The October Gallery Exhibitions

Exhibitions

2006

07 December 2006 to 17 February 2007

Aubrey Williams
Major Works (Now extended to 17th February)

October Gallery presents an exhibition of major works by one of the UK's most important and original artists. Today considered a key figure of post-war painting in Britain, Aubrey Williams brought together a spectrum of visual and cultural influences in his paintings that ranged from astronomy and ecology to pre-Columbian iconography and music.

(above: Shostakovich Eleventh Quartet, Opus 122. 1981 Oil on Canvas)

19th October to 25th November 2006

Fiona Foley
Stange Fruit

Artist, activist, curator and writer, Fiona Foley stands at the forefront of cultural-political discourse in Australia. Standing witness to a history of trauma, invasion and dispossession, her sculptural installations and photographs are sometimes angry, sometimes satirical, often humorous, always political.

A descendant of the Badtjala people who were forcibly removed from the island of Thoorgine (Fraser Island) at the turn of the twentieth century, Foley engages fearlessly with the reclaiming of historical narratives, and of the land itself.

28th June to 22nd July 2006

Text Messages
Five Contemporary Artists and the Art of the Word

An exhibition exploring the place of text in the work of five leading artists of the Arabic-speaking world. A love for the divine word has been at the very heart of Islam since the first transcribing of the Qur'an. Writing is practised as an act of sacred devotion, with every verse, word and letter holding seven layers of esoteric meaning, beyond the surface text.

11th May to 24th June 2006

Red Wave Collective
Contemporary paintings from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa

In the first exhibition of its kind in Europe, the October Gallery showcases exciting new work from the forefront of the Oceania arts scene. The painters are part of The Red Wave Collective, a magnet of creativity founded by Epeli Hau’ofa at the Oceania Centre for Arts and Cultures in Fiji. In exquisite, powerful paintings, they redefine a culture ravaged by neocolonialism, and they illumine their vast Oceania, interlinked islands within a home sea in which ancestors played, worked, exchanged, and fought, with “great skills for navigating their waters... crisscrossing an ocean that had been boundless for ages before Captain Cook’s apotheosis.” (Epeli Hau’ofa)

6th April to 6th May 2006

Lockhart River Art Gang

Following Rosella Namok’s sell-out UK solo debut in 2004, the October Gallery and Andrew Baker present ‘Uncharted Territory’ the first London exhibition of the Lockhart River Art Gang, a unique collective of young Australian Aboriginal artists, from the remote Lockhart River Community on the east coast of the far northern tip of Queensland. These vibrant contemporary works are inspired by the beauty of the East Cape and informed by fast disappearing traditional beliefs, with darker references to the violence, social and health problems experienced by many Aboriginal peoples in isolated communities.Following Rosella Nasell-out UK solo debut in 2004, the October Gallery and Andrew Baker present ‘Uncharted Territory’ the first London exhibition of the Lockhart River Art Gang, a unique collective of young Australian Aboriginal artists, from the remote Lockhart River Community on the east coast of the far northern tip of Queensland. These vibrant contemporary works are inspired by the beauty of the East Cape and informed by fast disappearing traditional beliefs, with darker references to the violence, social and health problems experienced by many Aboriginal peoples in isolated communities.

2nd March to 1st April 2006

Tafuma Gutsa

An exhibition of new works by Tapfuma Gutsa. Tapfuma Gutsa’s work, both as artist and workshop leader, has transformed art practice in Zimbabwe and beyond. In this, his first solo UK exhibition, he explores the physical and metaphorical possibilities of a range of natural materials, from granite and oak, to horn, egg shell, bone and clay.

2nd February to 25th February 2006

October Gallery Winter Show 2006

Winter Show 2006 will provide a platform for a truly international set of artists from around the planet. In common with all, will be the artists' passionate use of texture, whether seen in El Anatsui's ingenious use of liquor bottle tops in his stunning metal cloths, or the thick painterly visions of the Aboriginal artists, Warlimpirrnga Tjapoaljarri and Rosella Namok. In addition, Japanese born Kenji Yoshida’s use of gold leafed layers and brilliant colour, is unfailing in its irresistible intensity.

October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7242 7367 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7405 1851

Director - Chili Hawes; Artistic Director - Elisabeth Lalouschek; Special Projects - Gerard Houghton;
Curator/Sales & Marketing - Rosalind King; Gallery Manager - Margaree Cotten;
Press Officer - Sophie Dunsmure; Rentals Manager - Stefani Crone; Education Co-ordinator - Helen Turner; Assistant Education Officer - Elizabeth Fraser-Betts;

The October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and for the entire month of August.

October Gallery Trust. Registered Charity No. 327032