Edition XVI
March 2022
Editors Damian Rayne Gosia Malawska
Whats on 3-4.............................................................. .......Cecilia di Paolo 5.............................................................................Rory Watson 6.................................................................................Tim Major 7.............................................................................. Alex Harley 8..........................................................................Louisa Crispin 9....................................................................Marek E Olszewski 10-11................................................................. Richenda Court 12-13......................................................................Empty pages 14-15........................................................Looky here, with Amir 16-17....................................................Arthur Sokk and the Path 18................................................................ Anthropomorphism 19........................................................The Galleries Association 20....................................................................Portobello Dance 21......................................................Piers, what’s on your mind? 22-24...................................................................Serena Morton
About...
In our online version, we focus on partner organisations, guest artists and residents to bring you a preview of ‘what is’, and ‘what’s to be expected’. We also have links to a wealth of online content this month, including: sound art files for music producers, virtual tours and interviews with our partner organisation (The Galleries Association), and a cross-section of counter-culture to be found in West London The Muse was established in 2003 as an artist-led organisation, supporting both gallery and studio elements. Our gallery is situated in the heart of North Kensington, amongst the Georgian houses of Portobello Market. We host an annual residency programme with subsidised studio space and further show opportunities for recent graduates. We open our doors to artists throughout the year, curating the space to present a balance of emerging and established professionals. In 2020 we were proud to support three new residents and a diverse list of national and international artists. We hope you enjoy a collection of work in this periodical; hopefully, collectable images, whether online or printed — accessible art for our readership.
2022 continued... OFFICIAL ACCESS TO THE MUSE in March Opening hours: Thursday/Friday / Saturday/Sunday 12-6pm Please check our website for up to date information
The MUSE Gallery (UK Charity for the arts No.1162300) 269, Portobello Rd. London W11 1LR www.themuseat269.com info@themuseat269.com Twitter: Muse_Gallery 2
Cover - Cecilia Di Paolo
Cecilia Di Paolo We all have those objects. The ones we cherish. The ones we touch for comfort. The ones that knock the air out of us at just a glimpse. They catapult us into the past, these things we know we should throw away, but don’t. From a handwritten break-up letter, to a discarded pack of Marlboro Lights, each inanimate object hits a nerve and begs the question: is there anything worth keeping, once love is lost? This is the question photographer Cecilia Di Paolo explores in her upcoming Solo Show: “To the Ones I’ve Dated.” In her still life photography of the items that were given or left behind by lovers, Cecilia captures the correlation between the emotional and the material world, irrational, however undeniable; An exhibition that celebrates our memories and attachments.Writer Samantha Ellis ties the objects with a narrative thread to their history, penning each object to life and giving the reader a glimpse into the significance to its possessor, big or small. We invite the viewers to experience emotion, humour, and closure. This is the inaugural show in the exhibit, with the artist planning on expanding on the collection and welcoming participants for its final photo book. Cecilia Di Paolo is a London based artist. Originating from Italy, and Educated at the Arts University Bournemouth. Di Paolo’s body of work, primarily realised through photography, film and performance, explores and deconstructs cultural notions of intimacy, tenderness and love through a dystopian lens. A visual exploration of the relationship between humans and objects.At the heart of Cecilia’s work is the intensely human pursuit of connection; a reimagined line between artwork and audience, reaching out and inviting you to affix yourself with the work, fulfilled through the tactility of her self portraiture and still life. www.cecedipaolo.com
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Cecilia Di Paolo, “To the Ones I’ve Dated.” 17 March - 3 April 2022
Rory Watson, solo show 19 May - 5 June 2022 5
