Edition V May 2020 Editors Damian Rayne Gosia Malawska
Whats on
About...
3-4.........................Feature Artist - Hanna Ten Doornkaat 5...........................................................................Media 6............................................. The Galleries Association 7...............................................................Scratch Days I 8...........................................Piers, what’s on your mind? 9...............................................................Westway Trust 9....................................................................IMA Studio 10........................................................Portobello Dance 11.........................................................................KCAW 12..................................................Nicholas Cheeseman 13......................................................The Civic Galleries 13.....The Muse Gallery Residency Program 2003 - 2020 14-15.....................................Local Legend - Mike Sarne 16..................................................Calendar 2020/2021
The Museletter is a bi-monthly tabloid, curated by The Muse Gallery. The objectives of the periodical are to spotlight life, arts and the counter-culture of West London; alongside limited edition hard copy artworks, interviews, articles, and community insights. 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. Throughout the year we open our doors to artists, curating the space to present a balance of emerging and established professionals.In 2020 we are 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.
please press this icon to open media
The MUSE Gallery (UK Charity for the arts No.1162300) 269, Portobello Rd. London W11 1LR Thursday-Sunday 12-6.00pm www.themuseat269.com info@themuseat269.com Twitter: Muse_Gallery Instagram: Muse_at_269
Front cover: Hanna Ten Doornkaat, SML series 10x15x2cm gesso, graphite pencil, acrylic, board
2
FEATURED ARTIST Hanna Ten Doornkaat
SML series, size10x15x2cm, gesso, graphite pencil, acrylic, board
Essentially Grey 17th September - 4th October The exhibition explores how our understanding of colour - or in this case the absence of colour - abstracts an idea. Colours change according to light, but what the retina sees is not necessarily what the brain translates into our knowledge of colour. Hanna ten Doornkaat’s medium is the graphite pencil. Colour, if used at all, is reduced to monochromes such as grey, black, ghostly white, or the occasional pastel pink, blue, orange or red. The use of non-colours that kindle neither emotions nor desires allows us to focus on the work without distracting from the lines, grids and marks obsessively drawn on board. The intention here is to focus on the line in an attempt to blur the boundaries between drawing, sculpture and installation. When colour is used, it is a deliberate choice to tease the viewer’s emotional response. The drawing of tightly packed, layered lines with a graphite pencil is central to the artist’s interest in both the process and the metaphysical expression of an idea. She often explores the interrelationship between movement and mark and its expansion into spatial formations.
Cutting edge II, 42x13x1cm, gesso, graphite pencil, acrylic,cutting board
3
Hanna Ten Doornkaat
4
MEDIA
Filippos Tsitsopoulos
Ian Robinson
filippostsitsopoulos.com
Lawrence Calver
www.ianrobinsonartist.com
Marina Junqueira
www.lawrencecalver.com
Tavistock Festival 2019
www.marinajunqueira.com
www.thetavistockfestival.london
Mark Sinclair www.marksinckler.com
5
THE GALLERIES ASSOCIATION www.thegalleriesassociation.co.uk
Galleries on the Tour After Nyne Gallery 10 Portland Road Holland Park London W11 4LA afternynegallery.com Daniel Benjamin Gallery 120 Kensington Park Road London W11 2PW db-gallery.com 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 elephant.art/west 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 Westbank Arts 3-5 Thorpe Close London, W10 5Xl londonwestbank.com Whitewall Galleries Central 100 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RU whitewallgalleries.com
6
SCRATCH DAYS I RESURRECTION OF A POST RAPE ZOMBIE a play by Mark Norfolk 9th May 7.00pm (online) Set in the state of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, a white property developer crosses the river that divides the rich town and the poor land-dwellers with plans to regenerate the area. Although there are reports of missing people with a serial killer on the loose, he buys a plot of land and finds himself at odds with a female activist movement that sees the chaotic land as their domain. The women have vowed to retaliate against a past history of assault and rape, seeing beauty in the chaos of violence. But when they begin to disobey orders from their leaders it brings into question their commitment to the cause. In order to create chaos you must first have order. Meanwhile, as events unfold, a young geneticist awaits her fate in a shabby basement. Ressurection of a Post Rape Zombie is an allegorical full-length play that explores evolution and the nature of control in society’s new technological age and hints at how it, society might tolerate disorder to maintain its own fragile survival. cast: APRIL, 40, a smart urbane woman - POLLY NAYLER JONATHAN, 50, a property developer - GEORGE SAVVIDES EDIE, 20’s, a young native of the land - MIRANDA SHAMISO KAT, 20’s, a young native of the land - RACHEL SUMMERS Hannah, 30, a research scientist - GEMMA YATES-ROUND .
