Hungry Pigeon festival

The Northern Quarter in Manchester is becoming known for its cool bars, quirky fashion and serious music shops. It treads a fine line of respectability with its fair share of adult shops and old school pubs with guys who are there waiting at the door come opening time. It reminds me of Kings Cross in Sydney. It's a place where backpackers and tourists mix with prostitutes and drug pushers. It's a red light district where the Mcdonalds sits next to a lap dancing bar. Smut sits next to mainstream without anyone blinking a disbelieving eye. You may assume that this would make the place unsafe, but you would be wrong. The area mooch gallery occupies isn't anywhere as "Red" as that, but it has that feel.

The northern quarter is cool, its quirky but in some places bizarre and a little intimidating. It shows that people are prepared to turn away from the homogenisation of the high street. Perhaps more now than ever. I lived in the northern quarter so knew of its resurgence. The streets we moved into 8 years ago were derelict and have now been filled so that its the nightlife centre of the whole city. Sunday morning used to be quieter than a remote cottage in the highlands. Quieter in fact because there was no wildlife.

More luck than judgement has been responsible for the area leading the Mancunian cultural scene. The creativity and ideas aren't a result of hours of planning and council funding. In fact its precisely the opposite. An untended garden will flourish with wildlife without any planting, pruning, watering or fertilising. Maybe the best strategy is to just let things be, watch it grow.
Most people didn't give a monkeys about the area until some young businesses decided to take advantage of cheap rents and start injecting some colour and vibrancy into long forgotten buildings. So its a chance occurrence. A result of low barriers and free thinking, of plucky business owners and broad minded customers. Yes there has been key investment from property companies like Crosby and Urban Splash, but this hasn't given the area its character and it hasn't contributed to its soul.

A couple of key players are really going to put the Northern Quarter on the map . The arts council are building their head office on the adjacent road to Mooch taking 18,000 sq ft of the Hive building. Band on the wall are renovating the fabulous building that was the cornerstone of the punk scene in the late 70s and was where the buzzcocks, the fall and joy division first played. It is due to open September this year. These developments are part of a £30 million masterplan to turn the area into London's Camden locks. Manchester's Camden locks needed something to promote and celebrate the good stuff.

The Hungry Pigeon festival is the start of an annual celebration of art, music and cultural shenanigans. From 22nd - 25th May there were over 200 bands playing, dozens of events, the biggest staged in Piccadilly gardens on Saturday. I went along and the sun was shining, thousands of people were basking in a festival atmosphere. The organisers rolled the dice on banking on a good day and came out with a double six. It was perfect, and hats of to them for a well organised event. I had wondered whether there would be trashy music that makes me feel old and baffled at what "the kids" listen to nowadays. I was pleasantly surprised and thought that the unsigned bands I heard were actually something I could recognise and actually like. Like the Northern Quarter in general, the festival will only get bigger and better and that's great news for galleries like mooch.

Art Critics. Worth their salt?

I really don't think I could be an artist. I could possibly gain some skills in applying paint to a canvas but that isn't what makes me want to stay on the other side of the creative spectrum.
What other job can you do where you work for years only for someone to judge your life and career in 3 seconds. The lives of many a creative are in perpetual turmoil resulting from ecstatic praise or crushing criticism. Sometimes fragile egos take a battering from the casual curt comment.
I have massive respect for these artists for who the vast majority, do it because they love it rather than for financial gain. To articulate their imagination as art is a process that fascinates me.
Thalia Allington-Wood has written a review of the opening of Mooch Art and Revolve Gallery in the triangle. Click Here. Generally positive but one of Revolve galleries artists received some criticism which is highlighted as all journos are adept at doing.
The question is whether art criticism can be constructive given the subjective nature. Can someone telling you they don't like Marmite be of any benefit to people who haven't tried it but love a tasty, nutritious, salty spread on their toast (My cheques in the post).
My feeling is that everyone's opinion is valid and the only way the gallery will get better is with feedback. I have mentioned in a previous blog that browsers who are positive about everything leave me a little lost. Smoke blowing or fence sitters are terrible for galleries especially if an artist isn't selling. Perhaps the worst criticism would be apathy, if people came to the gallery cocked their head to one side and sighed at how mundane it all was then I haven't done my job properly.
So art critics are needed just as all other customer feedback is needed. They are worth their salt but just take their comments with a pinch of it.

Just read a great article in the guardian by Jonathan Jones see below.
CLICK HERE

A popular do..

