"20 Hoxton Square" by Jonnie McEwan
"20 Hoxton Square unveils a brilliant new concept, the "guerrilla gallery".
The guerrilla gallery is the idea of three young men; Richard Graham,
Alexander Dellal and Adam Waymouth. They knew from experience that there
were many talented young artists and/or (age is no concern to them)
under-appreciated artists out there with no where to show. So they came up
with the guerrilla gallery - a series of hit-and-run shows, unscheduled,
short duration, no frills, no hassle, in no set venues. The opposite of the
"only billionaires welcome" approach of glare-and-concrete, bank-vault,
galleries. 20 Hoxton Square their first venue, is a big warehouse space in
symbolic opposition to the Great White Cube in every way. Global warming
melts the icy art world! There's a bar, nice old wooden floors, musical
evenings and t-shirt spin-offs planned, a freebie newspaper 20 Hoxton Square
has written by the 26 participating artists themselves, the art world's
first, designed to grow with every show. The guerrilla gallery is friendly,
approachable, providing a range of spaces for a range of art and artists
(currently from Mexico, Italy, LA, New York; from 19 year old Freya Wood to
"60's" icon Nigel Waymouth), welcoming a broad clientele, but it is no
fly-by-night student operation. Judge a business by the toilets. 20 Hoxton
Squares are so squeaky clean they even have art in there. No, this is a
professional operation with the clearly defined aim of giving artists a
decent break. The work is immaculately and wittily displayed. Every taste is
catered for - from installations to photographs, from abstraction to
landscapes - with quality the only criterion. Many artists will move on from
here, two have already been touched by the magic wands of Hirst and Saatchi.
That's fine by those merry men Graham, Dellal and Waymouth. Helping artists
get that first foot on the ladder of a successful career is their one
concern. The next show will be in September at 20 Hoxton Square - or who
knows where."
"20 Hoxton Square unveils a brilliant new concept, the "guerrilla gallery".
The guerrilla gallery is the idea of three young men; Richard Graham,
Alexander Dellal and Adam Waymouth. They knew from experience that there
were many talented young artists and/or (age is no concern to them)
under-appreciated artists out there with no where to show. So they came up
with the guerrilla gallery - a series of hit-and-run shows, unscheduled,
short duration, no frills, no hassle, in no set venues. The opposite of the
"only billionaires welcome" approach of glare-and-concrete, bank-vault,
galleries. 20 Hoxton Square their first venue, is a big warehouse space in
symbolic opposition to the Great White Cube in every way. Global warming
melts the icy art world! There's a bar, nice old wooden floors, musical
evenings and t-shirt spin-offs planned, a freebie newspaper 20 Hoxton Square
has written by the 26 participating artists themselves, the art world's
first, designed to grow with every show. The guerrilla gallery is friendly,
approachable, providing a range of spaces for a range of art and artists
(currently from Mexico, Italy, LA, New York; from 19 year old Freya Wood to
"60's" icon Nigel Waymouth), welcoming a broad clientele, but it is no
fly-by-night student operation. Judge a business by the toilets. 20 Hoxton
Squares are so squeaky clean they even have art in there. No, this is a
professional operation with the clearly defined aim of giving artists a
decent break. The work is immaculately and wittily displayed. Every taste is
catered for - from installations to photographs, from abstraction to
landscapes - with quality the only criterion. Many artists will move on from
here, two have already been touched by the magic wands of Hirst and Saatchi.
That's fine by those merry men Graham, Dellal and Waymouth. Helping artists
get that first foot on the ladder of a successful career is their one
concern. The next show will be in September at 20 Hoxton Square - or who
knows where."
"Exhibitions" chosen by Richard Dorment from the Telegraph Art Review,
Saturday, 12th May 2007
"New Artists; One of the freshest group shows in years, featuring the
remarkable work of Henry Hudson and Laurence Owen, at London's most
interesting new gallery. 20 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6NT until May 27th."
Saturday, 12th May 2007
"New Artists; One of the freshest group shows in years, featuring the
remarkable work of Henry Hudson and Laurence Owen, at London's most
interesting new gallery. 20 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6NT until May 27th."
| 20HOXTONSQUARE |
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DAZED AND CONFUSED REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2007
I walk into 20 Hoxton Square, the latest progressive artistic endeavour to hit N1, and
instantly feel miles away from the clamour of lively bars spilling out into this late summer
evening in Shoreditch. Sandbags are piled high outside; a layer of ‘protection’ I’m told,
against the increasing commercialisation of art. Inside, the large warehouse space is low
lit and feels unearthly. From the ceiling hang androgynous bodies, whilst enormous metal
landscapes stretch across the walls. It is almost like a laboratory; ethereal, bleeding,
watercolours stare out at you from the dark.
This is the work of ‘completely unknown’ Dutch artist, Jaap de Vries. It is the latest
installation by Adam Waymouth, Alex Dellal and Richard Graham who co-run the gallery.
Artists themselves and still in their early twenties, they are on a mission to challenge the
contemporary ‘billionaires only’ art scene in London by ‘legitimising guerrilla art-fare.’
So Jaap de Vries…. How did you find him? And why is he 20 Hoxton Square?
AW: I found him on the Saatchi website gallery. His watercolours had been shown in a small
exhibition before, but that was it. We went to visit him and found his work incredibly
distinctive and unique.
