And that was Switch The Other, contact to switch the other, this thing will not blow over (it always was an Organ theme tune), another Cultivate show or exhibition or art event of what ever you want to call it? The 193rd Cultivate event. A group show, thirteen artists, over in South London this time, Crystal Palace, in a gloriously messy DIY space, an almost defiant space known as Free The Gallery, an old space almost held together by scaffolding and bits of coloured string down a lane at the foot of a hill in SE19. This is not a white cube, there’s nothing formal here, no straight lines, this is definitely a do it yourself kind of place, a space you’ve got to go with and adapt to, I love it, can’t do it by the book in this space! 

Thirteen artists, and no, I can’t write a review of this one, I curated it, I hung it, my art is part of it, of course I’m going to be positive about the participants, their names are WOLFGANG WOERNER, SUZIE PINDAR, STRAWB3RRY POKES, MIA JANE HARRIS, MARY T. SPENCE, LIZ GRIFFITHS, JULIA MADDISON, FRANCESCA ALAIMO, EMMA HARVEY, DOLLY ADLEY, ANDREE ADLEY and AGATA CARDOSO, all artists who have taken part in Cultivate shows before, well besides Strawb3rry Pokes who, when she’s not part of the art duo Lizard Lizard or her band Jesus And The Zealots, is also a solo performer, a vinyl obsessed DJ and strawberry flavoured tattoo artist who may just have seen the son of god in Tesco’s and may well have a sister called Dolly Adley who in turn is also taking part in a Cultivate show for the first time here in Crystal Palace. And it is important that new artists (to Cultivate) get to share space with those who may just be more familiar to those who regularly come to Cultivate shows. Wolfgang Woener has taken part in our online shows before, he’s on our wall for for a first time with his three big wall hangings as well as a number of smaller pieces, this was a space that demanded a lot of noise from the art and lots of conversations between pieces on the walls, Wolfgang’s three big hangings have a wall of their own, that isn’t to say they are more important than say Suzie Pindar’s very personal book pages, it is just what felt right on the day of the hang.

I can’t review this show though, this is just a record of a show that happened last weekend, an artist led show that happened in a rather left-field DIY art space in South London, a record of thirteen artists coming together to make something happen on their/our own terms, if we don’t make some kind of record of it then who will? I was rather pleased with Agata Cardoso’s rather powerful photography hanging next to the layers of Liz Griffiths or ribbons of Emma Harvey, I was rather satisfied with those bags hanging on the rail just beyond the Julia Maddison pieces, I enjoyed spending times with the precise zestiness of Mary T. Spence’s three beautifully coloured paintings but hey, I can’t be reviewing the show, It happened, here’s some photos, we’ll be along with the 194th event in a moment… (SW)     

As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show