DRIVE-THRU - THREE COLTS GALLERY

Artist and ex-Director of The Hollow, James Bradshaw introduces his new arts diary for Transition Tradition with a visit to the Three Colts Gallery for the "Drive-Thru" show, featuring the work of Lisa Penny, John Tiney, Tom Cox-Bisham, John Summers and David Wilkinson.

Three Colts Gallery is pretty innocuous space located in a Business Park in the East End of London. The gallery has been around for over 2 years and specialises in showing the work of young and emerging artists, so I was a little surprised that I had not had a reason to attend previous shows. I now feel rather annoyed not having made the effort to go before as I learnt from the guy behind the bar that the whole site is being torn down and rebuilt in December. Redevelopment seems to be a constant danger with many independent artist run galleries. All too often they fail because of a lack of funding or they become sanitised spaces following redevelopment. Having said that, I remain largely optimistic about this cycle - it keeps the underground art scene / subculture on its toes and prevents spaces stagnating.

Artists:

Lisa Penny

John Tiney

Tom Cox-Bisham

John Summers

David Wilkinson

Giorgio Sadotti

This is exactly the kind of gallery event I enjoy most. Wandering through an industrial estate car park at night senses slightly heightened by distant screams and, I swear, the sound of automatic gun fire in Bethnal Green, I attempt to find the entrance. After about 10 minutes of half-heartedly trying various doors around the building, with a little trepidation in case I stumble into a squat or security guard, I call John for help.

I've known John Summers for some time now, he's the reason I made the effort to come out tonight. After graduating from the Slade, John went to the RCA and was selected for the New Contemporaries, he has shown at a number of events I've staged and never disappoints. Luckily this evening is no different, he turns up and acts as my guide through the maze of dark, painted halls until I finally opened a set of double doors and walked into the bright studio neon lights and sea of faces.

Quickly scanning the room I was immediately impressed with both the space and the situations of the work within. But first things first, I went straight for the bar. Realising that my wallet was not in the pocket of this jacket but the one hanging neatly in the cupboard at home. I scanned the room again this time looking for friends I knew would offer to buy me a beer! Bottle in hand I was happy to start taking in the room.

I noticed John's sculpture immediately. Despite providing a contrast to previous work, it remained instantly recognisable.

A large fragile frame covered in a skin-like resin, held up at one end by a slightly bent metal pole. Within the belly of the stretched and contorted stomach were a number of toys.

With Jon's work, I often have an initial feeling of disappointment and this was a case in point. But, the more I spent time with it the more I appreciated it.

I next looked for the work of Lisa Penny. Lisa is more of an acquaintance. I didn't instantly recognise her work and had to resort the plan of the space provided by the gallery. Having tracked down Lisa's contribution, I didn't have an immediate response and a conversation with the artist herself started to open the pieces up for me. Of the three the one I liked the most was a plinthed sculpture of a Buddha with a coconut for replacing its head.

It was this piece that triggered my realisation that there seemed to be a theme to the show. All the work played with the duality of good and evil or moral and immoral. This was particularly apparent in the case of the large kinetic marionette by David Wilkinson.

I did not have the pleasure of meeting David that night but I would certainly relish seeing some more of his work and will be on the look-out for future shows. The puppet displayed was about 7 ft tall with arms that could be powered by the audience. One arm held out its two fingers as if to anoint the viewer with the holy cross, and the other arm showing the middle finger. Pulling the strings attached to the wrists would result in the puppet either blessing you or telling you to fuck off. Oddly, having watched people play with this throughout the night, it seems most of us are looking to be told where to go.

Due to my coat/wallet problem I eschewed the after party feeling I had already imposed upon friends having discovered a rather nice Portuguese tipple called Super Bock. I came away feeling slightly guilty about taking advantage of my mates and think that perhaps I should rebalance the karma at the next private view I go to. I left at about 9 o'clock satisfied by the pleasant mix of good company, fine art and cheap foreign larger.

To contact James please write to:

mailto:jbradshaw@london.com

Or visit:

http://www.jamesbradshaw.net