louisewinter

What began less than a year ago as a 1 metre grey square painted on a studio floor has rapidly evolved into a new contemporary art space, forming an integral part of the latest cultural hub in the centre of Leeds at Melbourne Street Studios. GreySpace Galleries, its name a nod to it’s humble beginnings, was conceived by James Woolley whilst still an undergraduate at Leeds Metropolitan University.

LW: Your initial concept for GreySpace Galleries was for it to function both as an exhibition space as well as a work of art in itself. How did you negotiate these two aspects? There’s a quote by the writer Emma Barker where she says ‘display is a verb as well as a noun, active as well as passive’ which I think resonates with your ideas…
JW: At the start of third year at Uni, I established that presentation and curation had an important impact on works of art. At the time I was doing wall- based collage and became interested in the tension between my work and the space around it, the negative space. The plan was to learn more about how the two components affected each other and the best way to do it was to start the gallery. It was always designed to specifically educate me in curating and context. I studied what effect the different components of the space had on the work and what I could do to these components to alter their impact on the work. For example, the gallery originated in my studio space which only had a wall which was 1.5ft wide from floor to ceiling. This had restrictions but to make the space work I learned I could affect other components to make it a contingent space. I cut the table to fit the exact width of the wall, and the floor, which separated the gallery from the studio as the coherent nature of the gallery contrasted with the mess of the studio. These components altered the space from studio to gallery. However I would always consider it to be a gallery in my studio rather than just a gallery as it was always designed to educate both myself and everyone who exhibited and encountered work in it. I think this is what qualified it as a work of art, for me, practising art is about learning and educating yourself and others. I initially intended the gallery to be an installation in itself so the effects of context and presentation could be examined in the same environment as they were presented as a work of art.
LW: In the past you have referred to the idea of the ‘perfect space’ which I interpret as the optimal viewing space in which to encounter a work. Do you think there exists such a construct? (I mean the idea of the white cube is problematic from the point of view that it propagates the idea that it is a ‘neutral’ container when it is in fact a historically constructed space, yet, it continues to be the dominant method of display for art)
JW: Referring to the ‘perfect space’ I always focused on the idea of how a place where art is exhibited has to be removed from everyday life for that piece of work to function more fully. I’m not saying that every piece of work should be exhibited in a white cube space because some work is designed to interact with its surroundings but when a piece of work is designed for a gallery and presented in a working studio its very difficult to concentrate on the work as the surrounding contents of the studio impact on the piece. I always focused on separating the gallery space from everyday space. Whether this consisted of visual separations such as the gallery having a different coloured floor to the rest of the studio or conceptual separations. I would consider that each work has its own optimal viewing space which is not necessarily a white cube space, it is the role of the curator to determine the optimum location to exhibit the work.
LW: For me as well, the first incarnation of GreySpace in your studio functioned almost as a microcosm of the white cube but at the same time a critique of its inherent limitations, that is, there is something quite humorous about marking out a space as different from its surroundings the kind of ‘this is art/this is not art’ and how artists approached this…
JW: Yeah, I wanted to address an issue that a lot of artists focused on making art in a sort of A to B way. Where they had a start and a finish and all the steps they took to reach the finish weren’t as important as the finished work. I wanted to make them aware that they were making some really interesting work in the middle stage of the process. I think that because the work was never created to be exhibited it had a sort of honesty about it, no ego or ‘look how good I am’ bullshit. Since moving the gallery down to Melbourne Street Studios I haven’t focused too much on just exhibiting work as a precursor, although that is still important to me. I’m really focusing on the idea of introducing the art community to itself and making people aware that there is art outside Leeds. I think it’s really easy, especially for students, to stick with the same circles and never make the effort to meet other artists. When I was at the Leeds Met very few students interacted with the art community in Leeds and next to nobody was involved with the art community outside Leeds. There are so many fantastic opportunities and ideas outside the city I think its really important to network with people and communicate about what your doing.
LW: So initially GreySpace had a keen emphasis on the creative process regardless of the more finished or ‘polished’ product. How would you describe the current role of the gallery at its new premises on Melbourne Street?
The current aims for the gallery are to provide an opportunity for artists of all levels to exhibit there work in some capacity. Its understandable why galleries only want to exhibit the better work which I think is the right thing to do but there are also opportunities for artists who might not be ready for solo shows or who are just starting new pieces of work to get involved without the intense planning of a solo show. For example I am planning a Summer Salon on the 28th of July to celebrate the re-launch of the gallery at Melbourne Street Studio. The idea is that artists from around the country bring their work down on the day and take it away when they leave. This not only creates a continuing narrative where each time you see the exhibition there is something different about it but also an opportunity for artists to meet and confer. GreySpace Galleries are also planning a series of specialist workshops with local and national practitioners. These will range in price and experience level to give everyone the opportunities to learn new skills. Some of the workshops we have planned are cold cast bronze workshops. Stone carving and transfer printing.
The gallery and Melbourne Street Studios are partaking in a city-wide event called Divided We Fall where lots of the arts based institutions and collectives are coming together to hold a two week event where they will concentrate on introducing all aspects of Leeds art scene to each other. We are really excited to be a part of this as its exactly what the gallery is about and I think it could have a massive effect on improving graduate retention and the quality of artists produced from the city.
LW: Where do you see GreySpace Galleries in five years time?
JW: I have a fairly detailed plan in my head which probably means it wont happen but I would love to setup an arts hub in a big old building with the gallery, studios, event space, shop, café, the lot. Ideally I would want to stay in Leeds as it’s a great city and has real potential for the arts.

http://www.greyspacegalleries.co.uk/?p=230