AD: And as a person he just seemed to fit. Most artists would be a bit scared if we were
like “okay, give us your paintings and we’ll put something together,” but he was really
brave and trusted us.
How do you stand out from the larger galleries that surround you?
AD: Places like White Cube or any of the more established galleries are intimidating. All
the work is sold in a very elitist way, and for a certain budget. We’re quite young, so a
lot of people who come to this gallery and consider buying are young people, we want to be
approachable and sell the emerging art that people can afford.
Do you find your age has influenced your style of curator-ship?
AW: It’s given us a lot more freedom. Having not gone through the training and rigour of
other galleries, it has probably made me look at things differently.
AD: To begin with I’d just finished studying photography and had done a couple of shows that
went really badly because of the space. Galleries in London are really inaccessible to young
people and the system doesn’t make sense. So it’s made us a lot more acceptable towards
people who don’t necessarily have the experience.
.
What do you say to critics who claim ‘guerrilla’ exhibitions to be more about the marketing
device than the art?
AD: It’s just the way we do things, we don’t plan stuff out way before hand.
AW: We’re not set-up like most commercial galleries, with a six months advance on
everything. We take people in last minute and look at all artists; if your good, then your
good and we’ll take you. That’s what we mean by ‘guerrilla’ art fair.
So plans for the future?
AW: Lots of things in the pipeline; a very talented American artist. We’re talking to the
people who do the LDC light displays at Piccadilly Circus, and thinking of doing a short
film festival.
RG: I’m also working on a newspaper; it is more space to showcase talent and keep people in
touch.
Finally, is East London now the cultural centre for modern art?
AW: Right now to do our idea, to really make it work, we needed to be here. It wouldn’t
have worked otherwise. Maybe someday we’ll take it elsewhere….
From left to right: Adam Waymouth, Alexander Dellal and Richard Graham outside 20 Hoxton
Square gallery.
Jaap de Vries exhibition will be open from 7th September to 21st October 2007.
20 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NT.
Email: info@20hoxtonsquare.com
Tel: 07804 343 550
To view this article on the Dazed and Confused website please go to;
http://www.dazeddigital.com/incoming/default.aspx#item1
I walk into 20 Hoxton Square, the latest progressive artistic endeavour to hit N1, and
instantly feel miles away from the clamour of lively bars spilling out into this late summer
evening in Shoreditch. Sandbags are piled high outside; a layer of ‘protection’ I’m told,
against the increasing commercialisation of art. Inside, the large warehouse space is low
lit and feels unearthly. From the ceiling hang androgynous bodies, whilst enormous metal
landscapes stretch across the walls. It is almost like a laboratory; ethereal, bleeding,
watercolours stare out at you from the dark.
This is the work of ‘completely unknown’ Dutch artist, Jaap de Vries. It is the latest
installation by Adam Waymouth, Alex Dellal and Richard Graham who co-run the gallery.
Artists themselves and still in their early twenties, they are on a mission to challenge the
contemporary ‘billionaires only’ art scene in London by ‘legitimising guerrilla art-fare.’
So Jaap de Vries…. How did you find him? And why is he 20 Hoxton Square?
AW: I found him on the Saatchi website gallery. His watercolours had been shown in a small
exhibition before, but that was it. We went to visit him and found his work incredibly
distinctive and unique.
AD: And as a person he just seemed to fit. Most artists would be a bit scared if we were
like “okay, give us your paintings and we’ll put something together,” but he was really
brave and trusted us.
How do you stand out from the larger galleries that surround you?
AD: Places like White Cube or any of the more established galleries are intimidating. All
the work is sold in a very elitist way, and for a certain budget. We’re quite young, so a
lot of people who come to this gallery and consider buying are young people, we want to be
approachable and sell the emerging art that people can afford.
Do you find your age has influenced your style of curator-ship?
AW: It’s given us a lot more freedom. Having not gone through the training and rigour of
other galleries, it has probably made me look at things differently.
AD: To begin with I’d just finished studying photography and had done a couple of shows that
went really badly because of the space. Galleries in London are really inaccessible to young
people and the system doesn’t make sense. So it’s made us a lot more acceptable towards
people who don’t necessarily have the experience.
.
What do you say to critics who claim ‘guerrilla’ exhibitions to be more about the marketing
device than the art?
AD: It’s just the way we do things, we don’t plan stuff out way before hand.
AW: We’re not set-up like most commercial galleries, with a six months advance on
everything. We take people in last minute and look at all artists; if your good, then your
good and we’ll take you. That’s what we mean by ‘guerrilla’ art fair.
So plans for the future?
AW: Lots of things in the pipeline; a very talented American artist. We’re talking to the
people who do the LDC light displays at Piccadilly Circus, and thinking of doing a short
film festival.
RG: I’m also working on a newspaper; it is more space to showcase talent and keep people in
touch.
Finally, is East London now the cultural centre for modern art?
AW: Right now to do our idea, to really make it work, we needed to be here. It wouldn’t
have worked otherwise. Maybe someday we’ll take it elsewhere….
From left to right: Adam Waymouth, Alexander Dellal and Richard Graham outside 20 Hoxton
Square gallery.
Jaap de Vries exhibition will be open from 7th September to 21st October 2007.
20 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NT.
Email: info@20hoxtonsquare.com
Tel: 07804 343 550
To view this article on the Dazed and Confused website please go to;
http://www.dazeddigital.com/incoming/default.aspx#item1
