Between my Finger and my Thumb

July – August 2009 Schwartz Gallery, London

Alan Stanners, Ben Cove, Eve Peasnall, Camilla Wills, Hannah Sharpe,

Carla Busuttil, Jamie Partridge, Christopher Hanlon,

Jack Vickridge, Damien Weighill,

Laura White, Dylan Shipton, Laura Zilionyte,

Ellen Stanford, Ocean Mims.

..............................................................

‘Between my Finger and my Thumb’ is a collaborative project between Kobetsvasey and 15 invited artists. Studio visits

and conversations with the artists about their working methodologies were integral to the project. Kobetsvasey produced

a series of interventions into the gallery space in response to submitted works. These intervention’s were intended to

present the show as an autonomous installation whilst also retaining the singularity of each piece. Kobetsvasey

commissioned artist and writer Michael Crowe to respond to our proposals for the exhibition with an accompanying

essay. The text was further interpreted and delivered as a sound installation by Charles Poulet for a one off performance

during the exhibition.

1

2

26th

2008, McCullum Road, London

Michael Crowe, Andrea Dettmar, Thomas Erkin,

Julia Hamilton, Angelo Madonna, Joe Schneider.

...........................................

26th is the second in a series of group exhibitions following The Great Slowdown.Each show in the series is only open for 1 day and

only for the duration of its private view.26th draws its inspiration from the date of the show: 26th May. This date was used to filter

photographs from the online image repository Flickr. A shortlisted group of images were given to the seven artists to be used as a

prompt for new work.The selected photographs were chosen with the intention to unmoor the narrative implications of the

images. The photographs influenced the production of work and framed the reading of the exhibition. At the end of the show

images of the works were posted on Flickr, completing the circuit. 

3

4

Push the Piano into the Zoo

2008, Blake House, Hercules Road, London

Michael Crowe, Mark Davey, Thomas Erkin, Sara Haq, Morag Keil, James Mack,

Ryan Mosley,Bronwen Sleigh,Tomas Tokle, Julio Pereira.

................................................................

The exhibition forms the final part of a trilogy of Kobetsvasey exhibitions, following 26th and The Great Slowdown, hosted in

their flat in Bow, in early 2008.Although the exhibition has been hung in their flat in Bow, it is presented here as a short film. All

works, spatial definitions and time focused on any one work has been transferred to film;not only as a reconsideration of the

navigation and process of viewing art but also as a homage to the original flat where the project started.

In events like Push the Piano into the Zoo Kobetsvasey undertake the disciplines of formal curation,but blur the distinctions

between event and show, between private and gallery space and between the expectation and experience of art. Because the

events are social, they take on familiar aspects of an art preview; identifying works from a guide and tracking down artists

work,renewing contacts and making new ones, looking for surfaces to place empty drinks on and tripping over works that may

occupy crowded floor space.

The artists exhibiting in Push the Piano into the Zoo are diverse in style and background, they do not aspire to constitute a

school;some have participated in previous Kobetsvasey events and others have been tracked down by research. Ideals and ideas

rather than extortion or violence has elicited their participation.

Herbert Wright 20085

6

The Great Slowdown

2008, McCullum Road, London

Kalvin Collins, Andrea Dettmar, Thomas Erkin,

Julia Hamilton, Thomas Harrison,

Joe Schneider,Jessica Watts.

.............................

The Great Slowdown was a group exhibition developed from discussions about creating a context for our own work. The

duration of the show was the length of its private view.With this in mind we used our flat to stage the show. Although the spirit of

the show was based on a D.I.Y. sensibility; the room was stripped and presented as a white cube.

7

8

DOUGH AND DYNAMITE

2010, John McAslan & Partners, London

Alex Crocker, James Ferris, Annie Hémond-Hotte, Emma Puntis, Emma Talbot, Ross Taylor, April Yang.

............................................................

Dough and Dynamite is a group show comprising seven artists, curated by Kobetsvasey and  Jessica Watts. The exhibition will be presented in the new gallery space of architectural practice John McAslan + Partners.Working within the conventions of a painting survey each of the seven artists has submitted two  works. One work is presented in an archetypal ‘white walled gallery space’ the second exists in  a ‘black theatrical space’.This work will be subject to a series of playful interventions. The nature of the white gallery  space and a black theatrical space both have distinct heritages. These two sensibilities will  frame our twin approach to the submitted works.

Kobetsvasey was founded in March 2008 by artists George Vasey (1981) and Robert Kobets  (1976). Upcoming shows include Banging My Beak Against the Bark, Stour Space, London.  Jessica Watts (1982) is a London based curator currently working with Kobetsvasey. Jessica  also works with IBID Projects and has previously worked for White Cube.

9

10

Banging Our Beak Against the Bark

2010 Stour Space, London

Maria Zahle

George Young

Sound: Charles Poulet

.........................................................

The original premise of the exhibition was to consider collaboration and sound. The space subsequently became an additional

collaborator, acting as the catalyst for several of the works on show. All parties were asked to respond to the given criteria and to

bring new work derived from the ongoing conversations between the participants.

The five people involved: two artist curators, two invited artists, and a sound artist, have not previously worked together and have

each brought forward very different working processes.The exhibition may suggest collaboration, or simply present a view of our

individual working methodologies side by side.

11

12