Since arts clubs have been around for a long time in London's posh Chelsea and Mayfair neighborhoods, it seems like it's time for a competitor in the city's hipper neighborhoods, where a growing gallery scene and cheaper studio spaces have already drawn a lot of young artists. Shoreditch Arts Club will open on March 7 to fill this gap in the market and serve a lively local community. The new private members club is in the historic Tea building on Redchurch Street. It is just a few steps away from Shoreditch House, which is Soho House's branch in East London, and close to Maureen Paley and Kate McGarry galleries. But unlike its flashy, international neighbor, the new 500-square-foot former warehouse is better for smaller, more concentrated groups of artists, art professionals, and art collectors.
The space's purpose, according to CEO Joel Williams, an expert in hospitality, and curator Ché Zara Blomfield, is to provide the promised intimacy, which is hard to find in London's anonymous sprawl. They said that their goal was to make a space that has "the curiosity of a home where an art lover lives." At Shoreditch Arts Club, there seems to be a taste for ambitious contemporary art that tries new things, like ambitious multimedia art. Even though most of the pieces are on loan and will be moved around, early members of the club can see Oliver Laric's multicolored bust of the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu from 2012 and Hannah Perry's Gas Lighting, two aluminum wall hangings from 2015. The British artist Joey Holder was asked to make two permanent pieces for the space that stand out: aequator, a complex installation with strange silicone sculptures in terrariums that sits behind the front desk, and Khthon, a wallpaper with two bright light boxes that are made up of A.I.-generated images.
Bored between meetings? The club's constantly changing moving-image program will be shown on three projection walls in a continuous stream. Peter Spanjer, a Nigerian artist, made the first installation. He has also planned a special event for next month that will pair his pictures with music. Large screens are also used to make nooks in the otherwise open-plan and airy restaurant, which makes it a better place for private meetings. There is also a cozy cafe and work space near the entrance, as well as two large meeting rooms, a DJ booth, and a theater with comfortable seats. Currently, a film program made with the production company Girls in Film is being shown.
Selena Mattei