7
COMMUNITY
PIERS, what’s on your mind? Well, rather oddly, Portobello radio has been in the news today. We’re in the local paper this morning, or the local online paper this morning, very sweet article calling us the voice of our community and then radio London picked that up and I was on radio London and it was just really weird to find people from you know… beyond the borough walls…. loving what we do, being part of our community, and the... one of the other things that… we obviously in this area, have always been always about community. We were always about community in the 60’s 70’s 80’s, we may have lost our way a bit in the 90’s . Then things like Grenfell happened, fights against the Westway trust and against the council. So… we’ve always had a strong sense of community, so in some ways this Covid 19 is you know… a walk in the park. It’s quite interesting to see other people looking in a seeing the strength of this community and seeing what they can learn from us. Sorry was that a bit pompous…? No, no, no… that was, that was bang on I thought. You can put the pompous but in, if you want. I will, verbatim (pompous alert), and… so what… what projects are you involved in, you know… during lockdown. What do we have to look forward to? The programming has really exploded, we managed to… you know obviously being at The Muse was such an inherent part of what we did… and we wanted to be able reproduce that connectivity. You know we’re on Zoom now and its slightly different, you know we have to invite people in rather than just wander past and… wander in. We mastered this technology, we’ve been getting interviews with decision makers, so we had in Taylor-smith from the council, we’ve got Mathew from carnival tomorrow, we had Emma Dente-Code; no longer a decision maker, but she was a fountain of positivity. We’ve extended the DJ slots which we thought would be difficult, but… hasn’t been. We’ve launched two new things on Saturday nights we have an exclusive set, from one of the famous clubs from days gone by. So, we’ve had the Wag Club, The Drum Club, Delirium, we’ve got Café De Paris this week. We’ve got Blitz next week and we’re hoping to have Spectrum with Paul Okenfield the week after. And we’ve also launched a Latin night on Monday nights and we’re getting loads and loads of traction in South America now. So, it’s all go here, at Portobello Radio Towers even though we’re… cut adrift from our spiritual home The Muse Gallery 269, Portobello Road. Well…you know, it won’t be long, but in the meantime it sounds fantastic, thank you very much. Thank you Damian Ok, I’ll…let me just pause that.
portobelloradio.com 8
www.westway.org
STAY HOME MAKE ART SAVE LIVES
9
www.imastudio.org/c19
Mark Elie, Artistic Director and Founder of the Mark Elie Dance Foundation and Portobello Dance School (PDS) announces the 25th Anniversary of this pioneering dance company that has successfully developed young talent in Notting Hill and across London for a quarter of a century. Mark is one of the UK’s most successful classically trained professional dancers having enjoyed a stellar career with some of the world’s leading companies; Rambert Ballet, Lisbon’s Ballet Gulbenkian, and legendary Arthur Mitchell of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. During his career Mark has worked alongside an array of award winning dancers and choreographers such as Nathan Geering, Brenda Edwards MBE, Noel Wallace, Mbulelo Ndaen, and Namron OBE. However, Mark has been uniquely inspired by the formidable Matriarch of British classical dance Carol Straker, award winning Choreographer, Dancer, Author and member of the Council of International Dance of UNESCO, and a Fellow of Royal Society Arts (FRSA) and an Assonate Professional Teacher Dancing. It was in 1980 when Mark set about his life-long mission to make classical ballet more inclusive. In 1994 he set up his own dance foundation in west London’s vibrant north Kensington and Chelsea. Mark believes that regardless of class or racial background, young dancers should be able to learn and enjoy the language of classical dance and have access to affordable lessons. A dream he has helped realise for the thousands of young dancers who have trained at the Portobello Dance School. Many of whom have gone on to perform in West End shows, on TV and film including the critically acclaimed “Billy Elliott” stage production. Former students now enjoying successful careers in leading UK dance companies and institutions include luminaries such as the gifted Kym Alexander, now dancing with the Rambert Company, the talented Salome Pressac-Hewitt, currently with the Rambert 2 Company and stunning dancer Rae Aslam now with Ballet Black’s Youth Company. Now celebrating its 25th Anniversary the School has faced many challenges but has survived for a quarter of a century. From the iconic Tabernacle building Portobello Dance School runs it’s busy Saturday school with classes in ballet, jazz, street dance and tap as well as outreach projects for local schools. Mark’s award-winning “Dance Showdown” (2012 and 2015) at Cadogan Hall has also nurtured some amazing young dancers and another important project is the popular Summer School during August which this year was funded by John Lyons Trust. The project engages local children aged 8 – 15 some of whom had never been able to afford professional dance classes with professional tutors who have successful roles in West End productions including Jordan Alexander who plays Michael Jackson in “Thriller Live”. The students also have the opportunity to visit West End stage performances as part of their Summer school experience. The PDS resumes in September each year with the Saturday school and the calendar culminates with the annual Christmas show at the Tabernacle, Powis Square. Portobello Dance School, 35 Powis Sq, London W11 2AY. For school enquiries requests email: info@portobellodance.org.uk and for images or interviews call 07947 484021 website www.portobellodance.org.uk