Alex Harley a www.lexandraharley.co.uk Inspired by the diverse physicalities inherent to bronze, wood, ceramic, paper and stone, and enjoy probing their strengths, limits and contradictions. Each material functions as both a starting point and a process, a core element and a guiding rhythm, through which I seek to capture and elucidate fleeting moments. The making process with each material offers challenges as I develop compound constructions with airways through the sculpture, playing as necessary a role as the material. The pulsing relationships between forms advance the interchange between each element within the sculptures as a whole. This sense of internal movement is crucial in my work, inhabiting and enlivening the complex forms of my sculptures. Louisa Crispin www.louisacrispinart.co.uk The FlightPath series explores the materiality of graphite media whilst considering the plight of our less popular insects. The narrative is focused on wildlife corridors, the importance of a network of routes between habitats to ensure diversity, and aims to resolve the the tension between abstraction and figuration while encouraging open discussion. These concertina sculptures have focused my attention on the barriers to nature as I catch glimpses of insects between the folds and struggle to find empty space to draw a wasp within the marks. It’s become a metaphor for the struggle in nature. Words are not yet formed around Passage. It’s a visceral response to the materials and the moment that may or may not become along conversation Marek E Olszewski www.emczek.com “My new mixed media style has been self-discovered and self-developed in the lockdowns of 2021. Having a lot of time on my hands, I started to experiment with concrete, gold leaf, acrylic mediums and resin, but still connected with photography. The series contains sculptures and 2D work, merging rough industrial materials with something as precious as 24ct gold leaf. The photographs used in the series are mostly aerial, depicting light-shadow play and fascinating patterns of the vast natural world”. Tim Major Tim Major is an Etcher, Illustrator and Cartoonist. He is a member of the Greenwich Printmakers Association. His illustrations have appeared in numerous publications including The Observer, New Statesman and the Radio Times, and he has worked as a storyboard artist at Saatchi Advertising. During 2020/21 Tim produced this series of covid-themed cartoons, three of which were published in The Critic magazine. “The pangolin soup and the PPE sourcing with the plague mask are particularly good. But all are remarkable observations on a bizarre year.” - Professor Karol Sikora, former head of cancer research at the World Health Organization.
Tim Major 6
Alex Harley 7
Louisa Crispin
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Marek E Olszewski
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Glass Town by Richenda Court ARE ‘Glass Town’ is a new body of work created in the past two years by artist printmaker Richenda Court. The work includes large expansive linocuts, etchings, line drawings and an animated film, created with animator Hannah Brewerton and musician, sound artist Amit Rai Sharma. The film, funded by a small Arts Council grant, was recently selected for the prestigious International Original Print Exhibition at Bankside Gallery. The exhibition at The Muse Gallery is the first time the body of work has been exhibited together. ‘Glass Town’ is an unfolding story of a Girl and Boy who venture into a paused world. The couple encounter a world of crystals, glass chess pieces which leads them on a journey to question, then reflect on their circumstances and dreams. On a parallel level the project symbolises the emotional narrative of the recent pandemic and how reflection, vulnerability and fragility has affected us all. The Glass Town project, like much of Court’s work, is based on her intricate sketchbook line drawings. These drawings are the foundation of the project and the springboard for the prints. There are two main large prints ‘Glass Town I’ & ‘Glass Town II’ which are a combination of linocut, etching and an oil based wash printed in three stages. ‘ The viewer can feel movement in the illustrative marks she makes, and also in the complex compositions that comprise rich printed layers that become imaginative narrative….” An extract from ‘Dancing Forward’ written by Chrystal Cherniwchan in Printmaking Today, September 2021. For a long time Court has wished to experiment with animation in her work. Her background in contemporary dance allowed movement into the work and was always an ambition she wanted to fulfil. Court was drawn to the playful experimentation of Hannah Brewerton’s animation style and begun sharing drawings, prints and poems which marked the beginning of the collaborative process. The original complimentary soundtrack is created by Amit Rai Sharma who offered to make the music. Amit, at the time, was supporting the ‘Glass Town’ project from it’s conception building the framework of the exhibition at the Muse Gallery in publicity and marketing. Her rich compositions are deconstructed into playful and experimental fragments and the accompanying soundscape could just easily be for two dancers as the animated sequences move like a gentle dialogue.’ An extract from ‘Dancing Forward’ written by Chrystal Cherniwchan in Printmaking Today, September 2021. Court sees the prints from ‘Glass Town’ as stand-alone moments. In the two main linocuts Glass Town I, the Girl is resting, and in Glass Town II, the Boy is holding the crystals, contemplating the reflections and balances in his life. They are both at the beginning of the journey into entering the ‘paused world’. The film by contrast is there to offer a third dimension to the project. A moving, floating metaphysical journey bringing the figures to life and showing the reflective path of the project. Unequivocally the project is influenced by the pandemic, and how we have all had to sit quietly, re-assess where we are and possibly look more closely at our hopes and dreams for ourselves as well as others. Court graduated from Brighton Polytechnic in Expressive Arts, Fine Art and Contemporary Dance and studied for many years under Richard Michell and Frank Connolly at Morley College. Court is an associate member of the Royal Society of Painters and Printmakers exhibiting regularly at Bankside Gallery and an active member of LOOP artists. Exhibitions include Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of British Arts at The Mall Galleries and Henry Sotherans Ltd. Prizes include Stuart Southall Printmaking Prize at Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition. Her work can be seen in many private and public collections including the British Library, The Ashmolean Museum and the V & A National Archive of Print. www.richendacourt.co.uk Insta: @richendacourt
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Richenda Court, Glass Town
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www.musetheatre.london
No Exit - Directred by Victor Shobchak introducing Muse Group Theatre Company (MGTC) A review of Muse Theatre (www.musetheatre.london) By Jemimma Harrow I wasn’t expecting much from this, my one evening out on the town. I’d volunteered to write a review for a local blog and sacrificed a night watching Netflix for something more enriching, or so I’d hoped. I arrived early to find a ghoul at the door and a small boutique shopfront, no theatre insight. It was less than obvious a play was about to start; the space was empty, with all the stark, minimalist aesthetics one would expect from a small West London Gallery. But not for long as, if by magic, a speakeasy type theatre suddenly appeared; tables stored, lights erected and chairs laid out in rows, with dramatic lighting transforming the space on a penny – the show was about to begin. The play ‘No Exit’, an adaptation of Satre and condensed by director Victor Sobchak, was craftily performed by a solid cast of actors. Three souls trapped in purgatory, each with a different story and each with a signature penance to pay for a life of ill-will and disrepute. It seemed like art imitating life within a gallery (shutters down). A classic tale of love, triangular betrayal and emotional torment; a night out on North Portobello Road. The performances were nothing short of riveting. Penny Bosworth (Inez) masterfully channelled the vitriolic if the not oozing character of a miscreant dominatrix, her portrayal chilling and energy authentically malevolent. Zoe Vernon, in the role of Estelle, parried her antithesis marvellously with innocence, yet ultimate cynicism, that swung the pendulum far further than I was expecting on a Thursday evening. Cristina Hogas as Garcin held his co-ladies together well, a condensed emotional oddest from possession, realisation to lust and ultimately love and betrayal; quite the formidable achievement in only seventy five minutes of running time and least we forget… the ‘ghoul’ at the door, Maximilian L’Olive playing the Valet. The one character represents the underworld and a meta addition to the audience experience, welcoming us and showing us straight to hell. A great night out in the end, albeit a surprise, and for only £10 with a flyer. I would say, worth keeping in touch with www.musetheatre.London and Muse Group Theatre Company (Director Penny Bosworth) for future performances, I understand to be monthly very soon.
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https://bit.ly/35sE8Js
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‘Looky here, with Amir’ A word about the ‘A’ word published monthy, as series of articles and editorials...
