19/10/2017 - MOOSEY EXHIBITION IN LONDON

The next day came around and it was time to head to London to install the exhibition! Frazer left for the capital at 6am however I followed on the train later at 11. When I arrived half of the pieces had already been hung, however there was still lots to get on with. The gallery was a hireable space used predominently for exhibitions, which was located in the centre of Islington and was the traditional white walled gallery upstairs. However there was an unusual format seeming almost fitting for an apartment below level with a neatly hidden kitchenette and toilet yet featuring an interesting central space with chairs and twin hallway infinity mirrors.

If I had been curating the exhibition I think it would've been interesting to utilize this lower level to a greater extent, however the lighting below was inadequate and as we were preparing drinks this area served as a kind of back office for the team while we were working.

My first job on arrival was to use the catalogue to find and place the information stickers of each piece around the gallery. Having a perfectionist nature became useful here in ensuring the stickers were all evenly spaced and level. Each sticker was printed onto matt clear adhesive vinyl, and it struck me as interesting to witness the transformation from a sheet of extremely homemade stickers to highly professional gallery information with careful placement beside the works of art.

Next we had to clean down all of the frames and glass for packing, finger marks and drill dust, first using wipes then a microfibre cloth and then level everything with a tripod mounted laser level. This was exactly the sort of experience I wanted to be gaining; picking up on all the different ways to achieve a professional finish in an economical way.

Mauro, the real name of our featuring artist Muretz, arrived and set about signing the limited edition of 70 prints we were releasing along with the event, which I then framed and hung in pride of place beneath the DJ booth. The prints priced at £70 each were our cheapest items in the exhibition, so we expected to sell many on the night. Therefore my next job was to carefully package and roll the prints into tubes, label and pack them away in readiness for the launch. The entire process of setting up the exhibition was a pleasure to be involved in, and as we made the final finishing touches I was really impressed with the final outcome, the show was well spaced and thoughtfully curated.

The exhibition was sponsered by local brewers Redwell, and Bullards Gin, allowing us to provide free drinks to guests throughout the night (which went down noticably quicker in the expensive capital than Norwich!) I was on duty for these drinks for the first half of the proceedings, which gave me a great vantage point of the whole room for the DJ booth, operated by Norwich local YAYA, a frequent of Gonzos. It was great to fully be on the curators side of the experience in the gallery launch environment I knew so well.

The gallery quickly filled up with people and between great art, alcohol and smooth hip hop a brilliant atmosphere settled. Frazer also asked me to try and grab some photos, and a couple of London-based friends of mine arrived, allowing me chance to slip off and also soak up some of the atmosphere as a spectator. People spilled onto the streets in conversation and as the night went on more and more red sold stickers began to appear, a succesful night on all fronts it seemed.

Thinking back to when I began working with Moosey some three years ago now, I am really happy to be invited up to London with them for their debut event in the capital, and to be starting an ongoing paid partnership with them in the future. My work with them has already provided me with such a lot of hands on experience in professional circumstancesand a real insider look into the industry, and as a business it has only gone from strength too strength. Provided things continue to grow as they have, I think Moosey Art could be going to some very interesting places in the future and I most certainly want to be right there when they do.