Acme Studios

Acme is a charity based in London, United Kingdom. According to Arts Council England, "Acme Studios provides affordable studio and living space, and residencies and awards for professional visual artists across London through developing and managing properties."[1]

Acme currently supports 800 artists with affordable studio space across 16 sites in Greater London (within Bethnal Green, Bow, Deptford, Elephant & Castle, Homerton, Kensal Green, Peckham, Poplar, Stockwell, Stratford, West Norwood, as well as Carshalton and Purfleet)[2]. It also provides space for Auto Italia South East, East London Printmakers, Kinetika, not/nowhere, and the Central Saint Martins Associate Studio Programme[3].

Acme was founded in 1972 by Jonathan Harvey and David Panton. In 2014, both received an OBE for services to the arts.[4]. According to the Whitechapel Gallery, "Leaving the protective environment of art school has always been a huge challenge. In 1972, a group of London graduates, led by Jonathan Harvey and David Panton, took matters into their own hands. The unpromising recession-gripped landscape of East London – of empty factories and riverside warehouses, and boarded-up houses destined for demolition – presented an unexpected route to survival: cheap, though temporary, space to work and live appeared to be in free supply." [5]

Residencies & Awards

As well as artist studio provision, Acme also offers artist support, and over 700 artists have benefitted from its programme since 1982.[6]. Acme currently runs a number of residencies and awards in collaboration with partners including Slade School of Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, Australia Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and Khazanah Nasional. The programme also includes Acme's five-year Fire Station Residency, established in 1997, whose previous recipients include Martin Creed, Lindsay Seers, Erika Tan, Haroon Mirza, Jonathan Baldock, Samson Kambalu and George Charman.

From 1976 to 1981 Acme ran The Acme Gallery, a contemporary art space and former disused banana warehouse in Covent Garden[7]. The gallery focused on showcasing installation and performance art which was difficult to exhibit elsewhere, and between 1976 and 1981 featured artists such as Stephen Cripps, Jock McFadyen, Helen Chadwick, Stuart Brisley and Frank Bowling.[8]. Alongside Camden Arts Centre, The Acme Gallery was one of the venues to host the New Contemporaries Live Show[9].

Acme Project Space

The Acme Project Space provided both UK-based and international artists on Acme's Residencies & Awards programme with a project and exhibition space, to show new work and engage in a critical dialogue with a wider audience.[10]. Open between June 2009 to December 2015, the Project Space featured artists such as David Blandy, Vishwa Shroff, Luke McCreadie, Clare Price, and Marianna Simnett[11]. The space is now the home of Auto Italia South East.

Publications
  • Studios for Artists: Concepts and Concrete, ed. Jonathan Harvey, Graham Ellard, 2015. (ISBN 978-1910433089)
  • 72-82, William Raban, 2015. (co-published by LUX)[12]
  • "Are we there yet?" Duncan Pickstock, Paintings 2014-2015 at The Acme Project Space, text by Paul O’Kane, 2015. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-8-5)
  • I Killed a Viper, Clare Price, text by Keran James, 2014. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-7-8)
  • The Fire Station Project, Acme Studios' Work/Live Residency Programme, 1997-2013, ed. Jonathan Harvey, Julia Lancaster, 2013. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-5-4)
  • Time and Vision, Australia Council for the Arts London Residencies Hosted by Acme Studios, 1992-2012, 2012. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-3-0)
  • Roger Kite, Pathways, 2012. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-4-7)
  • 25 Years – Hosting International Artists’ Residencies in London, 2012. (ISBN 978-0-9566739-2-3)

References
  1. "Acme Studios". Arts Council England. Arts Council England. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  2. "Acme / Studios". Acme.
  3. "Acme / Space for Arts Organisations". Acme Studios.
  4. "New Year's Honours List 2014". www.gov.uk. UK Government. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  5. "Acme Studios". The Whitechapel Gallery. The Whitechapel Gallery. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  6. "Acme / Artist Support". Acme.
  7. "Derelict to Des Res". uncube magazine.
  8. "Acme / The Acme Gallery". Acme.
  9. Gosling, Emily (31 October 2019). "How New Contemporaries Predicted Many of British Art's Biggest Names". ELEPHANT.
  10. "Acme Project Space - London". ArtRabbit.
  11. "Acme / Acme Project Space". Acme.
  12. "72-82, William Raban (2015) - LUX". LUX. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
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