The name “291” Gallery not only refers to its location, (291 Hackney Road, London, E2) but also pays homage to Alfred Steiglitz’s legendary avant garde 291 Publication and Gallery (1913-1920) based at 291 Fifth Avenue, New York. The writings of Appollinaire in the early Dada publication “Zone” echoed not only in Steiglitz’s 291 publication but even to this day have contributed to the policies governing the 291 Gallery.

Apollinaire’s early 1913’s articles on the subject of painting stated, “Resemblance no longer has any importance, because the artist sacrifices everything to truths, to the necessities of a superior nature which he implies without unmasking it. The subject no longer counts, or scarcely”.

In another essay by Apollinaire on Picasso in “Méditations esthétiques” (1913), in the course of writing, Apollinaire must have for the first time heard of papier collé, he offers what seems in retrospect like a recipe for dada painting:”You can paint with whatever you like, with pipes, stamps, post cards or playing cards, candlesticks, waxed cloth, collars, painted paper, newspapers”. Since that time, painters have been liberated from resemblance and traditional painting media and have enjoyed exploring a plethora of different materials. This is demonstrated in the exhibition at 291 Gallery entitled ”Please” which shows the paintings of two very different artists, Jo Bruton and Katie Pratt where “notions of division, location and an obsessive approach to “making” set out to explore the territory of abstract painting”

In Jo Brutons paintings, she lays down fine beads which optically capture the light such that the painting surface shimmers and changes according to the position of the viewer. The beads also have a utilitarian function whereby they are used for retro reflective road signs and road paint. Through the use of different materials she “collages” layers of meaning.

In contrast, Katie Pratt’s paintings embraces surface and materials in a very different way: “The blast, break up, spattering of paint, followed by the charting of course and reactive mapping of territory, induces a sense of imbalance in the viewer” (ref catalogue essay by Sascha Craddock). 

The paintings are shown in the north and the south aisles of the 291 Gallery which was formally a Neo-Gothic church. It is a far cry from the white walled galleries that offer no disturbing architectural interferences to the eye.The rawness of the 291 Gallery architecture is inherently dramatic with its very high ceilings that were originally designed to elevate the spirit upwards towards the celestial hierarchy and its grand stone arched columns dominating and intimidating the viewer to induce a state of humbleness and reverence. These features along with many others in the building are a constant reminder of its former function as a place of worship. Historically, paintings would often be found in dark churches and often the function of those paintings was to glorify the Church or the deity itself. Art is an act of faith and an act of reverence. It is always interesting and challenging to show paintings in the 291 Gallery where the building can offer itself as a quiet, meditative and contemplative space suitable for showing paintings or it changes its nature completely and becomes a vast “theatre” for Performance Art where artists use every corner and orifice of the building to offering itself as a “container” for site specific Installation Art that reflects, distorts, challenges and embraces the iconography of the building.

Jo Bruton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Bruton

Katie Pratt: https://www.katiepratt.net/