More Cake?, Cultivate at Shipton Street Gallery, East London, March 2024 – We’ve hit the Monday morning after the (long) weekend before, the come down.  Rain stopped any serious play on Sunday, we were mostly burnt out by then though and now, on Monday, as we move in on what will be something like the 200th Cultivate show – we really do need to do a proper count up, we do know we’re in the late 190s in terms of shows and artist-led events under the Cultivate banner now – shows in conventional white cubes, in empty office buildings, shows at the seaside, that time at a dog show, that one in an Edwardian dress shop, shows under railway bridges, that really big one in that big condemned factory in East London, all those times down Vyner Street of course. Nearly two hundred artist-led shows in all kinds of places, an almost defiant stance. We’re in here on Monday morning recovering and taking a look back of a rather eventful long weekend that kicked off last Thursday evening. 

More Cake? was about many things, it was mostly because the chance was there and these days, with art becoming more and more of a middle class thing of privilege controlled by an axis of greedy landlords and a new breed of ageist gatekeepers who all appear to have done the same mummy-funded course in curating-by-the-book at Goldsmiths or Chelsea or wherever the hell these new gatekeepers are getting their increasingly conservative rules from – these days you need to grab the chance when that chance is offered up, this one came along and it was wholeheartedly grabbed. For me More Cake? was about many things, it was as as much about embracing my newly arrived bus pass and vowing to grow old as disgracefully as possible rather than just politely fading away as both an artist and a (still rather reluctant slightly angry) curator, that and just wanting to be active in terms of art on that particular rather significant date. There were of course and a number of other reasons besides a birthday in terms of why More Cake? happened in such a last minute way and why the title was such and why there was a question mark at the end of it all and why why why? Mostly the Gallery was available, the date was available and now after a very fine long weekend I find myself eating birthday cake on the Monday after the weekend before while I try and write something about it all   

So Cultivate made an overdue return to Columbia Road and that beautiful old East London greengrocers shop that has been Shipton Street Gallery for a good few years now. An overdue return and a short sharp (somewhat maximalist) group show. Once again curated by Cultivate co-founders Sean Worrall and Emma Harvey. Another artist-led show (and yes some more blowing of our own trumpets). More Cake? opened on Thursday evening March 7th, it ran through International Women’s Day on March 8th, then on to the weekend and the Sunday Flower Market and all that that can bring if it doesn’t damn well rain all day! The exhibition ended late on the Sunday afternoon whereupon the the beautiful artists descended like locusts and took down what had taken a good part of two days to install in a matter of minutes   I love putting on art shows, kind of like the way they suddenly end.

A some might say over ambitious ten artist show in a rather intimate space including Cultivate regular Julia Maddison‘s splendid takeover of the gallery’s excellent front window. We probably did try to cram too much in but this space isn’t one to be reverential about, this is an old East London shop that’s part of a living breathing working class housing estate, not some cold-hearted West End white cube. Do love the way Julia’s layers of work are evolving, do love te different levels of interpretation she invites, the throwaway contradictions in the depth, so love way that piece hung in the window, brilliant!  

The full artist line up ran like this – Yasmin Grant, Sofia Martins Gray, Sean Worrall, Rosemary Jane Cronin, Mia Jane Harris, Julia Maddison, Jack Florish, Francesca Alaimo, Emma Harvey, Andree Adley (sometime during the opening night, No Nose added himself to the list as two of his pieces mysteriously appeared)

The show was once again an artist-led affair (just as as all Cultivate shows are) and as we said in the statement about the show, “right now the East London art scene is plagued by a new set of gatekeepers, those beautiful places where artists could once do things on their own terms are rare now, gone are the wonderful old warehouses, the cheap rent of streets like Vyner Street, the new gatekeepers are in many ways far worse than the old ones, the new ones come with a new set of art school indoctrinations, with firmly closed doors to almost everyone, they almost all come with stinking ageism, with the whiff of middle class privilege, and with very little in terms of genuinely exciting art to back it all up, East London is not the beautiful artist-friendly place it once was”.   

