New Artist - 2016__

50

Increasing numbers of cafés, bars and other spaces are holding art

exhibitions, but is this viable for showcasing your creative prowess?

Art on show

discover their take on the trend.

“For an artist’s reputation,

nothing beats a show at a major

art gallery,” says Alison Bevan,

director of the Royal West of

England Academy (www.rwa.

org.uk). “There’s nothing new

in displaying art outside art

galleries, however. The earliest

art was either within the home as

cave paintings, worn on the body

or used to ornament burial sites.

The history of art stretches back

E

ver noticed how

art seems to be

everywhere these

days? Cafés, bars,

restaurants, hairdressers and

train stations are all offering up

their walls as exhibition spaces,

but what are the pros and cons

for the artists involved? We

speak to the curators of some

traditional and unconventional

sites as well as artists who

have sampled both options to

thousands of years, and yet the

earliest public art galleries are

only a couple of hundred years

old. Art is meant to be seen and

enjoyed by many people and

that can be done anywhere.”

That’s a positive start, but

what of the downsides? Lindsay

Moran, co-director of the

Leyden Gallery in Spitalfields,

London (www.leydengallery.

com) believes that the main

drawback of displaying art in

non-dedicated spaces is simply

that – their non-dedication.

“Their main concern isn’t the

art, so it isn’t hung or lit properly

and there’s rarely enough space

or quiet to show it off to its best

advantage,” he says.

Could exhibitions like this

provide a stepping stone,

encouraging people who’ve

never consciously sought out

art to enter an actual gallery?

Maybe, Lindsay ponders,

Left: Grant Bradley Gallery

annual New Visions exhibition.

Above: Antlers Gallery Spatial

Exhibition in Bristol.

Right: Aerosol artist Jody

Thomas at Harvey Nichols.

Far right: Grant Bradley Gallery

Refreshing displays

PHOTOGRAPH:

SIDZ PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO:

ANTLERS GALLERY

PHOTOGRAPH:

JUDY DARLEY

Displaying your art

Choose your

colours

Your frame should complement

both the picture and the

environment, so choose the colour

of your mount and frame carefully.

A double mount with a border of

colour underneath and a neutral mount

on top can work well if the colour picks

out a subtle tone in the picture,

making it jump forward.

Kevin Lucas, Edge 2 Edge Picture

Framing Ltd, Bristol

(telephone: 0117 329 3737)

Displaying your art

Using your
surroundings
When hanging works in
a room with furniture and
other items, find order in the chaos
by looking for balance between objects
on the same plane, and ensure
different sized works all have
the same middle height.
Jack Gibbon, Antlers Gallery
http://www.antlersgallery.com