East End Gallery Trips

Maureen Paley Gallery

The second gallery we visited was the Maureen Paley gallery, a smaller, privately funded gallery in the East end of London.
Before this visit I hadn't visited, nor was I aware of the Maureen Paley gallery so I was interested in seeing how it compared to the other galleries we had visited on these trips:

Maureen Paley Gallery

From the outside I would of completely written it off as a gallery so I was shocked when we were lead inside. The gallery was relocated in September 1999 to this venue and the galleries aim is "to promote great and innovative artists in all media"

The work being shown at the gallery was the by Anne Hardy. Again, I was unaware of her work prior to finding out we would be seeing one of her shows on this trip so I did a bit of research into her practise before we went and found how she constructs her images very interesting. We watched a video during our introductory lecture on how Hardy makes her work and I found this very engaging, and thought it was a very clever way to go about creating her scenarios. 

Notations - Anne Hardy

I enjoyed this visit the most out of the 3 we saw on the trip, I think this was because it was the most appealing of topics to me. Although I found the work from the other galleries amazing I think Hardy's work is more my cup of tea. It was also very audience based in that you were about to engage with some of her pieces. I also enjoyed the intimacy of this gallery, Hardy chooses to hand her prints slightly lower than usual so that it feels as if you as the viewer are actually walking into the room that the print diptychs.

As of Yet Untitled - Anne Hardy

The photo above for example is just one of the 'rooms' created over the 2 floor exhibition space of the gallery. When you step inside these structures it is meant to feel personal, so we were asked to only go in two at a time, so that we could get a better sense of the space. Unlike Hardy's prints where you are meant to feel like you are stepping into the space as the prints are at such a scale where they feel almost life like, in these scenarios you are literally stepping into one of Hardy's creations. Part of the idea around the show is that you are able to see the boards and the way in which the rooms are constructed so you know that her work is constructed pieces even though in this case they feel even more life like as you are able to walk around them.

I think this is something that I really liked about this exhibition is that it was Audience friendly. Usually you have to keep your distance from the works, and although this is true in the sense of the hanging prints, the majority of the exhibition revolves around the engagement with the work itself.

Images: www.maureenpaley.com/exhibitions/current/anne-hardy/images
Content: www.maureenpaley.com/gallery
Video: www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/inside-the-artists-studio-anne-hardy-7462368.html