Our thinking on More Cake? was kind of multi-pronged (am I repeating myself here?), it was essentially just a (throwaway) title for another Cultivate group show, no big deal, really it was a question though. There was some thought thrown around about people just sitting back, just eating cake, just drinking coffee at (gentrified) places like Broadway Market, fiddling while Gaza burns seemingly oblivious to all the reality that is happening all around the world, all that stuff that we can mostly do next to nothing about but maybe should be doing something about? Genocide? Not my problem mate, what can I do? Here, have some more cake. a ten quid scotch egg and It does feel like that is all we can do, just sit there helplessly eating more cake. Well what can we do? What would we maybe like to do (is that a question as well?) The title of the show was, as I admitted already, also a bit about it being my birthday (on International Women’s Day, not that I consider being born of that day any kind of contribution to the day) and as depressing as that is in terms of getting old in an increasingly ageist (art) world, it was something about needing to embrace it disgracefully rather than just letting it fade away. Pass me my newly arrived bus pass and get out of the way, bollocks to all this “empowering under represented voices and championing the next Generation of artists and collectors” bulshit that that annoyingly gutless middle class gallery up the road spout – “championing collectors” for flip sake!? What the hell is that about? Our doors, unlike some, are open to everyone. Some of is is about growing old disgracefully, that and doing a lot of thinking right now with increasingly difficult ongoing eye issues and how many more times will these eyes will actually let me do all this? So yes the cake isn’t all upbeat, but it is, it is upbeat (if I do pass you in the street, I’m really not being rude, I just can’t see you any more, I’ve got one eye left, and well, who knows for how much longer that will be for? It ain’t looking brilliant right now).  “That guy who writes the Organ in an opinionated loud mouth f**ker” said someone the other day, too right I am, anger is an energy! More cake anyone?  

And so the show came together, a significant birthday needed to be embraced rather than ignored (like all the others have been), a last ever show maybe? Well if I can’t see to do it after next month’s eye operation then there simply won’t be any more.  There wasn’t really a theme, although I much admit it was a little mischievous to invite Rosemary Jane Cronin to show some of her eye broaches. We weren’t expecting Andree Adley to show her eyes, she was invited and without knowing much about the situation she brought a pair of rather striking pink eye canvases that jumped off the wall in a rather intriguing way. 

It was mostly just a case of inviting a group of fellow artists to join us, artists we thought would fit together, who’s work excites us, who’s work would talk to each other, who’s work that would create interesting conversations across the small room, artists who maybe wouldn’t obviously work together? We could kind of see the show in our heads before we saw it on the walls, we knew it would be crowded on those walls, that there would be contradictions, that it wouldn’t be that polite and it certainly wouldn’t be conservative, we knew that the viewers would find different things, ask different questions, maybe find different answers. Were there any answers? Probably not? Were any needed in the first place? Who knows?

Been wanting to show some of Yasmin Grant‘s powerful work in a physical space since our paths first crossed sometime last year. Yasmin has figured in a number of our online shows, the work is strong, especially those big in every way Zelpa pieces. The one Zelpa piece we had in this show is not the biggest Yasmin has made by any means, it is work that come from a position of power, a strong set of feminist statements – to walk into Yasmin’s studio for a fist time is something rather breathtaking. We wanted the first piece in a Cultivate show to be big, Yasmin did actually have six pieces in the show but that one Zelpa piece is what we wanted you to see first, a statement piece if you will, a piece that hopefully lead you to the mystery of the other dynamic pieces. 

Who is Jack Florish? Does he actually exist? Is he maybe a figment of an over active AI imagination? That was suggested more than once over the four days of the show. Jack is very real, I stood on his toe during the opening and he did respond in a very real way, although I can see where people might have been coming from with this particular installation piece of his, a collection of “Snappy Snaps” style photographs, screen shots and lens based images that wrapped themselves around the front door and clearly wanted to venture further up the gallery walls. It was interesting to have a free hand in terms of installing Jack’s work, I mean, he’s an AI, he couldn’t do it himself. I like the way his work is always installed in different ways at different shows, I do like his words, I can’t always get where he’s coming from, maybe that’s what Jack wants? His participation in another Cultivate show was very much overdue. 

