Taylor Silk, Soft Domme at Wilton Way Gallery, London Fields, Hackney, East London, opening night 9th January 2025 – It was very much about the event last night, any attempt at serious critical analysis of what looked like rather intriguing exciting work came with elbows in ribs, heels on toes, glimpses over shoulders in semi-darkness of a very crowded rather small basement, Taylor Silk’s packed opening night, in the freezing cold of early January, felt like the first genuinely real event of the new London art year. Soft Domme, for that is the name of the show, felt like great fun, it felt like a collective excitement shared out there on that cold cold Hackney street as well as in the gallery basement (and window space) of Retrouvé Vintage’s shop on Wilton Way (just off London Fields) here in East London. 

Before anything else, In those temperatures, Fanny Bleach‘s brilliant performance out on the packed pavement was to be doubly admired. Taylor Silk’s art is an intriguing multi-layered delight – yes, she’s playful, yes it is fun, yes it is lots of fun, yes it is slightly rebellious, almost defiantly so, but those are just the surface layers, there’s a depth here, there’s lots to explore, to peel back, to be more than curious about. She say’s her artistic practice is currently focused around rug making, as if to hint it hasn’t always been that way? – “the tactile aspect of rug making has turned my images into objects that are intended to be touched and interacted with” – the layers of those wall-hung rugs are just the start of it – and yes there is a desire to touch – the tactileness and the bold colour is just the start of it, there’s a lot to read here, a lot to be read into both the art and the artist, the layers of the art and the person making it. These are pieces that challenge, that throw out questions as much as they offer answers (if indeed we were looking for answers? Were we? I’m not sure we were?), this is strong positive engaging inviting provoking art, it also lots of fun.  

Taylor Silk talks of her interest in queer and alternative culture, of an interest in art that comes with the flavours of fetish, of female power, domination and submission, the cultural construction of sensuality, something both innocent and provocative, of these things as something that have moulded her desire to create. She talks of gritty glamour, of many things, actually she’s written a very interesting piece to go with the exhibition that she’s photocopied old-school DIY fanzine style on pink paper that goes with the telephone box tart card style show invites. She talks of the fetish world being a place when women are free to push boundaries on their terms, of her art being in a place where she can control her own narrative, it certainly feels like everything here is on her terms, done her way, under her control – under Her control, it does feel like Her joyous rebellion should be addressed with a respectful capital H to the “Her”.

Actually some of this is not that far removed from Susie Green’s equally serious equally playful Play Time show of late last year at Union Gallery or maybe some of Emma Harvey‘s work maybe? There’s dots being joined here as well as honesty, triumph, resilience, control being taken, art of the artist’s terms, on the female’s terms. Soft Domme is a strong show, a fun show, a show that’s way more than just playfulness. As for the art itself, well we are in the packed opening evening crowd and the shadows cast by the people, if is hard to get a real look, but those wall hangings are great, as is that last minute star painted on the white floor. Everything about this show feels good, feels right, feels positive, feels strong and yes, last night was great fun, a proper event and an artist (and indeed gallery) to watch out for. Definitely a show that needs to be visited again in hopefully the warmer light of day, an excellent start to the London Art Scene’s year. Excellent opening night. (sw)

Wilton Way Gallery is found at 61 Wilton Way, Hackney, London E8 1BG. expect. The show goes on until February 28th and the gallery is found down in the small basement of a dressmakers shop not far from London Fields, a space that’s open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am until 5pm. More from the gallery website or their social media

Taylor Silk on Instgram

As always, do please click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show and get a small flavour of the crowded opening night.