FORMAN'S SMOKEHOUSE GALLERY

smokehousegallery — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:04:45 +0000

Our current exhibition, SALON III, has now been extended until the end of March 2013.

smokehousegallery — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:21:10 +0000

Christmas Opening Hours:

The gallery will be open as usual during the festivities.

Opening Hours:

Thursday and Friday from 5pm to 9pm; Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 5pm.

smokehousegallery — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:02:36 +0000

Then opening hours: Thu – Fri 17:00-21:00 & Sat – Sun 12:00-17:00.
NB gallery is closed for private functions on Friday 7th and Thursday 13th December 2012.” width=”497″ height=”679″ class=”size-full wp-image-2980″ /> Opens tonight.
Then opening hours: Thu – Fri 17:00-21:00 & Sat – Sun 12:00-17:00.
NB gallery is closed for private functions on Friday 7th and Thursday 13th December 2012.

smokehousegallery — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:57:15 +0000

Exhibition Review: ‘Short Stories: An Exhibition of Narrative Photography’ by Hatty Davidson

smokehousegallery — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:21:36 +0000

Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery’s current exhibition, ‘Short Stories’, is their first dedicated solely to fine art photography since the acclaimed ‘Between Two Truths’ show from 2010. Curated by Oliver Prout, also an exhibiting artist, the show examines the individual and the tales they have to tell. Given this, the collections of work on display range hugely in their response to the theme and the works are as individual as the artists who created them. The exhibition includes work from Stuart Weston, Camilla Broadbent, Helen Warner, Bee Keskin, Paul de Luna, Majella and introduces first time exhibiting artist, 13-year-old Eylul Keskin.

Photography has a history of being sidelined when it comes to the visual arts. Unlike painting or sculpture, for example, it does not partake in the simple artist/medium relationship; there is always the integral middleman – the camera. The removed nature of the medium has often not played in its favour, prompting questions over where the creativity can be found in the use of such an objective machine to create fine art.

However, November sees galleries all over London responding to this question, even perhaps marking it as irrelevant; a question of the past. International Photography festival Photomonth has taken over the galleries of East London where over 150 photographic exhibitions are on display in places such as the Whitechapel Gallery, Rich Mix and Spitalfields Market. Not only is photography the medium-of-the-month in the East, it has also stamped its mark on the internationally renowned institutions of central London. Long-established and traditional institutions have tended to steer clear of large-scale photographic exhibitions in the past but there has been a gradual acceptance that has reached the mainstream in recent years, perhaps cumulating in the National Gallery’s, ‘Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present’, the first major photography exhibition the gallery has held in its 188-year history (its attempt to make up for lost time and cover as much ground as possible, perhaps reflected in its title).

Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery can be found therefore, with its finger on the pulse. Not only does the exhibition promote the photographic medium in general terms, the individual artists and their works prove its credentials as a fully-fledged artistic outlet. The subject matter and technical choices range hugely from Paul de Luna’s nymph-like beauties, reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelite women or Julia Margaret Cameron’s mythical re-creations which were created with minimal post-production alterations to Oliver Prout’s dramatic tale of the effects of a relationship on the individual which shows how digital adjustment and Photoshop are anything other than a barrier between the photographer and creativity. The still lives of Camilla Broadbent exemplify the unique ability of the photograph to capture minute detail like no other medium can while Helen Warner’s ‘Chasing Phantoms’ (2011) has a painterly effect which reminds the viewer of the close relationship that photography has with the other arts.

This exhibition addresses what were seen as the shortfalls of the photographic medium and turns them on their head. No longer is the camera a divide the separates the artist from his art, it is a tool for the photographer just as the paintbrush is for the painter. ‘Short Stories’ is an imaginative look at the tales that make up our lives and although the camera can only capture a split second in time, the works in this exhibition have the ability to reach far beyond that limited moment and deep into our consciousness.

The exhibition is open until the 2^nd December, 2012.

Opening times: Thursday and Friday: 5pm – 9pm

Saturday and Sunday: 12pm – 5pm

http://www.smokehousegallery.org

http://2012.photomonth.org

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk

smokehousegallery — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:17:00 +0000

smokehousegallery — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:26:32 +0000

Short Stories – an exhibition of narrative photography curated by Oliver Prout

smokehousegallery — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:18:25 +0000

Short Stories is a collection of beginnings, endings and resurrections, invisible bonds between life, death, decay, and rebirth; A unique collection of short stories ranging from the abstract to the explicit. Short Stories features a diverse range of photographic talent, from established masters to complete unknowns, with a story to tell. Short stories is a journey though the confessions and desires of a series of haunted minds. Sometimes the story is more obvious, sometimes abstract but always engaging.

