Glass visits the Soho-based gallery Unit London

LOOMING over a busy red carpet on a pavement in Soho is Farhad Moshiri’s sculptural homage to needlepoint totsches. This simultaneously macabre and kitsch piece of art, made by Moshiri using knives (and a cursory background in knife throwing) to spell out the words Home Sweet Home, drew attention from revellers and passersby. It was not an inappropriate choice for the window of the nascent Soho Unit London as it is, after all, the home sweet home to some of contemporary art’s most interesting artists.

Farhad Moshiri’s Home Sweet Home 2008, which is composed of 314 knives on canvas mounted on MDF.
Photograph: Annalisa Banello

Unit London is an artist-led space opened in 2013 by two dynamic young artists turned gallerists, Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt. Their mission was to provide the contemporary art world with an “inclusive” alternative to the proliferation of staid, white box galleries. Catering to everyone from first time collectors to established institutions, Unit London provides a direct conduit to the best  of the art world. Their motto is, “We exist for U” and the “U” (ie “you) is a central part of both their branding and ethos. They put this into practise by keeping the doors of their Soho space open seven days a week to anyone interested in exploring what their walls have to offer.

The current Wardour Street space opened in 2015, and as the anniversary of its first opening in this location nears,  the gallery continues to go from strength to strength. Introducing star artists is what Unit London has developed a reputation. However, this show’s theme was slightly different as Joe and Jonny enlisted the prowess of the seasoned curator Kate Linfoot.

A visitor takes in Thukral and Tagra’s Immortalis XI and XXI. Photograph: Annalisa Banello

Linfoot’s believes that we live in a world where we are constantly exposed to digital media and  that this exposure has altered our perception of the world around us. However, she also notes that, despite this, artists still refer to the same core principles in their visual language. Figuration, abstraction, and nature remain at the core of visual arts, despite our constantly changing visual realm.

Featuring mostly abstract, painted work, the show spanned two floors and attracted a large throng of revellers. The patrons ranged from well-heeled, art collectors to an edgy younger set who could have been anything from artists to aspiring art collectors. Despite the gallery’s best efforts to keep their space down-to-earth and inclusive, its pull has not evaded the more elite art admirers and this was evident in the presence of Princess Eugenie who was accompanied by Cressida Bonas.

A patron studies Orgy 2014 by Mike Bouchet. Photograph: Annalisa Banello

Stepping into the gallery, Tomas Saraceno’s colourful multi-media sculpture Air-Port-City/Cloud-City/6 Cloud Modules 60 Solar hovered over the guests gathered in the front part of the space. It was juxtaposed with more minimalist painted or mixed media canvases from artists like Anslem Reyle and Christian Rosa.

Linfoot’s curatorial selections became more daring as one descended to the lower level of the gallery’s space. Mike Bouchet’s figurative oil paintings introduced a playful twist to the show. Entitled History Lesson 1, Bouchet’s work featured figurative renderings of contemporary pop cultural images spliced together. His more mischievous piece Orgy brought a country-western feel to space.

Revellers under multimedia sculpture by Tomas Saraceno Air-Port-City/Cloud-City/6 Cloud Modules
60 Solar 2013. Photograph: Annalisa Banello

Adriana Lara’s abstraction works were a lovely  lead in to the sculptural work of  Thukral and Takra’s . Like Moshiri, Thukral and Takra use Easter and Western influences in their work . Their  two fibreglass works Immortalis XI and Immmortalis XII(2008), were anchored at the back of the gallery’s lower level and seemed to enchant visitors.

Linfoot’s selection of 24 artists effectively reimagined the concept of Pop in this era and beyond. Working with such names as Yoshitomo Nara, Lawrence Weiner, Ai Weiwei, and Lucian Freud, has clearly influenced Linfoot’s curatorial style and her well-honed taste.

by Yasmin Bilbeisi

Photograph: Annalisa Banello

The show is on at Unit London until July 27.  Unit London 147-149 Wardour Street, Soho, London, W1F 8WD
Open 11am – 7pm, daily
Email:  Art@theunitldn.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7494 2035