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Parrhesia
by Amir Dehghan “Parrhesia”, a term developed by Michel Foucault, borrowed from Greek terminology. The term describes the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk. In a world of fake news and disinformation, Ai Weiwei imitates the mimicry the CCP champions in response to globalisation in his current show at Cambridge’s Kettle’s yard. Weiwei juxtaposes Chinese antiquities with his own artworks, carbon copies of the antiquities collaged with post-consumerist imagery. Ai swings the spotlight on the CCP, a critique on the CCPs integrity throughout China’s ultrasonic development; in the process, reinforcing the infamous blockade that denies him access to China. In a conversation at his private view, Weiwei jokingly said, “According to the Guardian, I’m not even an Artist, don’t know what china’s problem is with me” in response to the Guardian’s critique on him... All jokes aside, Weiwei has a history of back-handing his heritage, poking at it with his middle finger with the aim of unearthing the cracks throughout China’s past and current affairs. From His most controversial 1994 work, “Dropping a Han dynasty urn”, dropping a 2,000-yearold Chinese Vase*, caught in a series of photographs, a reminder of the evils of the Mao, to his current show, which exhibits multiple counterfeits of historical antiquities, a query into the CCP’s definition authenticity in the age of consumerism. Ai Weiwei is a political provocateur; he embodies philosopher Michael Foucault’s “Parresiasttes”, Ai places his relationship and access to home (China) secondary, ever since he went under self-imposed exile in 2018 focusing now on uttering the raw truth for the greater good. Kettles Yard is one of his strongest critiques yet, an act of pure bravery. In his current show, Weiwei demonstrates how legitimacy contrasts between the West and the East; he has shown antiquated Chinese craftsmanships at auction alongside his own works, commissioned to imitate the more seasoned works such as a vase with a winged serpent on it that’s based on a centuries ancient relic but was made as of late. His lack of abstraction to the addition of antiquities shows confidence that Foucault would commend. Wherever you stand on the CCP’s issues, it’s clear Ai makes statements that he feels strongly about, irrespective of how it’s likely to go down with either his supporters or detractors, it’s clear he is an artist who speaks his mind and is willing to offend those across the political spectrum on issues he feels strongly about. Upstairs, Weiwei has a selection of videos that sheds light on his previous work, setting his tone for those folk that don’t know about his history of creative disruption. In the history of Chinese social cinema, Ai has part: his movies on the 2008 Sichuan seismic tremor and the annihilation amplified by the state’s disappointments emphasised the right of the citizen to confront power, constantly shoving the camera in front of figures of supposed responsibility. That jagged naturalism — of the defiant activist wielding a mobile camera — has slipped away. The stronger sculptures, on the other hand, deal with contemporary global issues, “the paradox of forgery is that art often requires some measure of self-deception”, Weiwei reminds us of the craftsmanship behind the art forgery market whilst poetically bringing to light the cracks within the CCPs authenticity and integrity throughout China’s turbulent incline.p The presentation contains capable works and a few that miss the check – reproducing a sex toy in jade is fun but feels puerile compared to the more heavyweight pieces, though any chance to see Ai’s thought inciting works ought to be lapped up, as he’s a parrhesiastes that we can all learn from, a modern day Sun Yat-Sen. Both are a show that provokes us to question the realities we all gaze at whilst also critiquing and shedding light on the flaws within his home country.
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ArThuR SokK &
The Path
This episodic tale is of chaotic scrambling vs in-depth investigation, follwing Arthur Sokk (aka Artie) on his journey to understanding the path of an independent artist in the year 2022 and beyond…
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Intro: Arthur S kk was everyone you’ve ever known (or heard of), who one day woke up engaged in an emotional relationship with the world and decided to do something about it. What Arthur decided to do was paint and write and sculpt and film and compose and sing; everything his bounteous heart could think of, using every tool and creative discipline afforded to his weary soul. ‘Weary?’ you may say... yes ‘weary’ and why… because Arthur had been trodden on for most of his life, under the foot of the cold logic of post industrial revolution – a million miles away from his particular brand of deep magical thinking. Chapter 1 First contact. Arthur’s work was going well, thanks to an extended period of negative introspection and self-loathing. Just like every Monday, he’d two primed canvases on the wall, his trusty Rasberry Pi at the ready and enough fags to last half a day (maybe). He sat by the window on the second floor of his Mum‘s house and checked a favourate Twitter account: Fine Art Thesis Idea Generator (@FineArtThesis). ‘Transparent discourses of non-binary dimensions in pre-21st Century art’, it said that day. He smiled. ‘Yeah.’ As if his mind transmitted directly to his algorythm, an image of a group show simultaneously appeared on his feed. He sat bolt upright transfixed. Suddenly life and death in utter isolation seemed like a terrible idea, although it never had until then.On the screen in front of Arthur, a group of smiling slightly soiled folks paraded around a loft space with sculptures and paintings covering every surface of the room. The article read... ‘Syndicated spaces features group show by ’Far Queue PLC (FQPLC)’ a Middlesex collective on the path to greatness. West London rates relief was the opportunity, local charity partners the answer. Joel Fisch and Ashley Borkowski from FQPLC linked with a local charity in West London to take over five thousand square feet of office space and set up a group show of contemporary, if not incendiary art.’ ‘West London?’ He said, clicking on the reference link. This was it,finally the means to show his work, collaborate with others and get out of the closet and explode on the art scene. He started typing as fast as his nose would allow... Hi Gallery I am a typical artist on a journey from the studio to establishing a career in the industry. I am writing an episodic tale, whether successful or not, to expose functional models that provide space and commercial subsidy. I am beginning this narrative with ‘rates relief’, as an opportunity for up and coming talent and managers... that’s what brought your work to my attention. I’d be very grateful to ask some questions and learn of your experiences and the nature of resources made available to you. Whether public or private sectors, I am on the hunt for models to keep projects afloat, arts practice subsidised or organisations that you are either involved with or aware of currently championing emerging talent. This is not an inquisition into investment opportunity in the conventional sense; however, more a means to expose success within the industry to support career paths for myself along side talented souls at the beginning of their journey. So, I was wondering if you could share a few minutes out of yourschedule for a quick conversation about your organisation, model, ethos and any advice you’d give someone starting? From this conversation, I will be writing the article with your input and in a capacity you feel comfortable with – names optional. Excited to hear back from you Artie He smacked the send button and waited, a second, a minute, an hour, a day. The days past and after a week... nothing! To be continuedaq1§
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Anthropomorphism
Learn to pronounce noun the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object.
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THE GALLERIES ASSOCIATION
www.thegalleriesassociation.co.uk
Galleries on the Tour David Hill Gallery 345 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 6HA davidhillgallery.net Design Museum 224-238 Kensington High St London W8 6AG designmuseum.org Elephant West 62 Wood Lane London W12 7RH elephantwest.art/ Frestonian Gallery 2 Olaf Street W11 4BE London frestoniangallery.com Graffik Gallery 284 Portobello Road W10 5TE London graffikgallery.co.uk
Japan House 101-111 Kensington High St London W8 5SA japanhouselondon.uk The Muse Gallery 269 Portobello Road W11 1LR London themuseat269.com Serena Morton Gallery 343 Ladbroke Grove London W10 6HA serenamorton.com Unit One Gallery|Workshop 1 Bard Rd, London W10 6TP unit1gallery-workshop.com Whitewall Galleries Central 100 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RU whitewallgalleries.com
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PORTOBELLO DANCE SCHOOL
www.portobellodance.org.uk www.kcaw.co.uk
(above Miss Claire Miller during the Kensington & Chelsea Art Week 2021 - www.kcaw.co.uk) Welcome to Our World of Dance Portobello Dance is a community initiative on the international stage. Our established organisation runs and participates in various activities through dance education and events – locally, nationally, and beyond. Based in North Kensington’s diverse Notting Hill, Portobello Dance School is a popular weekend destination offering children from 3yrs to adults training in Classical Ballet, Tap and Street. Over 150 budding dancers pass-through for classes each week with our open doors policy. The school’s high achievers often move on to further training or auditioning for the commercial dance world. Our professional dance trainers and visiting tutors encourage appropriate exams, such as the British Ballet Organisation’s (BBO) curriculum – for which the passing record is exceptional. Annual school performances allow families, the local community, sponsors and patrons to experience our work, whilst various local and national events showcase the school through its Student Performance Group. Widening our mission, the school Outreach programme takes our training and mission to other schools around the Boroughs of London. We encourage students to visit inspiring dance events, including ‘Classically British’ (part of Black History Season), which highlights the overwhelming talent of the UK’s multicultural choreographers and dancers, often featuring upcoming talent from the school. Our vision is to provide access to excellence, so whether you’re interested in our school or how we promote dance beyond it, step in!