Emma Harvey and I co-curated the show, and I am trying to write this rather fractured morning after piece (these are my opinions, don’t blame Emma, we do agree to disagree most of the time, or at least spend hours debating) I won’t offer a comment about our pieces although I will say once again Emma’s four pieces were deliciously strong, enticing, intriguing, contradictory, beautiful, maybe a little naughty? A touch dark? And that cake painting does look delicious (so do those hand cut words and that crimson ribbon)

We’ve wanted to show a big Francesca Amaimo painting in the flesh for ages, Franscesca’s paintings are bold statements, brave statements, like Yasmin Grant’s work, Franscesca’s are also big in so many positive ways. Love the take on Warhol and Elvis (or maybe the Clash) along with that wallpaper, that properly proper (challenging) self portraiture (if indeed it is self portraiture?). I just love Franscesca’s current body of work, a really exciting really strong painter who deserves a lot more attention and doesn’t really go out looking for it. And after all the things I’ve said about what this show was about, it was essentially just a self indulgent gathering of some of our favourite artists just so I could have a birthday treat of a show. 

Mia Jane Harris is another artist who’s been a regular at Cultivate for a number of years, her macabre takes, her religious flavours and fetishy undercurrents, her ceramic manipulations never fail to hit a goth-tinged left-field spot somewhere over there by the alter (or maybe a bit further south?) and we have gone on at length about Sofia Martins Gray and the way she paints with her various cameras. Where Mia Jane manipulates ceramics, Sofia manipulates Polaroids, the two artists have rather a lot in common, they are their own subjects, they both deal with themselves rather well.

And so ten artists came together, no big deal was made about their ages (well besides the chip on my shoulder just this once), no big deal was made about gender, sexual orientations, no big declarations were made about championing this, that or the other (and the work was actually labelled so everyone could easily see who had created what with out needing their phones or a requirement to go find some half-hidden half-arsed gallery map to put a name to a piece). It really was all about ten artists coming together, sharing space and making something happen. The place was packed all night, as was the pavement outside and the pub just up the street afterwards, an ever changing audience as people came from or went to other East London openings, someone said it really did feel a little like Cultivate down Vyner Street circa 2013, they might have been right.  

So people came, cake was eaten, wine was knocked over, art was photographed, selfies were taken, art was sold, friends were made, connections, debates were had, two No Nose pieces appeared at some point during the opening night (people who drive cars or only use Taxis or bikes have no idea what those No Nose pieces are, people who ride buses and especially the top deck of double decker buses are always excited by them). Shall we just say the opening night was eventful, that it got gloriously messy, that too much wine might have been drunk, that the Colin The Caterpillar cake was a delight, as was the singing and the candles and the pub afterwards and the cleaning up on Friday morning, and then on we went with the weekend…   

Do like this space for so many reasons reasons, do like that it is an old shop and the till is still there, do like the floor, do like the flower market, the thing I really like about this space though is that the gallery is part of  a proper real working class estate called The Nags Head, built between 1933 and 1947 on what was apparently an old pig farm behind a pub that once stood on the Hackney Road. The thing I like, besides to look of the estate, the thing I really like is that once all the fuss of the opening nights in the gallery have died down, you can actually strike up conversations with the residents, that you can get them to come in and chat (sometimes in their pink slippers with a cup of tea in hand), that people of all backgrounds and nationalities open up once you break the ice and once we get past the “I like what I like but I don’t really understand art” reluctance, once the ice is broken there’s some really great conversations to be had about art, life, cats, football, weaving, politics. Galleries can be such aloof locked-door places, unfriendly, unwelcoming, they can feel like (unintentionally) elitist places, cold places, the Cultivate rule is door open at all times, I like the people who come in during the quieter times at this space, art needs to reach out and engage. It was good to be back and back in a working class space, I like it in that little shop, we like that we’ve got to be on first name terms with some of the residents, I like Cultivating in this space, it feels proper, it feels right, it feels real. We enjoyed this show, I are too much cake, I loved it, a very big thanks everyone, thanks for coming, thanks for the cake, art is fun and much more besides, art is life (sw) 

As always, do click on am image to enlarge and see the whole image or t orun the slide show. Links ot ther artists at the bottom of the page.  

Artist line up

YASMIN GRANT
SOFIA MARTINS GRAY
SEAN WORRALL
ROSEMARY JANE CRONIN
MIA JANE HARRIS
JULIA MADDISON
JACK FLORISH
FRANCESCA ALAIMO
EMMA HARVEY
ANDREE ADLEY