Christian from Barefoot wines raised his eyebrows in surprise after making his third trip downstairs to bring more bottles up, hustling through the crowds. We expected quite a few people to turn up but even I was left a little bewildered by the shear number of people that came and the shear amount of wine that was drunk.
120 bottles and over 220 cups later the official launch of Mooch art and revolve gallery was deemed a success. A big gallery means more art, more food, more wine, more everything. Scale it all up in a great location and suddenly I can see the artists getting giddy with excitement. With all that space and all those people I just didn't get round to speaking to everyone and maybe there were people who wanted to buy but just didn't know where I was so vowed to come back another time.
One of my 1st previews I spent with a red ring around my lips and grey teeth. I looked in the mirror that night and cursed the red wine and the fact that no one pointed out the fact I looked like a right numpty. Smooth Mike, very smooth.
I went for an eclectic mix of art, which is difficult to pull off and can often translate into being jack of all trades, master of none. This isn’t the case with the artwork hung in the new gallery In the Triangle though.
The best, most accomplished artists covering abstract, figurative, photography and landscapes were hung with a clear aim to have appeal to a broad range of tastes.
The event is now over and we have had some good coverage in the press but I guess its now onto the day to day gallery business. Until the next event that is.

The Art of knowledge

The woman looked at me and apologized for not knowing anything about art. It was a few weeks ago, just before she bought a couple of paintings based on the fact that she absolutely adored them. I have heard this hundreds of times and still wonder why it is that Art, makes people apologise for not swotting up on the latest and greatest artist in their spare time.

Most customers aren’t art collectors but just know what they like, and that’s fine with me. Imagine going into Marks and Spencer and apologising for not knowing anything about clothes. It's absurd, and the more you think about it, the more ridiculous it seems.
I try to make it accessible and not to intimidate people but art has a reputation that can’t be undone by one gallery.

Prices at mooch are not out of reach of most people, starting at £65 so Its not that it has to do with the price. Omega watches are expensive but your won’t find anyone apologising for not knowing anything about their history or reputation. Similarly you won’t find Ronaldo apologizing for not knowing the racing pedigree of his Bentley. If something looks good and makes you feel special then surely you don’t need to justify it with technical speak.

Most people who buy art from me, do so using gut instinct rather than knowledge of other artists or past exhibitions. That’s not to say you shouldn’t read up on an artist. If you love the work its useful to know how well they are doing as the art can also be considered as an investment.

If you are reading this then perhaps you will change your approach to buying art. Stick up for what you like. Don’t be afraid to say what you think. Don’t apologise and don’t feel intimidated because there is no need. The bottom line is that art consists of very basic raw materials of paint and canvas, and that’s as uncomplicated as it gets.

Opening a new gallery - looking back

The picture here is a map of manchester from 1650.
The Electrician looked at our simple faces and said "You've got your work cut out for you".
I normally hate painting with a passion but the new gallery is making me change my mind. Creating big solid blocks of white with immaculate edges is curiously satisfying.
If art is any substance, arranged to make a statement then mine is "Clean white walls are gallery nirvana". Ugly brick walls are transformed into glorious white textured surfaces. It's clean and fresh and like a little piece of heaven, only you don't have to be good to get there.
I need to be involved in painting the new gallery for me to feel a part of it. I need my shoulders to ache and my scruff jeans to be encrusted with paint. I even put up with curious white bogeys and paint getting caught in my ring (wedding). I need to do this because as with many parts of this gallery I want to stand back and say with confidence that we did that.
I appreciate that there aren't too many people who have opened a gallery before but let me say.. Wow it's hard work. I mean, really it is. At opening events, gallery owners will smile and play down the shear effort that has gone into showing other peoples artwork. But trust me when I say that every one will need a holiday afterwards.
In June Last year Mooch art, Oldham street, opened to a receptive crowd. Perhaps people would have been more impressed had I have put the before pictures of the gallery up on the wall. There was a monumental effort involved by workmen and myself in getting it ready in time. Pure graft and passion went into that gallery.
Mooch is expanding sooner than expected and this effort is being repeated in the Triangle. We are in Unit 17, and we have already figured there is a great community in the triangle as there is in the northern quarter.
I had a chat with the guy who runs the Titchy coffee company and its fascinating to find out the history of the building. The triangle used to be the corn exchange "For many year's, (up to the time of the bombing), the building acted as a covered market hall, a Mecca for students and specialising in "alternative" produce - vegetarian foods, numerous "New Age" and Occult shops, palmists, tarot readers, books, aromatherapy prerequisites, music and clothing. Well worth a browse, even if nothing takes your fancy." But now the triangle is one of the most underrated retails spaces in Manchester. Glorious Victorian architecture houses a modern light spacious interior. Go through the fairly well hidden opening into a triangular courtyard. Calling the triangle a "shopping centre" is like calling Charlize theron a "tasty bird". It's just not classy enough. The gallery's doors will open inside to the interior but also onto Cathedral street. A beautiful cobbled street runs between the Triangle and Manchester cathedral that should be the biggest drawcard of the "Shopping Centre". Many shops for security reasons haven't utilised the best looking street in Manchester. I'm serious, it's picture postcard stuff and having lived in Manchester for 8 years kept wondering why I didn't know about it.
I have yet another spell of 12-13 hour days to get it ready and looking pristine, white, and as good as possible. The satisfaction is immense, the artwork will speak for itself. Great quality original art always does. Mooch art is passionate expression concentrated onto a canvas and I love it. If you want to come to the soft launch of the new gallery e-mail info@mooch-art.co.uk with the names of who wants to come. We are pinning in tuesday the 14th April but this may change. It will be fairly low key until the proper launch will be sorted out.

