Galleries - May 2015

any other such organisation, is in danger of becoming institutional- ised. That, as I understand it, is the thinkingbehind the formation of a small sub-section of the London Group – some 11 members led by past president, Peter Clossick – set up to explore the overlaps within their own particular ways of working. The title they have given themselves, ‘Bridge’, with all its connotations of crossinga divide, is therefore very apt. The fact that it is takingplace at The Cello Factory, that de facto current home of the London Group, makes it clear that this is no breakaway faction but indicitive of its willingness to change. As Philip Larkin thoughtfully observed “Always it is by bridges that we live” while, stylistically, the fact that this show includes installation and video as well as paintingand sculpture, reveals an openness of attitude and respect for each other. Peter Clossick is also showing at the Lovely Gallery this month, see map 17. The Art of a Nation With a cultural identity so fixated on the literary and poetic, Irish 20th C. and Contemporary art has often appeared to be of minor significance, derivative simply of both British and international influences. How very mistaken this view is becomes clear in a remarkable exhibition ‘The Art of a Nation’ history events, this gallery openingcould be the most encouraging news about ‘The Street’ for some while. Forma Hungarica What was going on design-wise behind the Iron Curtain in the years 1945-90 has always remained somethingof a mystery, one that only now is beingexplored in any kind of detail. Czechoslovakian glass, for example, is now perhaps better known for individual artists, but Hungarian designer ceramics? They enjoyed a huge vogue in the West, exported by the state, but their individual names and styles have become almost entirely forgotten. That is until the collector Graham Cooley formed a significant collection (many hundreds), while researching these hugely gifted individuals, bringing them to light once again. In what amounts to a world first, some 400 plus of them are on show at King’s Lynn Art Centre this month. Crossing a Bridge I am a bigfan of that excellent, artist-organised exhibiting society, the London Group. Part of its ongoing strength – it has survived for more than a 100 years now – is its willingness to adapt and recognise that it, like 10 GALLERIES MAY 2015 ANTENNAE Anglo Russian With all the talk in recent times about galleries leaving Cork Street, it is good to hear of a really interesting high-end space opening there; Dadiani Fine Art have taken over the glamorous glass-fronted space at number 30, once occupied by the Alon Zakaim Gallery. Opened last year by Eleesa Dadiani, the gallery is aiming to do something distinctly unusual. The exhibitions of 20th C. and Contemporary Russian art that she wants to introduce to the British public are balanced out by the equivalent in British art for Russian collectors. What this means is that the show of Russian posters they held there in April has been followed with a no less remarkable one devoted to the work of the late English punk poet/painter David Robilliard. A protégée of Gilbert and George, Robilliard’s fierce and intense poem-paintings enjoyed a brief but huge critical reclamé in the late 1980s, not unlike that enjoyed by Basquiat. His death from Aids, aged 36 in 1988, puzzlingly seemed to remove him from public consciousness, although a show at the ICA last year started a reassessment. The Dadiani show, consisting of a whole group of previously unseen work makes it significant for collectors of all persuasions. With a declared intention of also putting on a programme of music, poetry, literature and

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