Dirt in the Eye, Gnossienne Gallery at 1 Lower Clapton Road, Hackney, East London – Another London show, there’s always another London art show, another London art show that really should have been covered while it was still happening and before it was all lost like all the others that no one ever bothered to cover. If an exhibition falls in a forest while no one is looking did it ever really happen? So many good shows that no one ever records, they come and go like bears taking abstract dumps in situationist woods and no one is ever really sure they ever did actually happen. Bears? Art shows? Who knows? Where were we? I know this one should have been covered while it was still actually happening although in my defence this time I will offer that I did cut through Hackney’s Narrow Way (in the rain, avoiding all those bears), I did cut up to the start of Lower Clapton Road and the space the rather new and currently nomadic Gnossienne Gallery had taken over for their exhibition, I actually cut up there twice during their published opening times only to find no sign of life at the space on both occasions (there’s never really any signs of life other than on opening nights in that rather quiet gallery at the top of the Narrow Way, they’re good at social media at number one Lower Clapton Road, not so good at real life and open doors though).
Third time lucky after some social media exchanges just to establish someone was actually really actually going to really be there this time before making the effort for a third and final time (in the rain again) on what was the last day of what looked like it might be a rather interesting group show. Hey, they’d been bugging us to come review it, it looked interesting on line, it looked worth the effort, we wanted to see it and support it, it is what we do here and when I finally did get past the wild bears and the falling trees and battle up Hackney’s Narrow Way to catch the show on the final day, it was worth it, it was a rather good show.
No labels on the work mind you, and no information anywhere in the room, no bits of paper, no gallery statement on the wall or anything to be had, kind of difficult to know which of the four artists involved has done what? It is an interesting show though, a subtle show, an understated refined restrained quiet uncluttered four artist group show. Quiet conversations between the well spaced well hung pieces, a thoughtfully curated mix that maybe should not have worked quite so well as it actually did. The information in terms of who had done what is all there on Gnossienne’s rather clean cut website (although best to ignore the rather bad art school statement about the show) and hey, why can’t we just have it there in the room, are we really required to have a damn phone in hand at all times now? What is so wrong with a label? What is we don’t have a phone to hand in the gallery? What if we can’t see one? What if we really do have dirt in out eyes?
The artists involved were Tasneem Sarkez, Anna Clegg, Uccella Khan-Thomas and Polly Plowden. I did have to go look that up when I got back, Dirt in the Eye is apparently a comment on the way art is viewed, although this is pretty polite and as good as most of it is, a somewhat conventional by-the-book-gallery show, you were not going to walk out feeling you’d been challenged in the terms of the way you look at art, not sure what the comment on how we view art is? So the show was eventually caught on the very last day, third time lucky, it was good, these words wouldn’t be here if the show wasn’t worth bothering with and yes, if it had actually been open on on the first weekend (or at least when I went on the first weekend) I would probably have come back here and said something on these fractured pages while it was still actually on. It wasn’t, I didn’t get to see until the last hour of the last day, so I throw the photos in the corner and left the half written review over there and got on with the millions of other time demanding things that peck away every day, I mean, it had already been and gone, what was the rush? Indeed what is the point in picking up the review and finishing it now, weeks later? Who really cares? Who cares about anything on these damn pages for that matter? Well I do actually, not about these damn pages you understand, do care about all these great art shows that no one can be bothered to cover or these Garbage Pale kids that no one loves, about disasters, fires, floods and killer bees, It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Dirt in the Eye was a good show, I left feeling positive, it deserved a moment of our time and space, we’d like to see more from the fledgling and currently nomadic Gnossienne Gallery, the curation was good, the hang was right, yes it was polite, it was Aa positively quiet, it was rather by the book, sometimes that can be enough, it can be right, the information was lacking, why show an artist’s work if you’re not going to tell us who they are (or make us jump through hoops to find the information?) and open you’re damn door and make sure someone is there during the hours you say someone will be there, I know it can be tough, but that is how it is, I know more than most about sitting in galleries on cold wet Thursday afternoons. I liked this show and I like the way Gnossienne made no big claims, the art was left to do the talking, there was no swagger, no tedious attitude, it was refreshing, it was good, we look forward to more dirt in our eyes… (sw)
THE ORGAN 