Robert Leckie has been appointed as the new Director of Gasworks, London. Leckie is currently Director of Spike Island, Bristol, and will take up his new position at Gasworks in March 2024.
Prior to joining Spike Island in 2018, Leckie was Curator and Head of Programmes at Gasworks from 2011 to 2018. Over the past decade, he has curated major solo exhibitions by artists including Pacita Abad, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Peggy Ahwesh, Monira Al Qadiri, Sidsel Meineche Hansen, Candice Lin, Rosemary Mayer, and Tanoa Sasraku, among others.
Leckie is co-editor of Sidsel Meineche Hansen: SECOND SEX WAR (Paraguay Press, 2019), Peggy Ahwesh:Vision Machines (Mousse Publishing, 2021), Candice Lin:Pigs and Poison (Mousse Publishing, 2023), and Rosemary Mayer: Ways of Attaching (König, 2023). He has also contributed to publications such as Afterall, Rhizome and Mousse, as well as several artist monographs. He is a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, and the University of the Arts in London, and was a jury member for the 2022 Turner Prize.
Leckie succeeds Alessio Antoniolli, who after more than 25 years with Gasworks moves to a new role as Director of Triangle Network, an international group of small art organisations that support emerging artists. As Director of Triangle Network, Antoniolli will strengthen its role as a support system for partners while working to create further opportunities for collaborations and artistic exchanges. He will also continue his role as curator at Fondazione Memmo, Rome.
Catherine Petitgas, Chair of Gasworks & Triangle Network, said: ‘I’m delighted that Robert has agreed to take on the role of Director of Gasworks. He brings solid leadership skills and an inspiring new artistic and strategic vision. As a result of his previous role with Gasworks, he has a deep understanding of the organisation and will be able to build on the legacy of our longstanding and much-admired outgoing Director, Alessio Antoniolli. Robert, alongside a highly efficient and ambitious team, will develop exciting new opportunities for Gasworks. The Board of Trustees joins me in wishing him great success. Get ready for Gasworks 2.0!’
I am thrilled to return to Gasworks as Director. Having started my career there over a decade ago, I know how precious the organisation and its community is. I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of the current Director, Alessio Antoniolli, who has given everything over the past twenty-five years to make Gasworks the stable and celebrated institution that it is today. I look forward to working together with the staff team, Board and many partners to develop a new vision for the future: one that ensures Gasworks continues to be a vital hub for artistic and cultural exchange, with a caring and independent spirit.
Robert Leckie
Leckie will join Gasworks in 2024, as the organisation celebrates its 30th anniversary. From its beginnings as an artist-run space in 1994, the organisation has maintained its commitment to artists and art making. It continues to be a place where artists conceive, produce and present art to the wider public. Over the course of the last 30 years the organisation has hosted over 400 artists from 70 countries around the world, including Song Dong, Tania Bruguera, Lisa Brice, Fatima Rodrigo Gonzales, Francis Offman and Ibrahim Mahama. It has produced 150 exhibitions by UK and international artists, including Lynette Yiadom Boakye, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Violet Kudzanai Hwami, Candice Lin, Monira Al Qadiri and Trevor Yeung; and provided low-cost and long-term studios for more than 50 London-based artists, including Hew Locke, Rosalind Nashashibi, Hurvin Anderson, Anthea Hamilton, Sin Wai Kin, and Alexandre da Cunha.
To celebrate its 30th birthday, Gasworks will launch a series of Anniversary Editions by some of its esteemed alumni, the proceeds of which will go towards Gasworks’ future programme and ongoing support for artists. Throughout 2024, Gasworks will host 16 residencies with artists from Thailand, Uganda, El Salvador and Bolivia amongst others; and will also present the first solo presentations in the UK by London-based artist Anna Perach, Nigerian artist Rahima Gambo, and Indonesian artist Riar Rizaldi.
About
Gasworks plays a unique role in the contemporary visual arts sector by working at the intersection between UK and international practices and debates. It does this by providing studios for London-based artists; commissioning emerging UK-based and international artists to present their first major exhibitions in London; and developing a highly respected international residencies programme, mainly working with artists based outside Europe and North America. All programmes are accompanied by events and participatory workshops that engage local and international audiences with artists and their work.
Gasworks is also the hub of Triangle Network, an international network of small-scale arts organisations and projects that support and disseminate the work of emerging artists through artist- led workshops, residencies, exhibitions and outreach events. Gasworks and Triangle Network are registered as a charity in the UK under ‘Triangle Arts Trust’ and all their activities are free to the public. @gasworkslondon
