The Show With No Names – Finch Project, Hackney, E8, June 2021  – Shows like this are important, shows like that are even more important now that most of the spaces where artists have a say are gone in terms of once art-rich East London. Finch Project is a recently arrived space in that gap between the chaos of Mare Street and the crowds of London Fields (not far from where Play once happened) here in Hackney, and as with The Tub last week, it is almost a case of a clutching at straws celebration – where once this would have been just another in a long long line of here today gone tomorrow art spaces you could walk to from Vyner Street, now it really is a case of celebrating even the smallest of victories. We just haven’t got that many art spaces left in East London that aren’t controlled by the often aloof and mostly uninterested new breed establishment curators seemingly more interested in their own names than the art they exhibit. 

There’s been two or three shows at the rather intimate Finch Project now, the space itself is a small open-plan cube-like affair – a green one rather than a white one – a small cube to the side of a cafe that now occupies an ex bathroom showroom by London Fields. The Finch Cafe have made space for art (as well as poetry), The Show With No Names opened last night, I guess the whole idea is that the one or two pieces from each artist that speaks for themselves – no names, no titles, of course it is hard to resist asking who has done what,some you can spot, Paul Sakoilsky’s recent foray into flora, John Smith’s flag. There a painting that stands out that does demand a question, apparently the painting is by some guy that artist and curator Cederic Christie got talking to over a game of chess, some guy called Paul Simonon (who may or may not have been in some band or other at some point). The mix of work in the space really shouldn’t work together, especially on these dark green walls, it all does though, the intimate space is used rather well.  Hey look,, a small show in a small cube in a cafe, it shouldn’t be that important, it surely isn’t that important? Just a simple art show and a poetry reading (we missed that bit), this kind of thing happened almost every night or at least every week in East London six or seven years ago, you just went out on a Thursday evening and expected to find them happening in empty shops or buildings no one else had a use for, to hear that hum of an opening on almost every street. Shows like this are important, artist-led spaces are important, this show with no names (the names did appear on the gallery’s social media feed the next morning, I must admit I kind of like to have a name under a piece of art) is just a simple art show, a rather good one, some good art, a good show, a small one, a simple one, these things are important, see you at the next one. (sw)  

Finch is at 12 Sidworth Street, London Fields, Hackney, E8 3SD