Space invaders | 14 August 2010

Ben West investigates the growth in unusual exhibition venues — from brothel to butcher’s shop

The economic downturn has forced many of us to rethink how we operate. This is especially so in the arts, an area that has always struggled for funding, and where cuts are inevitably huge considering all the hospitals and schools we need to keep afloat — not to mention a sparkling new Olympic village to complete.

Last month the government announced that it wishes to make cuts to the arts of 25 per cent over the next four years. However, in many areas, until now at least, tightened budgets have not been overly discernible: for example, you may have seen a slightly thinner programme in theatres, or fewer films in production in an already overcrowded marketplace. Yet in the area of visual arts a little revolution has been under way.

While subsidised exhibition spaces are vulnerable to swingeing cuts, commercial galleries struggle even more. For many, splashing out on a pricey new artwork comes pretty low on the list of priorities. However, art spaces are flourishing, with an increasing trend towards alternative, often temporary, ones — in theatres, hospitals, churches, hotels, industrial spaces, private homes and commercial business premises, including shops that have closed down.

According to the Empty Shops Network, an informal group of temporary UK galleries and community spaces, about 13 per cent of the UK’s shops are currently empty and turning them into art galleries brings visitors back to Britain’s town centres.

Temporary art spaces are not a particularly new idea — in Victorian times painters would travel each summer from London to Cornwall to use fishermen’s sheds as studios and to display and sell their work — yet unconventional spaces are springing up, with collectives, such as Meanwhile Space and Brighton’s CompARTment, supporting like-minded artists.