Art Tour | East London Galleries, Spring 2016

‘Magical Surfaces: The Uncanny in Contemporary Photography’. Installation view at Parasol unit, 2016. Photography: Jack Hems. Courtesy of Parasol unit.

A logo on a small sign on the wall, a heavy door and a noisy buzzer. Then a few steps, before entering a warehouse space illuminated with neon lights, all walls re-painted in a bright white, in contrast with a glossy grey floor. Since the beginning of the 1990s this image has been strongly impressed in the imagination of all gallery-goers. We can clearly identify this aesthetic, developed within the abandoned manufacturing buildings of the London’s East End, where it was introduced a few decades ago, by looking at the art scene from the other side of the Atlantic.

Charles Mayton, installation view at Campoli Presti, East London, through 22 May

Charles Mayton, installation view at Campoli Presti, London, through 22 May

What has happened since then? As all the urban makeovers, this was just the beginning of a tale of transformations, where creative motivations must face sooner or later the complex and delicate processes behind the City. After the roaring years between the end of the 1990s and the dawn of the new millennium, the number of art venues increased unrestrained, leaving less and less space for experimentation and enterprising spirit. Gentrification and fast rising prices did the rest, so that, by the beginning of the new decade, London witnessed a real exodus of galleries from the East.

It has been quite shocking to hear the news that Matt’s Gallery, one of the pioneer and most influential spaces in the area, has shut its doors to relocate South. But apparently the end of this season is far away to come, considering the even now remarkable concentration of galleries and the charm that it continues to hold on the contemporary art scene. Just during these very last weeks, with renovated energies Breese Little and Kunstraum have moved across inaugurating new venues respectively in Cambridge Heat Road and Shoreditch, while at the beginning of this month we have welcomed Limone, a new artist run space in Homerton.

Bad Infinity 2.0, installation view at xero.kline.coma, East London

Bad Infinity 2.0, installation view at xero.kline.coma, through 22 May

With a bittersweet feeling but not without expectations, we have then taken a long art tour, visiting most of the spaces gathered around East London; among the highlights of the area, we recommend Paper, Publication, Performance at Lychee One, an exhibition of artist books and works on paper, culminating in this final week, entirely devoted to performances. This is the last week also for Bad Infinity 2.0 at xero, kline & coma, an intangible assault to the gallery space by Luke Pendrell and James Trafford, who explored the hybrid temporality of GIF images. Worthy of attention is also Maria Eichhorn’s solo show at Chisenhale, who has sent the gallery’s staff on unexpected leave for 5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours, as part of her research on contemporary labour conditions.

Photography-lovers will enjoy Magical Surfaces: The Uncanny in Contemporary Photography – curated by Ziba Ardalan – featuring a selection of artworks by Sonja Braas, David Claerbout, Elger Esser, Julie Monaco, Jörg Sasse, Stephen Shore, and Joel Sternfeld – that questions the notions of reality and fiction of photographic images. Finally – not to be missed – Laura Bartlett’s group show Under a Falling Sky, featuring works by John Divola, Cyprien Gaillard, Beatrice Gibson, Michail Pirgelis, and Daniel Turner, as well as the exuberant solo show by Małgorzata Markiewicz Can I make you feel bad? at l’étrangère.