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The Animal Within
By: Mark Newton
I'm currently in the process of putting an exhibition together, which I hope will take place in 2010. This will be the first time that I have organised my own show.
Using instinct and the accident I have created paintings and drawings that investigate the primitive sexual forms of desire that hide within the human condition.
Mark Newton
My personal exploration into the primal level of emotions, desires and passions felt within the sexual experience and how this can be translated into an art form.
Modern in thought with a primal level of connection, by design.
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'Vyner Street, East London', October 2009. Photo: Mark Newton. Although it may appear like a industrial area, the street contains many galleries that have great spaces showing some very exciting art.
# 1 [27 October 2009]
Looking for a venue.
I'm looking for a venue in London, for it was where I spent the first 36 years of my life. It would be like a coming home party for me; which is how I feel about my art: I have "come home" in regard to the art I produce. After spending years painting what would be deemed traditional art, I'm now having fun with my new working methods.
I spent a day in East London, looking at galleries that participate in the firstthursday event, where galleries in the area stay open later in the evening on the first Thursday of each month. The area is recognised as a hotspot for finding "current" artists and has a high concentration of galleries per mile. So, it would seem to be a good area to find a venue that would have a high volume of traffic in regard to a potential audience/customers for my work. Although I would deem my work as "new" and original, because of my age (43), I worry that I will be seen as not "up-and-coming", which would label me as not fitting in with the trendy area.
I focused my search in two areas: Around Vyner Street and Redchurch Street. Perhaps wrongly, I found the areas confusing. Finding the galleries with graffiti covered shutters down and little door bells to ring should you wish to enter made me hesitate in entering the different spaces. Vyner Street looked very industrial and Redchurch Street looked very raw and unpolished. Yet, once you go into the galleries you are met with a warm and helpful welcome. Some of the galleries have what I would say are the normal refined white walls, whilst some of the galleries have a more unfinished and rough appearance to the space. For reasons I have yet to delve into yet, I was strongly drawn to the more unfinished spaces, as they would share a closer connection to the rawness of my current work.
I have read that paying for your own venue could give out a negative vibe about who you are and where you are with your art: It could put across to other galleries and people that you have reached the last chance saloon, paying for your own show because a gallery will not take a financial risk on you. This worries me, for it is far from the truth, just a case of wanting to see what the process of organising my own show delivers.
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