One of the most provocative and diverse photographic exhibition this year, Short Stories is a journey from the darkness of life as a prostitute betrayed by her own sexuality, though the ecstasy and violence of a destructive relationship, to the serene foreignness of altered states of mind.

The private view is free entry and open to all and will take place from 6pm on 1st of November 2012 at Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery in Hackney Wick, London.

Artists

Stuart Weston

Oliver Prout

Majella

Helen Warner

Paul De Luna

Bee Keskin

Camilla Broadbent

As part of the gallery’s continuing support for young and emerging artists, the exhibition will also be showcasing the work of 13 year photographer Eylul Keskin, with her story of childhood lost.

The Short Stories exhibition at Formans Smokehouse Gallery will run from Thursday 1st of November to Sunday 2nd December 2012.

smokehousegallery — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:18:34 +0000

CELEBRATION The Big Picture Online_Catalogue

Exhibition Review: ‘Celebration: The Big Picture’ by Hatty Davidson

smokehousegallery — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:40:54 +0000

October 4th saw Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery take part, once again, in Time Out Magazine and The Whitechapel Gallery’s ‘First Thursday’. The event sees the galleries and studios of East London open their doors until late in the evening and show off the very best that their contemporary artists have to offer.
The gallery is situated in Hackney Wick; the area most densely populated by artists, artist studios and independent galleries in the world which now sits on the opposite side of the canal to the newly developed Olympic Park. Unlike many of its contemporaries in the world of contemporary art, the exhibitions here are organised by different guest curators every month who manage a new exhibit with a theme and title of their choice. Artists are then asked to create or choose work that fits with the chosen subject. This month ‘Celebration’ was the theme chosen by the curators, Sophie Venturini and Neha Malik, and the work presented in the exhibition shows the diversity and variety that this word promotes.
It seems an apt and poignant title when one considers the goings-on that occurred on the other side of the canal during the summer when ‘Olympic-fever’ hit the previously uncultivated and secluded neighbourhood. During these months however, many of the artists in Hackney fled the area in the hope of avoiding the masses. Although the departure of the athletes has meant that the spotlight has been somewhat removed form the area in the recent autumnal months, this exhibition has demonstrated a new reason to keep a light firmly on it (and with a turnout of over 400 guests on the opening night, it seems people, both local and otherwise, have by no means been permanently discouraged).
The range of artistic mediums that responded to the theme was vast, from painting, sculpture, drawing, ceramics and installations, to animation and video, photography, paper-cuts, architectural model and mosaic, this was an exhibition that included every artistic outlet.
An overall impression of the exhibition when first entering the space is one of joy and expression, and as the winter draws ever closer this show holds onto the colour and vibrancy that are usually associated with the summer months.
Some works in the exhibition are very clearly linked to its title. What is particularly noticeable about the group of works is the brilliant colour that emanates from the walls. From Margy Creber’s ‘Orange Face’ (2012), which uses un-naturalistic tones, reminiscent of the Fauvist style, to create a portrait, to Soren Mayes, a local artist who lives and works in Hackney Wick, who has created a series of abstract works that reflect the area’s changing function and the struggle between the natural and the man-made elements that are so clearly juxtaposed in this area.
There are also clear references to the freedom of movement that are so often associated with festivals and carnivals which can be seen in Mark O’Rourke’s ‘Echo Beach’ and Dena Schuckit’s ‘Blast Boom Bust’, which both allow the paint to express itself through its own natural movement on the canvas and the movements that the artists themselves make when creating a painting.
However, other works are less apparently connected to the theme such as Eva Bachmann’s photographic series, ‘Unlimited Fun’. The images depict various abandoned spaces around Tottenham and Haggerston, which initially seem anything other than celebratory. Dark and dingy, the spaces may initially seem cold and uninviting. Only after reading through the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition does one get a better understanding of the associations that the series has with celebration. The text explains that the spaces are in fact in constant use for free parties in which the room provides a blank canvas for people to express themselves in whatever way they choose. The photographed spaces are then seen with an entirely new significance, no longer are these spaces of depressive decay, they become environments whose primary, if not singular, function is celebration.
‘Celebration: The Big Picture’, not only revels in visual art at its most fundamental, through demonstrating the diverse nature of the art form and allowing its intrinsic qualities, such as colour, form, texture and structure to shine through, it also celebrates the unique location of Hackney Wick itself. This exhibition highlights its tolerance towards change, its inclusive temperament, and its deeply creative core. Above all, however, it illustrates and celebrates the dualistic nature of art itself; not only are these art works an extension of the individual who created them, they are also an essential component of the society in which they created.

The exhibition is open until the 28th October, 2012.
Opening times: Thursday and Friday: 5pm – 9pm
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm – 5pm
http://www.smokehousegallery.org
http://www.firstthursdays.co.uk

Tagged: review