwell, A.P.T. Gallery, DOLPH, Ladette Space, The Old Biscuit Factory, Old Police Station, Transition Gallery, and Turf Projects. The festival’s gallery partners are CGP London, Gasworks, South London Gallery, and SPACE.
A recurring theme throughout the festival is the idea of taking art beyond the white-walled space. On Sunday, Ingrid on Deptford High Street presents The Burning Of The Coops, the third in a series of solo exhibitions at the space in which artists – in this case, Laura Morrison – are invited to negotiate the setting of a private apartment ‘without stripping it entirely of its inhabitants’ proof of existence’. Books, cats, plants and lamps will all be included.
This approach to exhibiting in unusual spaces is continued with Space Solution? Various artists and curators are all using living rooms as exhibition spaces, including Why Don’t You..? HQ, Ingrid, Ladette Space, and Bede House Projects. Also taking part is The icing room in Walthamstow: “The exhibition [at The icing room] involves drinking coffee and eating cake (un-iced); informal chats and unfinished conversations on display.”
Other highlights include 12ø Collective‘s fresh ‘n’ frozen, a project designed to question the premise of art production as well as its accessibility and affordability. Art work can be purchased using a delivery service and online process more akin to ordering takeaway food.
Elsewhere, the Bomb Factory in North London will be taken over by East Bristol Contemporary for a one-weekend group show of Bristol-based artists. Artists include: Esme Boggis, Harriet Bowman, Clawson and Ward, Isaac Stacey, Karanjit Panesar, and lewdjaw.
Art Licks launched in 2010 and has since grown to provide a platform and voice for the lesser-known and under-represented activities that form the grassroots of visual culture in London. Art Licks also exists as a weekly online listing, a printed magazine, tours and other public events.
Art Licks Weekend takes place Friday 30 September – Sunday 2 October 2016. www.artlicksweekend.com
Images:
1. icing room cover image
2. Laura Morrison via Simon Productions
3. East Bristol Contemporary / The Bomb Factory
a-n will be covering the Art Licks Weekend on Instagram. Follow us @anartistsinfo
More on a-n.co.uk:
Turner Prize 2016 exhibition: verve, energy and plenty of earthy humour
Abstract expressionism: a phenomenon, not a movement
A Q&A with… Adam Chodzko, Estuary festival artist
