Waterside Contemporary

Waterside Contemporary was a visual art gallery in Hackney, central-east London. The gallery's programme focused on politically- and socially-engaged artists,^[1][2][3] including Oreet Ashery, George Barber, Mirza and Butler, Nikita Kadan, and Chiara Fumai. The gallery exhibition programme involved over a hundred artists like Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Mathilde ter Heijne, Slavs and Tatars in nearly thirty exhibitions, performances, public events,^[4] publishing, and institutional collaborations.^[5]

Waterside Contemporary was founded in 2008 by Pierre d'Alancaisez^[6] as the Waterside Project Space, named after the Waterside building on Wharf Road in which it was located. Initially an artist-run not-for-profit, the gallery became commercially active in 2010 with a presentation at ViennaFair.^[7] Olga Ovenden became co-director with the gallery's move to nearby Hoxton.^[8][9] The gallery stopped exhibiting operations under the Waterside name in 2017.

Waterside Contemporary commissioned, curated and premiered landmark works such as Animal with a Language by Oreet Ashery,^[10] The Unreliable Narrator by Karen Mirza and Brad Butler,^[11] and The Freestone Drone by George Barber.^[12][13]

In 2024, the team behind Waterside Contemporary launched Verdurin, a cultural project space in the former gallery's premises.^[14]

Notable exhibitions

2013

• Long ago, and not true anyway, a group exhibition with Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Rabih Mroué, et al.^[15][16]
• Reconstitution, an event at Soho House accompanying the exhibition^[17]

2014

• Animal with a Language, a solo exhibition by Oreet Ashery^[18]
• The Unreliable Narrator, a solo exhibition by Karen Mirza and Brad Butler^[19]
• The Freestone Drone, a solo exhibition by George Barber^[20][21]

2015

• Nascent States, a group exhibition with Olivia Plender, Mathilde ter Heijne, Chiara Fumai, Anetta Mona Chişa & Lucia Tkáčova, Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz, Judith Barry, et al.^[22][23]
• Limits of Responsibility, a solo exhibition by Nikita Kadan^{[24][25][26][27]}

2016

• The Book of Evil Spirits, a solo exhibition by Chiara Fumai^[28][29]

References

1. "waterside contemporary". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
2. "Reichman stirs the pot with his Light show". The Jewish Chronicle. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2023 – via PressReader.
3. "waterside contemporary | Culture24". www.culture24.org.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
4. "New Exhibition To Mark The Summer Solstice At Waterside Contemporary". Artlyst. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
5. Morton, Elise. "Postponed futures: GRAD offers an alternative look at the Ukrainian avant-garde". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
6. ArtDependence. "ArtDependence | Dealing in politics: an interview with Pierre d'Alancaisez". www.artdependence.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
7. "Waterside Project Space at ViennaFair 2010". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
8. "art-agenda". www.art-agenda.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
9. "Artnotes". Art Monthly. 347: 18. 2011 – via ProQuest.
10. Sheerin, Mark (30 October 2014). "The Psychedelic and Porcine Provocations of Oreet Ashery". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
11. "Karen Mirza and Brad Butler's "The Unreliable Narrator" - Features - art-agenda". www.art-agenda.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
12. Sandhu, Sukhdev (April 2013). "'I Admit I'm a Bit Creepy...'". Sight and Sound. 3 (4): 68.
13. Gregory, Derek (3 January 2013). "The Freestone Drone". geographical imaginations. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
14. "About Verdurin". Verdurin. March 2024.
15. "Long Ago, and Not True Anyway | Frieze". Frieze. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
16. "Long ago, and not true anyway". Ibraaz. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
17. "Reconstitution". artreview.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
18. "Oreet Ashery: Animal with a Language at waterside contemporary". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
19. "Karen Mirza and Brad Butler: The Unreliable Narrator at waterside contemporary". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
20. "George Barber's "The Freestone Drone" - Features - art-agenda". www.art-agenda.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
21. Rich, Kate (12 March 2013). "View from a Kill". Mute. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
22. "Nascent States at waterside contemporary". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
23. www.dandelion-burdock.com, dandelion & burdock. "Nascent States". thisistomorrow. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
24. "Nikita Kadan: radical roots from Kiev | Bad at Sports". Retrieved 25 November 2020.
25. "Nikita Kadan: Limits of Responsibility at Waterside Contemporary". DAILY SERVING. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
26. www.dandelion-burdock.com, dandelion & burdock. "Nikita Kadan: Limits of Responsibility". thisistomorrow. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
27. "Nikita Kadan: Limits of Responsibility at waterside contemporary". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
28. Sheerin, Mark (11 April 2016). "Within Gallery Walls, an Artist Channels the Ghosts of Marginalized Women". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
29. "Chiara Fumai: The Book of Evil Spirits". waterside-contemporary.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.

External links

• Waterside Contemporary archive website.

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