Probably the best new gallery in the world.

Mooch is opening a new gallery in the triangle shopping centre in Manchester city centre. I opened the Oldham street gallery in June last year so this is an exciting time. Mooch is growing fast and the additional gallery offers a huge amount of wall space to exhibit.
I have always know that people need to see the artwork to appreciate just how good it is. More choice from online galleries mean that the quality is patchy at best. The key to a great gallery is representing fewer, higher quality artists. The bottom line is that with fewer artists, a gallery can focus and boost their career more effectively which means the artwork is much more likely to rise in value.
Mooch has relatively few artists but even with the 20 artists, it is impossible to show all their work. The Oldham street gallery is a light and airy space that is in the creative heart of the city. However it's a bit of a walk for those shopping in the arndale or Deansgate so the Triangle will be a great location for more customers.
The gallery in the triangle will be open in 3-4 weeks so we have plenty of work to do in order to get it up to standard. Think of the amount of work you think is required and then triple it. Many galleries need a monumental effort for every opening and change of artwork. It's time to pull out the stops and make the new mooch gallery the best in Manchester, dare I say, the best in the country.

Photography and art, Digital trickery?

I have had more than a few photographers approach the gallery in the past week and have recently taken on another 2. For some reason there has been a big influx from people who are all keen to show off/sell their images. I have to be the bad guy and tell them that their work is tough to sell and isn't valued much by the people that come into the gallery.
It begs the question why we don't appreciate photography the way we did even 5 years ago. Have we seen too many mind blowing images that have desensitised our appreciation. I love photography, take photos myself and really rate the good stuff as art in its own right.
Digital cameras have opened up the medium to anyone and everyone. It has lowered the barriers and everyone is a photographer who can instantly show the world their work. There are billions of images out there and online imaging websites like FLICKR show that the standard is high. Worse for photographers is that if they do have a unique style, it is relatively easy to copy. By contrast the painter takes years to hone their skill with a paintbrush, the strokes akin to your own handwriting that are extremely difficult to reproduce.
Cameras with incredible spec are cheaper than they have ever been. There has never been such a level playing field in the world of photography. In many ways photography is going the way of the music industry where there is a proliferation of images that devalues each and every photo.
There is also the question of image manipulation. How much is too much? Where should we draw the line between photography and digital art? Magazines are being questioned for thinning and airbrushing their models but it is also prevalent in landscapes. The pristine white sand and perfect blue sky in "Wanderlust" is unlikely to be straight out of the camera. Colour will be boosted, distractions eliminated and you have to question how real the images you are seeing are.
The truth is that photographers have always used artistic license in their work. Before photoshop they would use different shutter speed, aperture, coloured filters or lighting. Post capture they would use different methods of developing the film and for example use silver selenide to give it sepia toning. I have to hold myself in check before I bore people too much about this stuff.
The fact that this manipulation has been taken to a new level doesn't make the images less worthy. I think its a great liberation where you can have anything you want. It also opens up the possibilities that have previously only been open to artists of the painterly kind. Work with photoshop gives that point of difference, that advantage over other photographers that may be thinking they can copy the style.
And this brings me to the photographers that are represented by Mooch art. We only show artwork that hopefully people recognise are by exceptionally talent people. This usually involves digital work that gives them the edge. If you want documentary images then watch the news. If you want outstanding art, come to mooch.