October Gallery is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

in central

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, established in 1979."About Us"
October Gallery]. Retrieved 20 June 2021. It is notable for promoting the work of artists of the "Transvangarde" or trans-cultural

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

movement. The gallery also hosts talks, performances and seminars. Among notable contemporary international artists whose work has been shown at October Gallery are

Aubrey Williams Aubrey Williams (8 May 1926 – 27 April 1990) was a Guyanese artist. He was best known for his large, oil-on-canvas paintings, which combine elements of abstract expressionism with forms, images and symbols inspired by the pre-Columbian art o ...

El Anatsui El Anatsui (; born 4 February 1944) is a Ghanaian sculptor active for much of his career in Nigeria. He has drawn particular international attention for his "Bottle cap, bottle-top installations". These installations consist of thousands of Alum ...

James Barnor James Barnor Hon. FRPS, OV (born 6 June 1929) is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been disco ...

Sokari Douglas Camp Sokari Douglas Camp CBE (born 1958 in Nigeria) is a London-based artist who has had exhibitions all over the world and was the recipient of a bursary from the Henry Moore Foundation. She was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British ...

, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Naomi Gakunga, Ablade Glover, Owusu-Ankomah, Romuald Hazoumè, and Rachid Koraïchi.

History

Established in 1979, October Gallery has promoted the art and artists of the "Transvangarde" – "a concept based on the idea that the true cutting edge is the coming together of the cross-cultural avant-garde"— giving a platform to international artists and experimental literature, including artwork by such significant literary figures as

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and ...

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

and

Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pa ...

. The gallery has exhibited the work of artists from more than 65 different countries, and from regions including Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, India and Oceania. October Gallery shows have featured work by such notable international artists as

, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Naomi Gakunga, Ablade Glover, Owusu-Ankomah, Romuald Hazoumè, and Rachid Koraïchi. The co-founder and director of October Gallery is Chili Hawes and the artistic director is Elisabeth Lalouschek. The gallery marked its 40th anniversary with the publication in 2020 of the book ''Dream No Small Dream: The Story of October Gallery'', which included essays by Chili Hawes, Elisabeth Lalouschek, Niru Ratnam, Dr Chris Spring, Dr

Gus Casely-Hayford Augustus Lavinus Casely-Hayford (born 1964) is a British curator, cultural historian, broadcaster and lecturer with ancestral Ghanaian roots in the Casely-Hayford family. He is presently the Director of V&A East and was formerly the Directo ...

, Dr Mark Nelson, John Allen, Ian MacFadyen, Professor

Paul Goodwin Paul Goodwin may refer to: * Paul Goodwin (conductor) Paul Goodwin (born 2 September 1956) is an English conductor and former oboist. Oboist Goodwin was born in Warwick, England. He studied oboe with Janet Craxton. Following his graduat ...

, with photography and design by Jonathan Greet.

References

External links

October Gallery website

October Gallery
at

Artsy Artsy, formally known as Art.sy Inc is a New York City based online art brokerage. Its main business is developing and hosting website for numerous galleries as well as selling art for them. It utilizes a search engine and database to draw conne ...

"Inside One of London's Most Iconic, Pioneering and Madcap Galleries"
''elephant.art'', 2 February 2020. * Angela Cobbinah
"October Gallery: Ahead of its time"
21 August 2019. {{Authority control 1978 establishments in England Art museums and galleries established in 1978 Contemporary art galleries in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden