Dreamt up only three months ago, Chris and Clara had the epiphany one lunch time (13 April 2010 to be exact) on a sunny day in a grassy urban square in London. A casual comment of talking about what we wanted, and had always wanted to do, followed by a surge of energy and a little dance – and an idea was born! Since then everything has gone by in a bit of a whirlwind: from picking the artists that we love - determined by mutual instinct - to choosing our name (originally ‘The Pink Room', inspired by David Lynch, until we realised it sounded more like a certain type of cocktail bar) and finding a space that seemed to magically appear from the merry Utrophia boys, fulfilling our wildest dreams ('an old ice-cream factory’ satisfies our Futurist, factory-loving geekdom rather nicely). After a lot of beer, cashew nuts, laughter and a few more beers, Folie à Deux has well and truly been born!
To end we would like to give a big thank you to our social media queen, Jane, for getting us to do this blogging, now we can share with everyone this exciting project and journey - there is a lot more to come!!
In our next instalment, find out more about our artists… In the meantime, here is a section from our official statement telling you a little bit more about us and what we hope we can achieve through this project of ours:
Folie à Deux (‘a madness shared by two’) is a collaborative venture that aims to promote thoughtful and provocative contemporary art through temporary exhibitions around London. It is born of a simple yet sincere belief that art can make a profound difference to the quality of an individual’s life, enriching it with an element of magic and inspiration, as well as revitalising the life of a community by encouraging local participation in cultural activities. With over eleven years’ combined experience of organising exhibitions and cultural events, Christopher Adams and Clara Cowan bring to this project a wealth of practical knowledge, an extensive network of contacts, an eye for artists of genuine merit and huge amounts of enthusiasm.
For Utrophia we have put together a group show displaying the work of five artists: Judith Lyons, Nina Mankin, Giulia Ricci, Keith Roberts and Nina Royle. Diverse in terms of their practice, the mediums in which they work and their sources of inspiration, they are nevertheless united by a seriousness of intent, producing work that is visually beautiful, intricate, stirring and insightful. We will work closely with these artists to ensure that the ideas surrounding and contained within their imagery are faithfully yet accessibly communicated to the public.
Folie à Deux’s ambition is to make the visual arts the focal point of a wider programme of social and cultural events, through which we aim to attract a diverse range of audiences – both local and from further afield. These events will include talks by the artists about their works as well as musical evenings, workshops led by local arts organisations and a steady supply of tea and home-made cakes for visitors to choose from.
To end we would like to give a big thank you to our social media queen, Jane, for getting us to do this blogging, now we can share with everyone this exciting project and journey - there is a lot more to come!!
In our next instalment, find out more about our artists… In the meantime, here is a section from our official statement telling you a little bit more about us and what we hope we can achieve through this project of ours:
Folie à Deux (‘a madness shared by two’) is a collaborative venture that aims to promote thoughtful and provocative contemporary art through temporary exhibitions around London. It is born of a simple yet sincere belief that art can make a profound difference to the quality of an individual’s life, enriching it with an element of magic and inspiration, as well as revitalising the life of a community by encouraging local participation in cultural activities. With over eleven years’ combined experience of organising exhibitions and cultural events, Christopher Adams and Clara Cowan bring to this project a wealth of practical knowledge, an extensive network of contacts, an eye for artists of genuine merit and huge amounts of enthusiasm.
For Utrophia we have put together a group show displaying the work of five artists: Judith Lyons, Nina Mankin, Giulia Ricci, Keith Roberts and Nina Royle. Diverse in terms of their practice, the mediums in which they work and their sources of inspiration, they are nevertheless united by a seriousness of intent, producing work that is visually beautiful, intricate, stirring and insightful. We will work closely with these artists to ensure that the ideas surrounding and contained within their imagery are faithfully yet accessibly communicated to the public.
Folie à Deux’s ambition is to make the visual arts the focal point of a wider programme of social and cultural events, through which we aim to attract a diverse range of audiences – both local and from further afield. These events will include talks by the artists about their works as well as musical evenings, workshops led by local arts organisations and a steady supply of tea and home-made cakes for visitors to choose from.