10
INDUSTRY
Editorial Culture professional Feature: Vestalia Chilton 25.04.20 Questions: What is your connection to the borough? I’ve lived in the area for about 20 years; moved around from Gloucester Road, to South Kensington and then finally landed in Notting Hill where I met my now husband. He was a young man running the then-emerging Graffik Gallery. I love the vibrancy and the eclectic mix of people who live and work here. Notting Hill is the place I call my home. If I ever look back at my life, those years will be the ones which draw the most memories of creative experimentation, professional growth, best friendships. For the last 5 years I have also been curating the art programme at The Exhibitionist Hotel in South Kensington which prompted me to kick start this project called Kensington + Chelsea Art Week. What is your background in the art world? Since the age of ‘I can’t remember’ I loved the arts. I studied fine art and was lucky to train with the painter Ian Humphreys for one year. I gifted myself the time for a foundation course between university and leaving school. This is where I learned the craft of oil painting, drawing and sculpture but also conservation, restoration, basic study of ethics and philosophy - evaluation of what life is about. My tutor saw something in me and brought me to his show in Eton where I met his dealer and that’s how I found out about the world of art. My family were not necessary approving of the idea of me going into the creative field, it was risky and insecure, considered it to be an extravagance. It was my choice and I paid for it by working evenings and weekends in restaurants. I was familiar with working outside school hours so I am very comfortable with getting my hands dirty. I found a way to continue in this field by studying Valuation and Auctioneering at University where study included more practical life skills such as contract law and conservation. Because I was surrounded by artists, even then I felt there was a lack of representation of diversity in the arts so I organised my first Outsider Art Show held at a grade-listed medieval ruins with the support of art students and the local Mayor, which led to my first interview on BBC radio at 19 years of age. Then walked into Sotheby’s and gave in my CV – they took me as postgraduate assistant. I was paid so little that I had to work in the evenings - this was a very hard time, I will never forget it. Soon I was rebelling against the so-called art-world and started doing my own exhibitions and worked with graffiti artists, which is a world in itself. Now everyone sees what street art can do and its good to see that the arts are becoming recognised for value of ideas not just as pictures on walls. What inspired you to set up the Art Week? Working with The Exhibitionist Hotel and knowing how hard it was to keep a gallery in the area I sensed that there was a lack of connectivity and celebration of the local creative field. So we ran a consultation and found that collectively there was a need for group effort to bring this incredible offering of culture beyond the obvious. It wasn’t too challenging to start and the art week picked up momentum very quickly. Now we are rolling into year 3 and there is this great sense of excitement and a panoply of wonderful possibilities. What is your vision for the future of the Art Week? At the core it is all about the people and connections in the celebration of big and small. Emily Candler of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group coined the phrase ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ – I love that expression. The value of art is hard to measure and our society is constantly looking to pigeon box matters which are very hard to count. Kindness is one and creativity is another. So I feel the art week has the power for creating connections. If that helps everyone to have a voice – I’ll be very happy indeed. What do you feel the role of art is in society? I feel that the arts allow us to see different perspectives ‘artists notice things’. Being knowledgeable allows us to be more compassionate. The arts will always challenge the conventional – that’s where I think its real power lies. Any on-line experiences you would recommend as part of the Art Week or in your life under lockdown? The Arts Council have a very active LinkedIn profile for funding support, Kensington + Chelsea Art Week (obviously) we have now set up a ‘What’s On Calendar’ updated weekly and we send a newsletter highlighting this week’s Hero! Go here to register or view that’s on now: www.kcaw.co.uk. I also love Natural History Museum Dinosaur Festival with activities for children (subscribe to www.discoversouthken.com), Portobello Radio is the ear to the ground with some wicked tunes! Of course, the Museletter – just wonderful.
