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Geisha Arts does it right
We’ve all seen bar/cafe arts venues, usually an uneasy collaboration of cafe owner and poor calibre artists, with bland art getting a distinct back stage to the lattes, lagers and grilled paninis. At the opening of Geisha Arts (see here for details), I had a sudden realisation: this is the first time I’ve seen it done right. The emphasis is 50/50 art/cafe bar. Not some place with ropey pictures hung on the walls as an afterthought. But award winning artists placing their work at the centre of the hip Brighton Clientele.
Geisha arts is the brain child of Zac and Miranda Walsh in collaboration with the people at Madame Geisha. They have pushed the envelope to deliver a true art venue that marries harmoniously with a modern eating and drinking establishment – they haven’t sacrificed their ideals or strayed too far from their personal knowledge of the arts. It is an uncompromising urban space, a perfect canvas to show the best of underground emerging and established artists. Its also a good place to go and have a drink or something to eat, somewhere were you can interact, appreciate and discuss the artwork beyond the rarified confines of an alienating gallery system. And lets face it, its nice to have a drink in hand when looking at artwork (there’s a few boring conceptual shows in London I’ve attended that could learn a lesson here).
Much thought has gone into the placement and positioning of the work, from the illuminated fairground stylised crosses of Andy Doig’s work, juxtaposed above the lights and optics of the central bar to KaiGami’s ultra modern arabesque lamps shining onto the larger works of Zac Walsh and Matt Small. This attention to detail is noticeable throughout the exhibition.
Artists exhibiting include Henrijs Priess, Robert Sample, Byproglyphics and the talented Case, whose untitled work, a spray painted picture of two young men, with something of the lurid unsettling air of David Lynch about it, was a highlight. The standard for the most part was high, certainly higher than any similar event I’ve attended.
The salacious and prismatic work of Goldie, lingered in urban cliché too much for my own subjective taste. In contrast, Walsh and Small have developed their own idiosyncratic visual language in response to the street vernacular and in relation to post-modernity as a whole. Small’s work William Concrete is a perfect example of his continued evolution and his abiding individualism in the face of the kind of slavish imitation to graffiti fashion that is susceptible within the urban scene. Covering less of the image than he normally does, the work shows his now customary portraiture, but captures an air of modern iconography, a religious relic perhaps. The found canvas, here a piece of reinforced plasterboard is roughly cruciform, the metal strands poking out regimented, yet twisted, bring to mind wings, therianthropic connotations…an angel hoody fashioned as an inner city crucifixion. Or perhaps an altar piece, a societal parable told in the form of discarded materials and forgotten youth. Zac Walsh’s major piece, Eurynome the Creation Myth features his immediate family, filtered through his interpretation of Graves’s Greek Myths; hence the child as symbol of the creation, the snake skulls representing both regenerative potency and the circle of life and death and the dove representing…well I’ll leave you to do some of the work. Its a powerful piece, featuring the usual masterful composition, exquisite draughtsmanship, and effortless representation we’ve come to expect from Walsh’s work – its surely only a matter of time before he becomes big news within the art world.
Ultimately though, the star of the show was the event itself, this inaugural arts collaboration between a trendy venue and some forward thinking arts people. Exciting artists curated in a manner that amplifies the edginess of the work. Top marks also go to the chef. Often when a place has a culinary philosophy (here vegetarian along with ethically sourced seafood) the quality can suffer, but, the food was so delicious I didn’t notice (this from an unrepentant meat eater). The sesame wafers topped with herbs and smoked salmon were exemplary – and the food was as beautiful to look at as it was to eat, as befitting an art venue.
My only cautionary would be Zac and Miranda have set the bar too high, and will do well to maintain the standard of exhibitions here. If they continue to show however, the kind of hustle, nerve and efficiency (they managed to pull all this together whilst tending to their first born) as well as sensitivity to curation and artistic quality control, they will go from strength to strength.
So if you are in the mood for something good to eat, a drink and some seriously interesting art, get down to Geisha Arts at Madame Geisha. They do it right.
©2010, www.londonartblog.com; reproduced at http://zacharywalsh.squarespace.com/reviews/
Geisha Arts can be found at www.madamegeisha.com/arts
Are the following questions True/False/Not Given
| List of Headings
i a place for everything and for everything a place
ii It can only get better
iii Eureka-They got it right
iv A good marriage
v Want a good restaurant?
vi Too street-wise
vii Religious icons
viii Pretty as a picture
ix The place to go
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