View of the Aubrey Williams’ show ‘Elemental Force’ at October Gallery
October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL
octobergallery.co.uk Instagram: @octobergallerylondon
October Gallery is a registered charity supported by grants, donations and rental of the gallery’s facilities, as well as sales of art. Chili Hawes, one of the founders in 1979, and Elisabeth Lalouschek, who joined in 1987, are the longest-serving directors. It is unusual in having a luchtime café in one of its two exhibition rooms. Is it open only one month per year? No, it’s not that unusual! The name comes from the gallery wishing to position itself at the forefront of positive change, and October being the key month as spring turns to summer… in the southern hemisphere, that is, for although the gallery promotes what it sees as the international Transvangarde (the transcultural Avant-garde), there is a definite emphasis on Africa. Its signature artists are probably El Anatsui and Romuald Hazoumè, who have found international fame since October started to work with them. Other artists from the continent or its diaspora whose shows I’ve enjoyed are Owusu-Ankomah, LR Vandy, Zana Masombuka and Rachid Koraïchi, but other geographies also feature, such as Chinese artist Tian Wei; leading Beat Generation writer William S Burroughs (1914-97), also an artist; and his friend Brion Gysin (1916-86) – together, they invented the cut-up technique. Gysin created the druggily psychedlic ‘Dreamachine’ you might have seen in Tate Modern’s recent ‘Electric Dreams’. He described that as ‘the only work of art designed to be seen with closed eyes’. You can currently see an excellent survey of the Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams (1926-90), represented by October since 1984, and another whose star has risen in recent years.
London’s gallery scene is varied, from small artist-run spaces to major institutions and everything in between. Each week, art writer and curator Paul Carey-Kent gives a personal view of a space worth visiting.
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Art critic and curator, based near Southampton. I write most regularly for Art Monthly, Frieze, World of Interiors, Seisma, Border Crossings, Artlyst, … and, of course, FAD.
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