Wobble & Squint are an art collective made up of curators Errol Fernandes and Anne-Laure Franchette.
The dynamic duo are throwing up exhibitions in disused spaces all over London, making practical use of the increasing amount of derelict buildings and filling them with some of London’s newest and most interesting talents. Their latest project is called ‘Taken Away’, an exhibition taking place in a vacant take away restaurant on Exmouth market, EC2. And no they don’t deliver. The project brings together a group of 28 international artists with a brief of exploring our need to escape (see film for one man’s idiosyncratic method). The works on show not only document our desire to take a break and disappear but also invite us to question the how and why behind those mental diversions.
Tell us about Wobble & Squint… Wobble & Squint is a curatorial collective that we co-founded. We are Errol Fernandes and Anne-Laure Franchette. Errol works as an Art Psychotherapist and has a painting studio in Stoke Newington while Anne-Laure is a studio assistant for Damien Hirst. We had both been involved in curating group exhibitions in the past and thought that it would be nice to work together to develop a way of exhibiting art that was accessible and unpretentious yet still articulate and valuable. Collaborating with organisations such as ‘Meanwhile Space’ we take over empty shops and other vacant properties in London, and fill them with the work by the most interesting artists we can find.
What’s the new show about? Escapism. We were interested in the everyday escapes that help us get by, give us a break from the daily grind and ultimately replenish us so that we can keep going. Laughing until you cry, daydreaming as you walk to work, watching some trash on TV. We all escape and there are so many ways that we do it, some more subtle than others.
What is your favoured means of escape? Hip Hop from Quebec and playing dress-up!
Tell us about some of the artists exhibiting… We selected 28 artists from an overwhelming amount of submissions. We will showcase a variety of mediums such as painting, mixed media construction, film and photography. Each artwork explores a different facet of escapism such as obsession, fantasy, dream, or spontaneity. For example, documentary filmmaker Guy Bolongaro focuses on portraying the lives of people who somehow find themselves marginalized. His work explores the conscious choices that people sometimes make to remove themselves from the rigmarole of daily life. Brooke Wyattʼ s collages are an intake of everyday stimuli, internally processed and reconstructed. Photographer Chloe Sells questions place and placelessness, the real and the imagined.
What do you hope to achieve? Our aim is to bring together diverse groups of creatives and present exhibitions that stimulate, excite and challenge. We hope to collaborate with artists and galleries and think about alternative ways of presenting art. We have some amazing gallery spaces in London but that isn’t the only way to view art.
What does the future hold for Wobble and Squint? A few weeks break after this exhibition and then more Wobbling & Squinting as we start a new search for artists. We are playing with a few ideas – another site specific exhibition, a residency and maybe something big towards the end of the year! We’re really excited! Who knows where this will take us, but one thing’s for sure…we’ll enjoy getting there.
Runs from Thursday 28th July to Tuesday 2nd August 2011.