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PIERS, what’s on your mind?
P: What’s on my mind, well, obviously what’s on everyone’s mind is the brinkmanship going on in, no, well no, in, start again (indistinguishable), is the fact we’re actually at, there’s a war going on, a conflict like off the telly kind of war, um, who knows what’s going on over there, it’s very depressing, on the other hand, in England, we’re out of COVID. And that has been quite cheery, particularly when the sun came out the other day; we had a lovely bus trip on the art bus, which went very well and was almost spring-like. We’ve had quite a lot going on; I mean I went to a couple of art galleries last week, people are coming back to the studio, not having to talk to people on Zoom D: Any galleries in particular? P: I went to Gallery 46, cause um a colleague Steven Howie has been badgering me to go there, and someone else mentioned it, so it was an um, it was.. D: Is that the same Steven… P: It was the pence move (?) D: The same Steven Howie that is the art correspondent of Portobello Radio? P: The very one. D: OK. P: Also, I love going anywhere on the Hammersmith & City Line, jump on Latimer Road and ending up somewhere completely different. D: Mhm. P: We also popped into the Whitechapel to see a tiny exhibition which was partly about one of my heroes, Groovy Bob, Robert Fraiser, who won, who ran the gallery back in the 60s, he was busted at Redland with Keith Richard. He was the only one who did severe time. He’s introduced AIDS to London and LSD to Los Angeles. I think I’ve got that the right way around. D: Right. P: Uhm, and knew everyone from Peter play tabascia??? So, the East End is full of joys; we also went past the Whitechapel Foundry, um… D: How long is that exhibition on at the Whitechapel? P: Uh, another month or so, I think, a couple of months. D: Great. P: Uhm, yes, we went past the Whitechapel, uh, Foundry, which I find very sad because it’s recently closed down. I am pleased to say that my mud? Great Bedwin on the Seven Acre Forest at the church commissioned an enormous bell from the Foundry. D: *mumbles* What are your plans for the foreseeable future? P: Well, we’re hoping, assuming we’re not all annihilated in some complication, um, we’re hoping that we will continue doing more buses, we will continue going to the Tabernacle once a month for live Saturday sessions, we’re hoping to broaden out Portobello Talk radio, so we have an opportunity to go out into the community, we’ve already asked them to come to us, but it would be great to be able to go a little bit further out. So, you know, assuming we’re not all blown up, things are on the up. D: Sounds good; thank you very much, Piers,
www.portobelloradio.com
Live, hosted by Isis Amlak, Greg Wier and Piers Thompson, is a vibrant 120 minutes of current affairs, community banter and local music. This Youtube live stream boasts a symposium of human rights, philosophy and chaos; all supporting human rights, the planet and of course an abundance of local talent, representing a counter-culture of north Kensington – the birth place of some of the best of British culture and armchair revolutionaries. Watch every Friday between 16:00 – 18:00 at: https://bit.ly/37TmmML or check socials at www.portobelloradio.com for live links, playlists and trivia.
