{"id":175176,"date":"2025-06-11T08:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T08:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175176\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T08:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T08:30:16","slug":"pauls-gallery-of-the-week-october-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175176\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul\u2019s Gallery of the Week: October Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>View of the Aubrey Williams\u2019 show \u2018Elemental Force\u2019 at October Gallery<\/p>\n

October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL
octobergallery.co.uk<\/a> Instagram: @octobergallerylondon<\/a><\/p>\n

October Gallery is a registered charity supported by grants, donations and rental of the gallery\u2019s 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 caf\u00e9 in one of its two exhibition rooms. Is it open only one month per year? No, it\u2019s 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\u2026 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 <\/a>and Romuald Hazoum\u00e8<\/a>, who have found international fame since October started to work with them. Other artists from the continent or its diaspora whose shows I\u2019ve enjoyed are Owusu-Ankomah, LR Vandy,\u00a0Zana Masombuka<\/a> and Rachid Kora\u00efchi, but other geographies also feature, such as Chinese artist Tian Wei; leading Beat Generation writer William S Burroughs <\/a>(1914-97), also an artist; and his friend Brion Gysin<\/a> (1916-86) \u2013 together, they invented the cut-up technique. Gysin created the druggily psychedlic\u00a0\u2018Dreamachine\u2019 you might have seen in Tate Modern\u2019s recent \u2018Electric Dreams\u2019. He described that as \u2018the only work of art designed to be seen with closed eyes\u2019.\u00a0You can currently see an excellent survey of the Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams <\/a>(1926-90), represented by October since 1984, and another whose star has risen in recent years.<\/p>\n

London\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Categories<\/p>\n