A quick catch up with the boat floats on, the non-stop thing that is the Canalboat Contemporary, weekly exhibitions in that box on the side of the canal boat that floats up and down Regent’s Canal here in London as it has been doing all year and for quite a bit longer than that now. For the last three or four weeks the floating gallery has been tied up first in Hackney by Broadway Market and now a little further on down by the greenery of Victoria Park. This week we find a Dan MacCarthy exhibition happening in the December gloom of East London, it would be fair to say the weekly gatherings for the openings aren’t quite so much fun or indeed quite as busy in the darkness of winter as they are in the bright light of Summer, it was rather cold down on the the footpath last week for Dan’s opening and the unveiling of his rather lyrical painting Will ‘O the Wisp.
Will O’ the Wisp, a large piece for the boat, 180×60cm, oil on canvas, a piece painted recently, a piece that rather dramatically takes up the whole of that now familiar box on the side of the boat. It is, so we are told, “MacCarthy’s modern interpretation of the folklore surrounding ghostly lights seen across wetlands — natural bioluminescence once thought to lure, guide, or mislead travellers. In his version, the lantern becomes a pair of car headlamps” and here we are trying to view what looks to be a rather intriguing interpretation of the piece in the darkness of the towpath and the harsh lights of the canal boat. I like it, I like the movement, I like the flow of the painting, or at least of what I can see of the painting in this light (really need ot come back in the daylight)
The week before was, hang on what was it? It is kind of meshing into one big thing, all these endless boats shows, was it Jennifer Pochinski or did we miss one in between? They do come rather quickly, blink and you do miss one, the boat has been one of the finer parts of a rather lacklustre London art year this year.
“such a pleasure to welcome Jennifer Pochinski to London last week – and to host her fabulous riot of colour Five Nudes, which has been bringing zing and energy and a slice of Mediterranean sunshine to the towpath all week. Last couple of days to see the show in person…it’s a treat not to miss” shouted the captain of the boat. We caught it late on a rather dull Sunday afternoon, the European-based American-born painter certainly brought some rather energetic colour to the proceedings. Five works apparently created at the end of a six-month period of transition, when the artist was moving back and forth between Greece and Paris; “Working with oil sticks and pastels allowed me to keep working without a studio, and to let my habits dissolve so the environment could enter by osmosis. These works were made in the final days before I left Greece in October: a burst of urgency before settling for good in France. Something shifted in the process. Voilà…”
Here’s another #43SecondFilm…
Jennifer Pochinski is an American painter of significant standing – raised in Hawaii, with a BFA in Painting from the University of Hawaii, an artist whose bold, expressive work has been exhibited in London, New York, San Francisco and beyond. It is a shame then that, other than at the very busy opening night when it was almost impossible to see anything for the big crowd, people were kind of moving past without paying much attention. Well not much attention while I was sitting there on Sunday afternoon while the boat was all alone. It really needed someone hosting it all, the boat just being left with no signage on the towpath and without any kind of interaction or indeed human presence kind of lacked something. yes, the box on the side of the boat, rather like a window gallery, is designed to not need people to look after it (it really does need people, art needs people, it needs engagement!) and these five bold paintings really did deserve a little more attention. I’m sitting here just watching coffee-cup-clutching people walking by, watching dogs walk by, ducks walking by, it was the same the Sunday before for the Liam Mertens exhibition at the same Broadway Market here in Hackney. I really like what artist Pushka is doing with his boat, it has been a joy all year, but things like this surely need interaction, that need a presence, some kind of host to engage, some kind of “hey, yes, hello, this is what we’re doing…”, but then art at this level in London doesn’t really seem to want engage at the moment, it all seems to be about opening nights and hanging out with your art school mates at private views and that will do, don’t leave that bubble now. Five really energetic, alive pieces, five jolts of painterly energy from Jennifer Pochinski in the late November gloom of East London then, five rather exciting piece of work, five slices of an artist’s energy, her bold though. Five fine pieces….
Liam Mertens was part of that rather busy Miniature Masters group show at Canalboat Contemporary back in August during Frieze Week and as a result was “chosen by the judges to have a solo show in our travelling glass cabinet of art”. I’m never a fan of judges and winners and pitching artists against each other like we’re at some kind of sports event, nor indeed am I a fan of entering and certainly not a fan of having to pay a fee to just enter some kind of on-line selection process, I have said this many times, I just don’t like it, art isn’t a competition. Liam on the other hand did pay his entry fee and as a result he has himself the prize of a solo show called Pull Gently. And yes, we’ll let Pushka, curator of the gallery on the side of the boat and indeed the man at the helm of his floating studio tell us about Liam’s work. I can’t say I was quite so enthusiastic about Liam’s paintings mounted playfully of hardened noodle backgrounds as Pushka or his judges were but hey, I guess there were kind of playful, here’s what the gallery said about the work; “an intriguing, humorous, playful, and somehow meaningful show. These techno-meets-renaissance vibes speak very much to our present – that kind of hauntological forever history we find ourselves in – yet in a way that doesn’t feel pastiche. More like a remix. They also just look really good!”
Here’s yet another #43SecondFilm…
These ongoing weekly exhibitions on the side of the boat have been rather positive, it is certainly more of a Summer thing than a Winter one, good to see it carrying on though, good to see the boat and the art still there in the Winter months, good to see the commitment as well as the intent, just good to see really. Up next Orlando Seale, here’s what the gallery have to say…
“We’re delighted to welcome Orlando Seale, a painter whose work carries the same sensitivity and presence as his background in performance, clowning and improvisation, Seale approaches the canvas with a rare mix of intuition, playfulness and emotional depth. His paintings explore transformation, mortality, the unconscious and mystery – not with heaviness, but with a kind of open curiosity. Movement, the body and time spent in nature are central to the work; images rise from dreams, myth and the shifting inner landscape, meeting and merging with what’s observed in the world around us. A little every day, and love brings these threads together with a quiet, searching vitality. All welcome next week by Victoria Park”
That’s right, Wednesday 10th December for the opening night of Orlando’s week. The boat in just down from the bridge where Cambridge Heath Road becomes Mare Street here in London E8. Just a short walk of about four minutes in the direction of Victoria Park and away from Broadway Market or alternatively by the entry at the top of Victoria Park itself (and hey, just a short walk from the DIY space that is Underbelly where the last Underbelly of the year is happening, you could go see them both). Do love that boat… (sw)
Links: Website – Canal Boat Contemporary / Instagram
Previously
As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show…
THE ORGAN 