After tapping on the front door for the second time I nosily peer though the window, hoping to discover someone in this newly opened gallery.
I am faced with someone who has their back to me, sitting in a chair with their hood up. I tap on the door again and realise that this person is sitting unnervingly still. Not a twitch. Ah, it must be art. The front door opens and I am welcomed into the cosy warmth of this terraced house, even offered a cup of tea.
In this lively, humorous, quirky exhibition play and energy can immediately be sensed. There is a flittering between the ad hoc and the carefully considered. There is noise, colour, movement but each piece is given its own space for engagement. This is a small space but it is not cramped or overcrowded, the choice and display of the work has been made with precision.
‘Look like your Dog’ by Bea Turner, I discover is that strange frozen figure I saw through the window. A figure in a suit has its human head replaced by a toy dog, constantly nodding its head. By its side is a dog shape with a little man’s head attached to it. This work has a very strong presence in the room and is captivating as an object in which there is this tension between the animate and the inanimate, the little dog constantly nodding while its human body remains a statue. ‘Little Filter Man’ is another jovial piece, a pack of Swan filters, taped to the wall, a little man keeps popping up, down, up, down, up, down amongst the filters. Haphazard taping to the wall with black tape, the motor parts all exposed, emphasises the fragility of the piece, its simplicity and playfulness. It is not pretending to be anything it is not, it is honest and open about the components of the work.
‘Birthday Party’ by Alistair Osborn again has this sense that it could have just appeared, could have just formed from the detritus of a party with cheap plastic cups and probably cheap wine and fairy lights. But at the same time it is highly structured, like a spherical honeycomb. ‘Map of the World with 12 divisions and 365 subdivisions’ was perfectly placed above the fire place, the warm afternoon sun falling across the map, as if tracking the line of light and shadow which divides day from night as the earth spins on its axis.
‘Molehill’ Hannah Conroy Mount Fuji, Marks and Spencer wet wipe. A famous Japanese painting by Hi… has been reprinted by Marks and Spencer on thousands of their wet wipe packets. Conroy has taken this product and returned it to its original status as art, framing it in a simple picture frame, completing the circle. Each object in this cycle has undergone a transformation and the title again transforms the image from the highest mountain in Japan to the common molehill.
This is a new art space for Nottingham, just opened by former art student Hannah Conroy, in her own front room. This is a reaction to the lack of spaces in Nottingham open to up and coming artists. Being both an artist and curator Conroy is very aware of the difficulty of finding spaces to exhibit in, her solution can be found here at 34 Windmill Lane. Conroy states that ‘I really wanted to create a space which would help to promote emerging artists in Nottingham’. The space will be run for the next 5 months and already the programme of events and exhibitions is nearly fully booked. March 24th sees the opening of an exhibition by Nottingham artist studio group, Stand Assembly, who will be taking over the whole ground floor and basement.
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