11
Nicholas Cheeseman Artist in Residence at the Muse Gallery - 2016 ‘Complementary opposites…are convenient labels used to describe how things function in relation to each other and the universe. They are used to explain the continuous process of natural change … they represent a way of thinking. In this system of thought all things are seen as parts of a whole. No entity can ever be isolated from its relationship to other entities; nothing can exist in and of itself.’ Kaptchuk, T. J. (1983). The web that has no weaver Nicholas Cheeseman likes to record and intervene in the natural process of change. He finds it easy to observe and order the world around him in binary terms – complementary opposites - such as black and white. The grey areas in between where change occurs are far more challenging and harder for him to understand and explain. There is a tension that is created between contrasts, as well as a balance created as they shift from one to another. Nicholas Cheeseman’s practice explores these relationships whether they be between man and nature, growth and decay, construction and deconstruction, internal and external or many other complementary opposites. Nicholas uses drawing and embroidery to depict a singular moment of change, and sculpture to replicate the transition. Through a simple technique of pointillism, using a 0.5mm pen, he fastidiously records lines, forms and structures using different densities of dots to create tones. His embroidery exchanges dots for stitches and are accentuated by the addition of colour. The sculptural works result from a more spontaneous act responding to the feel and look of the wood, its age and its grain. There is no plan or sketch for the work prior to carving. Thoughts and ideas are generated through exploring the potential of the material. Throughout the work there is a fascination with the aesthetic of the incomplete, the imperfect and the impermanent. Factors that usually result in objects being discarded or identified as detritus, are deliberately used to challenge the notion of value. The work is an extension of his interest in eastern philosophical practices. The Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi, which celebrates the beauty of things modest and humble, and Chinese Yin Yang theory of complementary opposites create much of the context for the work. The techniques used to create the works are embedded in a language of repetition and obsession. They reflect the language of change - the initial stages of carving are very destructive and stitching is extremely frenetic at times, yet they also border on meditative. The complementary opposites that are the focus for the work are infused in the manner in which the work is made. Nicholas graduated from Staffordshire University in 2001 with BA (Hons) in Fine Art. Whilst studying he taught painting and woodwork during the summers in a Creative Arts and Performing Camp in New Milford, CT, USA and after graduating was a Resident Artist in a secondary school in Orange, NSW, Australia for 12 months. In 2004 he finished a PGCE at Bath Spa University and has been teaching Art and continuing his arts practice concurrently since then, moving to London in 2007 for a part-time teaching position. In 2012 he completed an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts UAL. The following year he was Artist-in-Residence at the Muse Gallery, 269 Portobello Road. He was Grand Winner 2017 of the East Arts Award Competition, which resulted in an exhibition this year in Kyoto, Japan, after responding to a month’s research/travel around Japan. He exhibits regularly in London and in the UK, took part in the Venice Biennale this summer and has commissioned works installed in America, Australia and India.
