Beatriz Olabarrieta, Next of Kin at Rose Easton, Bethnal Green, East London, January 2026 – I’ll admit it was kind of disappointing to arrive at Rose Easton’s corner last Saturday afternoon, what the hell? Where’s all that beautiful paint gone? All those layers, those years of beautiful layers. The real beauty of graff and tags and marks is the build up, the collective gathering of colour, marks, the spontaneous unplanned nature of it all, all those fingerprints from all those artists or vandals or artist-vandals all building up in way it never would if that was the plan, the ever evolving nature of it all. That front of the building that has hosted Rose Easton’s gallery for three or four years now had been maturing for decades, like a fine wine, years of paint, years of people, a thing of beauty, and suddenly, the front is stark, the paint is gone, the glass front is just that, another rather functionally boring dated glass fronted industrial building with only that clock at the top to give it anything. I guess we’ll get over the shock and I guess the new building number painted on the class that does fall in with the Rose Easton look (that gallery was always kind of hidden unless you actually knew it was there, another one of those art spaces that doesn’t seem to want people to come in or is that the point, something about the mystery? The needing to be in the know?) 

Rose Easton Gallery did seem to enjoy hiding behind all that paint almost as much as the gallery hides behind those graphics and that admitted rather delicious font of theirs, the mailing lists that tell you nothing beyond the in-house style, something both infuriating and at the same time something to kind of buy in to and yes, (almost) admire (actually no, it is infuriating, all style and no substance – for no substance read no information, those mailouts and that website is next to useless other than in terms of being a piece of rather good looking piece of minimalist art in itself). I do like Rose Easton Gallery though – not that anyone at the gallery gives two hoots what I think – I do like the art you find in the space, if nothing else it is always interesting, always stimulating, challenging, you never leave the space thinking an ambiguous so what and now that the gallery has expanded to take up the larger next door space in the upstairs building we’re rather looking forward to what Rose Easton will offer in 2026 (the bigger of the two spaces was being made ready for next week’s Condo opening last weekend (watch this space, find a Condo 2026 preview here). 

So that glass and that stripped back look to the building is something to do with artist Beatriz Olabarrieta, a Spanish multimedia artist (b1979) based in London and Barcelona whose practice spans sculpture, video, performance and writing. something to do with exploring the “intrinsic voice” of construction materials, that and subverting their traditional functions to create site-specific installations that resemble stages for open-ended narratives. Well she’s certainly removed the colour and rather a lot of art from the street outside, is it (almost) an arrogant act? Another aloof gallery and/or not wanting to engage? I mean in many ways the windows now being inside and up on the gallery wall as pieces of art is an exciting development, it is engaging if you are part of that select audience, that small art bubble, and yes, those pieces of glass on a gallery wall, even though most of the paint and the colour has been removed (destroyed?), indeed buffed, is a challenging thing. As art on a gallery wall, and an exhibition it does throw out many questions, it does challenge, in maybe annoys? And yes maybe we are kind of secretly hoping 10Foot, Flash, Time or one of the current crop shows up and tags the show and the pieces that are now art, I’m guessing the nice new windows won’t last that long, Youts will be along on his pushbike in the dark of night any moment now, but then all that is surely rather tedious as well these says isn’t it? Who cares who farted in yoga or how Nat is doing these days?   

And yes we are dancing around the architecture of the space again (that and avoiding the yellow snow outside) and the removed windows now on the gallery wall, there to be looked at like you never did when you walked passed them to get in to the previous shows here and almost all the marks on those windows gone now they are on the gallery wall – years and year of marks, years of history removed, well ten years really, it kind of built up sometimes after 2015 (but it wasn’t really history, it wasn’t anything of value, it certainly wasn’t art was it?), and what the hell are these window pains (with almost all the marks missing) doing on the gallery wall anyway? And that is why it is as exciting as it is annoying isn’t it? I mean, it is a little more than another painting of another leaf or flower or whateverthehell, I mean it is a lot more than that Helch exhibition (and the limited edition print and the soon to be released coffee table book) up the road…. 

Yes the space is transformed, maybe people can see it now although surely that wasn’t the point? Is there a point? What is the point? What is my point? Why am I bothering to bang out words on the cold Monday morning after the weekend before when I could be doing so many other things? All that beautiful paint, all that colour, that twenty or more years of layers of beauty built up, who said Beatriz Olabarrieta could just remove it all in the name of art? Was it an arrogant act? What does it say about art and who art is for? Not for you you scum bags, this is for the talking classes, the self appointed self declared thinkers, for those above the likes of you and me? For those who understand art and what it is. How to read this exhibition? How to read this? 

The booklet with the text is a nice rich purplish blue colour in the grim light of January and there’s that Rose Easton text so that’s alright then. There’s an exhibition text by Mariel Franklin. Apparently downstairs where once there were sculptures, there are now photos of the sculptures, the artist has chosen to replace the actual pieces with photos of the pieces, did I miss them? The photos I mean? Nevermind, here’s another #43SecondFilm of a Postie going past and was that a jogger? Jog on mate, this isn’t for you, still, they’ve cleaned the mess up, they all want locking up or made to do national service, there’s no respect there days, they’d get a clip around the ear in my day… 

Is that text a record of the show? Indeed is this a record of the show? Is any of it a record? Do we need a record? Are the images records? The pieces of art, the pieces of buffed glass? Will this be the only record? This piece on this website? All these shows that have been and gone that only now exist as reviews on these fractured pages? Maybe we should wipe it all clean as well? Do we need a record? Do we need any of this? Shall I walk to the gallery again next weekend? A field of strange and unpredictable states emerging between… Did we need to post this, maybe delete most of it? Remove it? Remove big parts of it? Should I say I like this show or exhibition or whatever it is or would that blow it? Who cares?  (sw)   

Beatriz Olabarrieta, Next of Kin is at Rose Easton Gallery until 28th February 2026, find it at 223 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 0EL. The space is open Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 6pm although there’s never an indication that it is open and there’s very little sign that it is a gallery outside, just press the buzzer and hope….