Jealous Gallery
The hot Summer has officially passed. With Covid only just behind us and as a nation starting to make sense of it, no sooner are we hit by another crisis: that of the cost of living.
Where does Art come into all this? What is art’s role to play in these times? I’ve recently been spending more time at Jealous gallery, and I want to discuss what work they’ve been doing during these times and why they are more relevant than ever.
I first came across Jealous Gallery when I moved to Crouch End in October 2020. I didn’t know the area then; I had lived in Manor House many years prior but had never ventured as far as Crouch End. It was during some initial walks that I first came across it’s neon pink sign in capitals, on Park Road, peered through the window and spied the bright prints on the walls. I was immediately enticed.
Founded in 2008 by Dario Ilari, Jealous gallery began with the space in Crouch End and since then has grown to incorporate not only a second gallery in Shoreditch, but also a fine art print studio. It is unique in that it specialises solely in print making.
Acting as a commercial gallery, with an online store of work by over 200 artists, Jealous Gallery also holds exhibitions in both spaces, rotating monthly. With this turnaround, there is a sense of energy and buzz about the gallery.
During my first few visits I was becoming familiar with names such as Dave Buonaguidi, and his well known bold lettering placed over maps.
As well as this, I was getting to know Anthony Burrill with his bold typeface where he either makes statements like ‘Work Hard and Be Nice To People’ or poses interesting questions that feel like such funny human musings that we relate immediately.
Then, Jealous Gallery kicked off the summer season with an exhibition by Jess Wilson whose prints showed silhouettes of leaves and flowers in bright pinks, purples and greens.
The bright palette perfectly reflected the climate outside at the time, as spring slowly transitioned into summer. Her large scale prints welcomed in the sun and the heat we had been so desperate for.
In August, Kate Gibb’s ‘series of work captured the idyllic sensation of a summer paradise, depicting the powerful heat of an island sun and the swaying of palm trees in the L.A. night air.’
These artists are just some from the long list that Jealous stocks, each one contributing to Jealous’ brand.
Why is it, though, that Jealous gallery feels so important and relevant today?
Firstly, the gallery works hard and often to pursue philanthropic aims. The current exhibition is entitled ‘Swapshop’. A selection of prints have been chosen from the stock and have been placed within the galleries, not for purchase by money, but in exchange for products. In an initiative to support Tottenham and Hornsey food banks, Jealous Gallery is offering prints to anyone who is able to bring in products for the food bank. You take in products from the list, you get a print in return; easy.
Not only in this practical sense is Jealous Gallery working to support the good cause. Good Art can support people on an emotional level. When entering into Jealous Gallery there is a sense that you are taken into a world where new and exciting things are happening; important things. Sound a bit abstract? That’s because this is dealing in the currency of feeling, and therefore difficult to define. Let’s take a comparison; Have you ever had that friend who, when you were with them, it felt as if fun and interesting things were happening all the time. Like you were always meeting new and exciting people when you were with them, always having exciting and spontaneous experiences? Spending time at Jealous Gallery feels like spending time with that friend. It opens us up to another world, where an important conversation is taking place and we can feel part of it. In doing so, we feel fully connected and can tap into an emotional support within ourselves. Art is not able to feed us, but it can give us the emotional resilience to carry on.
Olivia Laing writes in her foreward to ‘Funny Weather’ ‘We’re so often told that art can’t really change anything. But I think it can. It shapes our ethical landscapes; it opens us to the interior lives of others. It is a training ground for possibility. It makes plain inequalities, and it offers other ways of living. Don’t you want it, to be impregnate with all that light? And what will happen if you are?’
What will happen if you are? Why not go to Jealous Gallery and find out.