The Civic Galleries, The Town Hall, Hornton Street W8 7NX London
12
The Civic Galleries at Kensington Town Hall
The Muse Gallery Residency Program 2003 - 2020 2003/04 Corinne Charton-Grahn Hannah Plumb Louisa Loakes Anne Windsor 2004/05 Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury Julia Hayes Patricio (Pato) Bosich Rebecca (Becky) Cross 2005/06 Jayson Singh Agata S. Hamilton 2006/07 Masaki Yada Zoe Schoenherr 2007/08 Evy Jakhova Rose O’Gallivan
2008/09 Alice Hall Cecilia Sandrini
2014 Katie McCain Eugene Macki Gosia Ĺ apsa-Malawska
2009/10 Richard Taylor Cecilia Sandrini
2016 Gemma Milligan Nicholas Cheeseman Samantha Y. Huang
2010/11 Charli Clark Caroline Jane Harris
2017 Diego Brambilla Lawrence Calver Yole Quintero
2011/12 Kathryn Maple John Nicol Andreea Mandrescu Ian Robinson
2018 Josephine Cottrell Mahaul Harley Leca Mark Tamer
2012/13 Mathew Vieira Stephanie Smart Coral Churchill Luna Jungeun
13
2019 Daisy Cowley Yuichiro Kikuma Yambe Tam
2020 Hugo Lami Cecilia Di Paolo Rory Watson
LOCAL LEGEND MIKE SARNE
My father was a refugee from Czechoslovakia and my mother joined him here where they married. They set up home in Balham, “Gateway to the South”, as it’s affectionately known, and I went to the local Grammar school, the ‘Bec’.. Why it was called that I can’t remember, or maybe I never knew . . . We put together a skiffle group, my friends and I, and wandered round the West End annoying people queuing up for the cinema. Lonnie Donegan was all the rage in those days and so we’d do his hits. It wasn’t big money, I know, but you’ve got to start somewhere. . . . When I was about 15 the Council gave me a travel scholarship to go to Austria and Germany to improve my linguistics, and in Kitzbuehel I found a club called the Tenne Bar where most evenings there’d be a talent show when guests could get up and sing a song or two. If it went down well you’d be given a bottle of wine. That bottle of wine helped finance a date with whichever girl was lonely or depressed enough to go out with an Englander. I think I did ‘Singing’ the Blues’ and one of the latest three chord hits of those days. Actually, it was all quite educational. I went on to Germany and then re-turned to Blighty to study Russian at the School of Slavonic languages at and the possibilities of showbiz. I think I must have caught the bug because I looked for a singing teacher on the back page of The Stage showbiz paper and he actually taught me the techniques of singing. Then I joined in the chorus of ‘Cinderella’ for four months in Manchester before returning to London to delve further into the possibilities of becoming famous and loved by strangers. Having by now a few languages under my belt I researched the movie business and did auditions, playing foreigners of every stripe. It so happened that I met up with an agent/manager type who introduced me to Charles Blackwell, the composer of “Come Outside”. Well, the manager, Stigwood was his name, dreamt up the interjections of a Cockney girl (Wendy Richard) and we had a hit, a “palpable hit”, and I went on the road. After a year or two of this I started to get a little more ambitious. There was a photographic shop in Holland Park and I’d just bought a camera. The owner of the shop, which did developing and printing, was owned by a charming Polish gentleman called Stanley Bielecki. He looked at the camera and gave me a roll of film. I went home and photographed my girlfriend, a swinging London beauty called Gabriella Licudi, in lots of different outfits. I took the exposed film back to Stanley and awaited impatiently the result of my artistic endeavour with bated breath... Nothing... a blank. There was nothing there. As he held the negative up to the light... Nothing. I protested, “You’ve got the wrong fixer developer whatever...! He told me to try again (life’s like that). “Give me another roll of film!” I tried again. They all came out. He took the pictures to Fleet Street where they gave it a twopage spread. “I knew you’d be a photographer”, said Stanley, “when you went back and took exactly the same pictures...” It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. From then on we had the makings of a Company. I had the office upstairs, made my first film, a travelogue called “Road to Saint Tropez”. Stigwood had a pal called David who was enamoured of a boy called Udo Kier. Udo got the part of the Gigolo. Melissa Stribling played the woman he’s exploiting. Fox bought the picture as a second feature and I was off the the races! There’s much more I could tell you. Watch this space.
14
15
CALENDAR 2020/2021 Alla Samarina Elements of Life 1-14 June
Yuichiro Kikuma
9th-26th July Artist in Residence 2019
Hanna Ten Doornkaat Essentially Grey
17th September - 4th October
COVID-19 dates TBC
Adam Zoltowski Islands 18th June -5th July
Portobello Film Festival 1st-13th September 2020
Residency Final Show Hugo Lami Cecilia Di Paolo Rory Watson 8th - 25th October
Marina Junqueira 29th October -
Residency 2021 Competition
12th - 22nd November
8th November
Symrath Patti
26th November 13th December
Claudia Boese Jane Frederick Gosia Lapsa-Malawska Mary Romer 14th - 31st January 2021
Paul Smith
4th February 21st February
to apply for an exhibition info@themuseat269.com