Brick Lane and Spitafields are now well-established with their bohemian vibe and exorbitant rents, but East London’s cool now stretches beyond Shoreditch. If proof is needed, take a look at the wall-to- wall graffiti, the little eateries serving brunch, and the vintage stores all the way down to Bethnal Green and Hackney. Don’t these names ring any bells? Well, hipsters and arty types, read on!
The Whitechapel Gallery
The start of our trip with this contemporary art gallery that is presenting the Barjeel Art Foundation collection in a number of instalments. “Mapping the Contemporary 1” features a generation of artists from the 1990s, all experimenting with multimedia techniques. They come from Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates and look at borders, identity and memory.
After a wander along Shoreditch High Street and Broadway Street, where gentrification is definitely on the rise and the galleries springing up everywhere, it’s on to Raven Row and the extraordinary former artillery base, now Flowers, then Kate McGarry and the less well-known Londonewcastle Project Space. After that, nip over to Bethnal Green where Maureen Paley set up stall as early as 1999 and then The Approach.
Next, head towards Angel and Islington, another hip part of town, and make your way to Wharf Road near the canal. This is home to the powerful Victoria Miro gallery, which boasts a superb space and a very pretty garden, and The Parasol Unit Foundation for contemporary art. Founded in 2004 by curator and art historian Dr. Ziba Ardalan, this not-for-profit institution endeavours to present and promote contemporary art locally and internationally. Its current exhibition echoes PhotoLondon and is entitled ‘Magical Surfaces, The Uncanny in Contemporary Photography’.
It brings together 7 artists – Sonja Braas, David Claerbout, Elger Esser, Julie Monaco, Jörg Sasse, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld – to look at the power of images and what they reveal.
Gagosian on Britannia Street
Gagosian, forever concerned with connections, has set up in the former docks close to St Pancras International station. Its spring exhibition is devoted to long-standing artist Walter de Maria.
British Library Punk
In London, Bristol, Manchester, Belfast and Edinburgh, the punk movement aims to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a bang. The Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren and the Roxy Club are still all revered by the nostalgic, but what does punk mean today?
The Wellcome Collection
Henry Wellcome’s collection is a set of objects related to medicine from across the world, brought together in a cross-disciplinary approach in unique exhibitions such as the current ‘This is a voice’. The show has been devised as an acoustic journey, combining anthropologic, aesthetic and psychological approaches and featuring artists and researchers who examine the impact of the voice on human communication and cognitive development.
At the same venue, the “States of Mind” exhibition is a kind of echo, exploring active and passive levels of consciousness. Captivating!
