Review: Play – inkygoodness at East Gallery, 2nd September 2010

It’s a weird thing, but I always manage to lose Brick Lane. Having paced around in front of Whitechapel Art Gallery for a bit before finally remembering which street to stroll down on a sunny early evening in September (by dint of following the amazing smell of curry, bagels and coffee that wafts through this part of Tower Hamlets), I set off in search of the EAST Gallery; a small, hip little space near the Bethnal Green end of the road. My usual gallery-navigation strategy of observing where the hipsters congregate and then following them is as impossible here as it is in Shoreditch, but luckily the pavement outside EAST was so thronged with illustrators and guests that it wasn’t exactly difficult to spot (The guys from the coffee shop opposite swear they saw the ghost of Basquiat in the crowd that evening, but that’s beside the point. And anyway, it was probably just Banksy, trolling).

Duly welcomed by the throng, I set off around the show itself. Titled Play, the exhibition was themed around fun and games, and each of the many artists and illustrators involved had produced pieces which revolved around that concept – which made for a lively, spontaneous and fresh show. Though the exhibition space was small, great use had been made of it; with mounted images hung in an almost 18th Century-style jumble of size and shapes that led the viewer through the space. A mural by McBess welcomed viewers through the door, while opposite a selection of ‘lo-fi and lovely’ monochrome images by Mister Millerchip played out the black and white vibe, before glorious colour took over. The images were a wide selection of digital and traditional media with a few crafts and sculptures thrown in for good measure. A few sneaky wall doodles around and behind the images fitted in well with the ‘Play’ theme and with the fantastic street art that Brick Lane’s buildings frequently sport.

The relatively small space inside the gallery (We’re talking about a space the size of the downstairs of my house, here!) was soon as packed as the street outside, and in between chatting to inkygoodness’ Lisa Hassel plus the lovely Christiane Engel, Simon Wild, Ben Steers, Mister Millerchip, Carlos Garde-Martin and Moot (and anyone else I’ve forgotten to add, sorry guys) I managed to elbow my way through the crowd for a play with Good Wives and Warriors’ Fortune Star piece and Colourbox’s awesome Streets of Rage installation as well as get a closer look at the art and illustration adorning the walls.You can see more pics from the exhibition on the inkygoodness website by clicking here. You might even spot a sneaky pic of me at the show! Meanwhile, click here to purchase gorgeous prints from some of the artist and illustrators who were involved.

With a two and a half hour journey to get home, sadly I didn’t stay for the Spacehopper races down Brick Lane later that evening, but you can find some video footage of these on the inkygoodness website, linked above. And keep your eye on inkygoodness as they prepare for their next show promoting the best in contemporary illustration – entitled ‘Dream Boat’, it will be showing at Start The Bus in Bristol, UK, during the holiday season.