EASTinternational: Unpacking the Archive | East Gallery

Photography: courtesy of East International Archive (far right artist Gustav Metzger and Professor Lynda Morris)

East International was a groundbreaking series of exhibitions of contemporary art conceived and curated by Professor Lynda Morris as a means of bringing contemporary art to Norwich right at the moment British art was finding new prominence internationally.

During the late eighties - early nineties the London contemporary art market gained a position internationally it had never achieved before, through the thriving creativity of its artists and the foresight and financial acuity of a few influential commercial galleries. The change coincided with the burgeoning success of the Young British Artists (YBAs) on the international stage and investment of public money in developing the cultural sector. Frieze Magazine started providing a more relevant forum for art criticism, describing the international context for a younger generation of artists. It had reviews of commercial gallery exhibitions, small artist run spaces, as well as the museum exhibitions that would usually be covered in more established magazines like Art Forum. Frieze encouraged a much younger generation of new writers and critics, along side regular contributors with interests in other areas of the cultural sector. It's design and graphic content set it apart from its competitors too. Many of the contributing designers were artists and curators too. The influential Frieze Art Fair was established much later.

With this increased activity came greater influence. London became the latest city to rival more established cultural cities throughout Europe: Brussels, Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin, Basel, Zürich and Vienna. It was suddenly on the map and as a result regional cities like Norwich had to find their place in the new world order.

Lynda Morris was based at Norwich Gallery, running it as an important part of the Norwich School of Art site, and the predecessor to East Gallery, before the art school became Norwich University of the Arts. Lynda had already recognised this was the moment to showcase contemporary art from the far corners of Europe, Canada and North America that was being overlooked by the newly anointed art scene in London. It was just a question of how she was going to realise her ambitions within the context she found herself. She used her position at Norwich Art School to assign its resources, the studios, and student accommodation, which were empty during the summer months to support an exhibition making approach that relied heavily upon the input of selectors, contributing artists, volunteers and collaborators.

Initially for the inaugural exhibition in 1991, Lynda Morris and Paul Kuzemczak her assistant, processed all the applicants. This time-consuming job (pre-digital media) was transferred to designated selectors Lynda had chosen from the international art world, in year two, who in turn would nominate selectors for the following year. The current exhibition provides a long list of participating artists, as well as a much shorter one of artists, curators, and gallerists, who served as selectors and collaborators.

Once annual momentum was established, thousands of artist's applications were received with approximately 25-30 artists selected to exhibit each year, for almost twenty years. The focus and scope of each exhibition shifted and changed with each new pair of selectors, overseen by Lynda Morris, until the final exhibition in 2009.

Paul and I visited East International a couple of years in succession, after its inception in 1991. We were introduced to Norwich in 1995, by some participating artists, a small group of Norwegian and British artists who had travelled up from London. This coincided with two years when the selectors commissioned five artists to produce new work under the heading of Riverside. One was Norwegian artist Kjetil Berge who built a tower near the fourteenth-century Cow Tower, on the bank of the River Wensum that runs through the centre of Norwich, connecting the city to the Broads.

As a temporary building, the commission was ambitious. It was an example of curatorial confidence that seemed to set East apart from other 'open' call exhibitions in Britain, at the time, It was located next to a public footpath running along side the river, so passing visitors could go inside. The tower was tall, about four meters high and built from hand-cast cement blocks, within which had been immersed a piece of ephemeral rubbish. Most featured translucent plastic objects, like drinking straws, a carton lid or a flip-flop, donated or scavenged for the project, that allowed light to pass through them, like stained glass. The effect of the light shining through the highly coloured plastic object contrasted with the dense cement blocks, animated the structure and set it alight. It was an imporant commission for Berge. He became the 'go too guy' for these temporary and permanent architectural interventions made of simple re-cycled components. He went on to represent Norway by making a dance floor in Havana Cuba for the Biennial a few years later.

I came back to visit East over several successive years, as I worked for a private art collection based in London and Boston at the time. The artists being selected were frequently not well-known, they were often from different generations, and the collector I worked for had an eye for commissioning artists early in their careers. It was invaluable research for me as a young curator, looking at artists who were often operating in more obscure corners of Europe or North America.

Hosting this influential series of exhibitions for almost two decades re-established Norwich as a centre for contemporary art, placing the Art School as a locus at the centre of an international network for participating artists, curators and gallerists. The prominence of the event increased as its reputation spread re-affirming the city and its status as a site for making art, outside of London.

Speakers (from top left clockwise to lower right):

Anne-Marie Creamer is an artist based in London, (and soon to be Ireland). She had a solo exhibition at the Sir John Soane’s Museum London, Dear Friend, I can no Longer Hear Your Voice, produced by Animate Projects, UK in 2022. She, (along with Rose Wylie), exhibited the most times at East International.

Martin Clark is Director of Camden Art Centre in London. Previously he was Director of Bergen Kunsthall, Norway, Artistic Director of Tate St Ives, Curator at Arnolfini, Bristol, and Curator and Exhibitions Tutor at Kent Institute of Art and Design. He was brought in as a 'Collaborator' in 2000, by the selectors to work with the artists.

Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton studied art history at the University of East Anglia and at the Courtauld Institute. She was Director of Visual Arts, Arts Council England 1993-2006.

Harold Offeh is an artist and educator based in Cambridge. He is currently a Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art, London.

Catherine Butcher (née Moseley) worked at the Norwich Gallery from 1998 to 2006, as Assistant Curator and then EAST Administrator, also completing an M Phil in 2003.

Jonathan P. Watts is a writer and critic who chaired the talk and has been engaged to programme the discussion sessions around the duration of the current exhibition.

Norwich University of the Arts is currently cataloguing and digitising the EASTinternational archive to acknowledge its significance and open the resource to students and researchers. The archive relates to over 700 contemporary artists, curators, and dealers.

Materials include artists' editions, exhibition catalogues, publications, conference and discourse texts, artistic and curatorial documents, correspondence, works on paper, audio-visual materials, digital and analogue documentation, and other electronic items.

View opening times on East Gallery's website here

About the author

Paul Barratt

Paul Barratt started working in contemporary art galleries in 1989, having graduated in Fine Art from Goldmsith’s, London University. He initially worked at Anthony d’Offay Gallery, one of the contemporary art dealers, who dominated the London art market in the 80s and 90s. He was approached by the Lisson Gallery to be gallery manager for the influential art dealer Nicholas Logsdail. This was followed by a short period in New York at Gladstone Gallery, to work for visionary art dealer Barbara Gladstone, working with the artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney.

 

On his return to London, Paul secured a place on the postgraduate curatorial course at the Royal College of Art, to complete an MA. After graduation in 2001, he worked as an independent curator on several projects in Oslo, London, Brighton and Basel, before joining Paul Vater at his design agency Sugarfree in 2004. He has worked with Paul ever since.

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