Art in right place! Gallery hosts charity

Artist Seatton with chart-topping Irish popstar CMAT

AN EXHIBITION featuring chart-topping Irish popstar CMAT’s “favourite artist in the world” opens in Islington today (Friday).

The show has been curated by Artbox London, a charity supporting autistic artists and artists with learning disabilities to develop and sell their work. Five artists are exhibiting their work at the pop-up gallery on Whitecross Street, grouped together under the title FAMILIAR, which reflects the way their art reimagines scenes and objects from everyday life in unique ways.

Having access to this gallery space, although temporary, is a big win for the charity, Artbox facilitator Jonathan Small told the Tribune. He added: “We usually just do one exhibition a year so we put on a big spread of loads of people’s art, and it’s all jumbled up.

“This exhibition space gives us a chance to focus in on specific themes, the things that link smaller groups of artists together.”

Toyin with one of her colourful tapestries

It was after attending previous exhibitions and visiting the Artbox studio in Cally that CMAT commissioned one of the artists, Seatton, to design the cover for her latest album, Crazymad, For Me.

Another artist exhibiting her work at FAMILIAR is Toyin, who draws vibrant figures with gel pens and stitches canvas drawings together into huge, colourful tapestries. Toyin has come to Artbox for almost 10 years, during which time, she told the Tribune, she has created more than 4,500 pieces of art.

For the past two years, she has also been a part-time assistant at the studio, cleaning up after sessions and helping other students with their work.

Toyin draws inspiration from the lives and legacies of other artists – from Pablo Picasso to Alice Neal – and African-American actors and characters from TV and films.

Artbox has plans to get a printing press for the studio and launch a mentorship programme where professional artists come in to lead workshops.

FAMILIAR will be Artbox’s third exhibition in the temporary gallery on Whitecross Street and it will run until November 15.