Guy Gormley has reemerged onto the art scene with his new show, Vigil, at the Son Gallery. The third solo exhibition from the master media curator showcases his most recent work. To add to this Gormley is also a DJ under the name of Enchante, book creator, videographer, frequent collaborator with the Hannah Barry Gallery, founder of the club night Top Nice and founder of the Brickhouse Gallery. Wonderland catch up with the very busy boy…
So can you tell us about your exhibition at Son Gallery please?
The show is in two parts, print and a publication, and the images for both come from a nocturnal journey, a period of three days spent with my sleeping patterns reversed, walking alone at night, in the countryside. Most of the images in the book were shot in infrared and they describe the story of the walk. Each page feeling like a step further down an unknown road until you emerge at the sea. The book also contains sections of text, notes that I had made to record dreams.
You also release music under the Greco-Roman label as Enchante? How did that happen?
I didn’t start making any kind of music until I was about nineteen but for some reason when I first got a computer of my own I became hooked on production instantly. All the music from those very early days is quite compelling to me still, despite or maybe because it has no obvious reference or structure. Later on I went through a stage of making very straight, boring tracks while I figured out the nuts and bolts of dance music. In a way I’m always trying to get back to a playful and instinctive approach to things.
Do you still run the night Top Nice?
Top Nice is a club night that I’ve been putting on with friends in London for about 5 years. It’s a very open club, there’s no agenda really, if you like it you come back. Recently we started a label called Much Eps, and our first 12” – ‘Paul B Davis presents Mr One Hundred’ – is out in a few weeks. I am very excited about it!
Can you tell us about your Brickhouse project?
Brickhouse started in a temporary space in the basement of a house in Bloomsbury, in that space we did eleven solo shows with quite a varied selection of artists. The idea was to set up a structure for exhibitions that was at once light and focused, it put all the responsibility with the artist. We’ve just done ‘Incarnation 10’ which was a series of performances in The Yard theatre.
You’ve also worked on several projects with the Hannah Barry Gallery – what have you most enjoyed curating?
I loved working on Nathan Cash Davidson’s video exhibition, gaining an insight into his working and thinking processes. He has a very unexpected way of going about things.
What does the rest of 2012/2013 hold for you?
This year, now that my exhibition is finished and open, I’m focusing on my music, I’ll be in my studio wrapping up the next EP. Next year I’ll be making and showing new pictures and working on a new photo book, as well as putting out music. Top Nice is planning more releases on Much, and to set up a regular night in London, smaller and more focused, with just the four members playing.
Vigil runs until 21st December at the Son Gallery in Peckham. guygormley.co.uk
Words: Ellie Sigman