Nunnery Gallery Exhibition Impressions:
Claudia Kusznirczuk
As with any exhibition, there are a number of positives and negatives of which we can derive from the experience to improve on future exhibitions. Opening night of the UAL MA interim show, which ran from 2, May to 5, May 2019, was well attended by a variety of visitors, viewers and guests. The good viewer turn-out from the opening night demonstrated the success of this exhibition.
My overall assessment of the Nunnery Gallery exhibition was that the organization of the event was done with very good planning and execution. This is a tribute to all the participating artists for their hard work and diligence for the 3-day event. The students that were part of the organization committee amazingly covered all necessary items, details and responsibilities. The planning and logistics which included transport, arranging and displaying over 30 pieces of art, and return transport took much time and was well performed and executed by the entire class body.
First, the printed materials provided good exposure to all the works presented in the exhibition and was smartly folded to allow a viewer to easily carry or slip into a pocket or purse. The only negative was that it was a bit confusing for the viewers in relating the artwork to the artist. It was a short exhibition; however, it was difficult to place the artist with the artwork, therefore for opening night, it may have been advisable for the artist to be closer to their art work. This exhibition demonstrated that it is important to make the best impressions on the opening night of the exhibition, however we should have planned something further for the remaining days to attract visitors.
Presentation of each piece of art was optimally displayed effectively utilizing the dimensions of the rooms, ceiling height and available spaces. Canvas works were expressed in a way to maximize space and allowed the work to appear individual in terms of display. The excellent works of the artists/students were very prominently displayed in various sizes and mediums and the high ceiling walls contribute to the overall atmosphere.
A general comment about the displayed pieces, each work captured the essence of the artist’s program themes and overall provided viewers with good sense of the artist’s abilities and styles. There was very good variety and dimension of work on display. It is truly difficult to single out any one piece of artwork since there was very strong works by all the participating students/artists.
In terms of the venue, the event was held in a historical and interesting building which as the name implies was a nunnery in past times. The exhibition areas are spacious and as previously mentioned, with a high ceiling for effect and atmosphere. On the negative side, the Nunnery Gallery is a bit out the way in East London and somewhat difficult to get to which I believe greatly impacted the visitors over the last remaining days of the exhibition. It was disappointing that there were only a few viewers during the weekend, however, the gallery does have a good reputation to display emerging artists.
Exceptionally, the Gallery does have a café, however, the staff seemed a bit ill-prepared for the planned exhibition. Hot drinks were not possible, because the coffee machine and water boiler were shut down just before the exhibition started on Thursday evening and there were limited soft drinks (to the complaints and comments from guests and viewers).
Overall, the exhibition was successful and fulfilled my expectations and aims. My painting titled ‘Hot’ was prominently displayed and stood on its own on the back wall of the gallery. The lighting was just right which further enhanced the painting.
