Colony 5-20 December 2013

From December 5 to December 20 2013 ,  Gordon Matta-Clark’s concept of Anarchitecture, as well as his communitarian spirit as expressed in the artist-run restaurant FOOD, will be explored and reanimated in a disused lighting warehouse in Warren Street in London’s Fitzrovia. Anarch Gallery have taken over the space and have invited a range of different artists to undertake short residencies within the framework provided by a large-scale structure created by Andrew T. Cross, that will rise up from the basement to the first floor of the building. On the evening of 12 December I will be hosting an in-conversation with Paris-based artist and musician Ramuntcho Matta, Gordon Matta-Clark’s half-brother. After our talk the artist Hector Cassals will be serving paella.

You can learn more in the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE                                                                                       17 November 2013

Colony

Letters by Gordon Matta-ClarkNew

commission by Andrew T Cross / AN-architecture

Daily activities by Colony Network 

Vacant lighting showroom and basement, 14 Warren Street W1T 5JL

Opening event, Wednesday 4th December 6pm

Exhibition runs 5th – 20th December 2013 Open daily from 12noon

After a successful residence for over a year in Deptford, Anarch is roaming and will be occupying 14 Warren Street for Colony, a 16 day programme with daily events by multiple collaborators.

Colony is a temporary takeover of an empty retail unit in the affluent Fitzrovia area of central London. Colony explores the spirit of renowned artist Gordon Matta-Clark underpinned by a small selection of his rarely seen letters on exhibition for the duration. These letters serve as reminders of his character, determination, confidence, sense of humour, and open-armed, forward-thinking method of working that motivates the Colony initiative.

The two storey space will house a new Anarch commission from artist Andrew T Cross / AN-architecture. The architecturally scaled sculpture cuts through the gallery floor, coming up from the basement to occupy the showroom. The large structure, made of reclaimed wood, will inhabit the vacant unit and provide a flexible island to be colonized daily by an invited network of multidisciplinary artists and practitioners: Colony Network. This structure will function variously as studio, seminar / conversation space, performance platform, FOOD restaurant, gallery and as a stand-alone piece of public, urban sculpture.

Colony is a node in the city where a temporary community, Colony Network, will gather together and create a dynamic, chaotic and fun programme on, in and around the functional installation. 

COLONY NETWORKS (more TBC):

 Anarch

Andrew T Cross

Annexinema

AssemblySE8

James Attlee

ARTISJUSTAWORD invites Hector Castells

Nancy Benson

Cheatahs

Freddy Dewe Mathews

Ditto Press

La Fragua A.I.R.

Dan Halhead

Alice Ladenburg

Library of Bureaucratic Absurdity (LOBA)

Nissa Nishikawa

Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark

Ramuntcho Matta

Nadege Meriau

Standart Thinking (Lise Hovesen and Javier Rodriguez) 

Fritz Stolberg & Kohhei Matsuda

Marianne Walker & Oli Don

Phill Wilson-Perkin & Samantha Taylor

Jim Woodall

Volume Projects invites:

Criodhna Costello

Malachai K

Michael Mykola Haleta

Dawn Bendick Haleta

Ryan Jordan

Charlie Kerr

Solina Hi-Fi

The opening reception is on Wednesday 4th December, 6pm where the daily programme of events will be launched with an epic performance, XI, presented by Cheatahs throughout the space. Paying homage to Ryhs Chatham’s Guitar Trio and the No Wave movement, “XI” is a one off avant-garde work for 11 guitars. Taking a guitar drone in the key of D as a starting point, the 11 players – made up of members of Cheatahs and fellow London bands Mazes, Male Bonding, Great Ytene, Novella and Omi Palone – will each take it in turn to improvise and explore tonal possibilities within the drone.

 NOTES TO EDITOR:

 

Andrew T Cross (ATC) studied both art and architecture, his work constantly walking the thin line between the two.  “Not the kind of architecture that’s filled with offices and creates skylines and not the kind of art that hangs on walls to just be looked at. I create art with a function to be interacted with, to be touched and experienced in a real and tactile way.”

ATC has created large-scale commissions with Secret Arts, Aid & Abet, Artspace, London Pleasure Gardens. Anarch director Jude Bennett and ATC have been in conversations for years around the various concepts that are touched on through Colony. This project is the basis of realising future collaborative projects between them.

Gordon Matta-Clark (1943 – 1978) is widely considered one of the most influential artists working in the 1970s and a key figure in the growth of New York’s downtown art scene. He is renowned for his building cuts, his collaborative projects like FOOD restaurant and for evolving the concept of ‘anarchitecture’.

At colony, FOOD is an open event where Network participants ‘in residence’ will host an informal meal and artist talk to offer opportunities for collaborations and exchange. 

Anarch is a commissioning agency led by curator and collaborator, Jude Bennett, with the aim of taking an open and supportive approach with emerging and established artists.

 Colony Networks participants’ details and a schedule of events will be on the website prior to the exhibition and will also be available in print, along with an introduction written by James Attlee. . www.anarch.co.uk/colony

Colony is kindly funded by Arts Council England. Special thanks to East Street Arts and the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark (held at CCA , Montreal)

CONTACT DETAILS FOR ALL ENQUIRIES:

Jude Bennett, Director / Collaborator.

07767 271886

jude@anarch.co.uk

www.anarch.co.uk/colony

 

Image credits: (Left) Letter to Lee Jr, August 1 1971, Gordon Matta-Clark 1975. (Right) Temple, Andrew T Cross (previous commission by secret arts 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

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