And at some point last week, the Canalboat Contemporary narrow boat slipped through that boat-scrapping tunnel and came back East, she had been over on the West Side of London for a couple of months and it wasn’t that were were being lazy, it just never seemed like there was time to go find it over on the other side of the city where as having the boat back on this side of London means we can just detour a little when hitting the post office or whatever we might need to hit. I mean, as wonderful as that gallery on the side of the boat is (and we have said how wonderful it is a number of times over the last year) and I almost said that “little gallery on the side of the boat”, it might be small in terms of actual size but that’s about all, it is a rather big (hearted) thing and as I was saying, as wonderful as that gallery on the side of the boat is, it hasn’t quite warranted a trek to the other side of the city. The boat is back East now though and east is east as they say. For the last couple of weeks there’s been a rather ambitious group show happening, a show that was on for two weeks. Over a hundred artists and tiny contemporary paintings packed into the cabinet, it started off just down the towpath from Frieze Masters during Frieze week, it has now moved to Hackney and the bit of the canal that’s right by Broadway Market, here’s another #43SecondFilm…  

I mean squeezing over a hundred pieces in there was ambitious, although it has to be said, it didn’t look overcrowded, it looked like a well put together well hung show, plenty of space for each piece not to be competing with the voice of the next one. An open call show (and yes, I have my own issues in terms of curators and galleries who demand a fee from an artist just to make an e.mail submission to a show, personally, as a working artist, I refuse to make submissions to shows that demand a submission fee, it is well documented on the Cultivate website, we won’t go there again here). This is a surprisingly good show, the fact that the art is good was rather expected, quality has been high with Canalboat Contemporary, we haven’t seen a bad show on the side of the boat, it is about the whole thing as one whole though and as one whole thing then Miniature Masters really works, the standard across the the whole thing is high. I must admit I was expecting it to be a little more hit’n miss a few more highs and lows, it was all rather strong and I really don’t want to pick out individual pieces, I don want to cherry pick (although the Licorice Allsorts made me smile). There were lots of strong paintings, strong painterly pieces, many highlights – you can still view most of the pieces on the gallery website. The Canalboat Contemporary boat and the shows have been one of the real positives in terms of artist-led activity in London this year, we look forward to the next shows…  (sw)   

Canal Boat Contemporary, can be found on the towpath by Broadway Market, Hackney, London E8 right now. The boat’s Instagram feed will keep in touch with the constant movement, canal rules mean a more is required every couple of weeks – Canal Boat Contemporary

The Miniature show is now over, the next show is ready to go, it opens on Wednesday November 29th…

“We’re thrilled to present Rachel Coyne in the box next week with her powerful series War on Women: works on paper. After two weeks of Miniature Masters we sadly bid the tiny marvels adieu. But what a way to return to our solo programme – Rachel’s work is urgent, intimate, and politically charged, these works ask us to look closely and not look away. It’s a series which draws from Rubens while confronting the treatment of women in war – both historical and ongoing. This show reminds us what painting can do: provoke, commemorate, and resist. Coyne (b.1988) is an Irish artist living in London. A recent graduate of the RCA’s MA Painting programme, her work is rooted in feminism and social justice”.

The boat is currently found on Regent’s Canal by the bridge at the end of Hackney’s Broadway Market, London E8.

Previously

ORGAN: London Gallery Weekend pt.1 – A rather busy opening of a strong Anderson Borba show at The Approach, off to Kearsey and Gold for the opening of Filippo Antonello’s exhibition Aufheben, that and more at Canalboat Contemporary…

ORGAN THING: Back to Canal Boat Contemporary, this time Henry Ward, a painter exploring the language of paint in a rather rewarding way…

ORGAN THING: Back to the delight of the Canal Boat Contemporary, last week that box on the side of the boat featured the paintings of Lucile Haefflinger, this week we find Lindsay Mapes and her excellent Pick’n Mix installation…

ORGAN THING: Tony Rainbird and his painterly zing in the box on the toepath at Canal Boat Contemporary, Victoria Park, East London…

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