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343 Ladbroke Grove London W10 6HA info@serenamorton.com treehouselondon.org MISSION STATEMENT: Building environmental & creative blueprints that flourish within communities. WHO WE ARE: Tree House is a creative agency with an environmental focus. Serena Morton (gallery owner and curator) and Paul Mowatt (curator and photographer) work together providing the platform to produce projects with an unequivocal green intent. Working closely with artists’ and makers’ studios, borough councils, local businesses and developers, Tree House will fundraise and curate tree or wood related exhibits, with the aim to help purchase, plant and nurture new trees within communities. WHAT WE DO: • Taking inspiration from the Mayor’s London Plan Guidance Urban Green Factor report (below) we wish to utilise trees as the physical and curatorial inspiration for Tree House, a programmed series of art-related events in September 2022 in the Park Royal Design District. london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/urban_ greening_factor_lpg_pre-consultation_draft.pdf • Liaise with the boroughs of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils to get an understanding of their future tree planting/ green plans. To establish how Tree House and fundraising can complement their long-term strategies. • To plant a tree walk from Acton Main and/or North Acton Tube into the Design District and use trees to define or highlight areas of that district. • Meeting with studio builders, artists and makers, local businesses and developers to discuss Tree House in the Park Royal Design District and surrounds. • We would produce an exhibition programme and related events curated on the Tree House theme in studios, streets, roof tops and around the Park Royal District. • Initially fundraise to allocate a third to trees, the exhibiting artists/makers and Tree House staff/ workers/costs. • We would produce, curate, market and promote the programme, as well as identify and build a team to advise and oversee tree planting and long-term care. • Propose to build a tree house as a community legacy. • Connect with the Queen’s Green Canopy Scheme to plant more trees for her Jubilee and understand if this can be part of the Elizabeth line opening plans. queensgreencanopy.org crossrail.co.uk/project/our-plan-to-complete- the-elizabeth-line/phased-opening • Meet with local companies such as Tesla, One West Point, McVitie’s and Art Logistics to discuss brand support and employee participation. • Speak to Imperial College London students within the local campus or residential dwellings to inform and gain engagement. BIOGRAPHY: SERENA MORTON Serena Morton is active in environmental issues in her North Kensington community. She owns and runs a contemporary art gallery and lives in the neighbourhood with her two children. Serena was brought up in Kensington, London. She began her art world career at Christie’s Auction House, King Street, in 1994 and worked first in the Print Department and continued in Modern British, Post-War and Contemporary British Paintings and Sculpture. Leaving Christie’s in the late 1990s, Serena became a prolific pop-up curator in London and 2006 launched and directed Ronnie Wood’s art gallery ‘Scream’ in Mayfair. 2008 saw Serena launch her roving gallery Agent Morton and in 2010 build Morton Metropolis, on Berners Street, with Amy Winehouse manager Raye Cosbert. Her final West End space Agent Morton was on Dover Street until the increasingly high rent of the area made her radically reconsider where she would continue her gallery. In 2012 Serena opened her first West London gallery, Serena Morton, at Canalside, 385 Ladbroke Grove and the following year purchased the building 343 Ladbroke Grove, which is her primary exhibition space. From 2015 to 2017, Serena co-directed a photography gallery with curator David Hill before focusing solely on mid-career painters and sculptors, her long-term expertise.
www.serenamorton.com/artists/juan-alberto-ripoll 22
BIOGRAPHY: PAUL MOWATT Paul Mowatt supports his home community of Kingston upon Thames. In 2017 he created a project Homeless in the Royal Borough, in which he gave 20 homeless participants a camera to record their daily life. Their resulting photographs were then printed and exhibited. The project was very successful and ran annually until 2020. Subsequently it inspired other UK boroughs to carry out similar projects. Recently, Paul has been curating and exhibiting a programme entitled ‘Artists Monthly’ at a small gallery space in Putney, West London. Brought up in South West London and a teenager when the punk explosion shook the foundations of the establishment and British culture, Paul spent his early years documenting street life on the King’s Road and High Street Kensington for the pages of The Face and iD magazine. After completing a degree at the London College of Printing and learning his art for several years as an Assistant Photographer and Printer Paul has had a successful career shooting fashion, portraits and landscapes. His portrait and feature work has been syndicated by Camera Press for 25 years and he has exhibited and sold his work at numerous art galleries including; the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Hamiltons Gallery, Smiths Row, the National Portrait Gallery and the Bluebird Gallery. Publications such as Tatler, GQ, The Sunday Times Magazine, Creative Review and the London Evening Standard have all featured his work. Paul developed his eye for detail as an Art Director and Stills Photographer for film and television. His credits include ‘Wild West’ directed by Dawn French and Simon Nye, and ‘High Heels & Low Life’ directed by the late Mel Smith amongst others. In 2017, Paul became the first Artist in Residence at the Kingston Museum, where he created a project based on the works of pioneering Victorian photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Using analogue photography and video he has produced detailed studies of the body in motion.
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www.filippostsitsopoulos.com/ www.instagram.com/filippos_tsitsopoulos/?hl=en
