We want to celebrate and find out more about the characters driving the renaissance of the London gallery scene, and what better way than to resurrect THAT’s Interesting.
Last time we had Anna Moss from Liliya Art Gallery this time we have curator, DJ, radio host and writer Louis Chapple.
Louis Chapple is the founder of Deptford-based Studio/Chapple, a gallery positioned at the intersection between contemporary emerging art, club culture and sonic production. Running alongside the gallery’s bi-monthly exhibition is a programme of performances, gigs and club nights, either at the gallery or partnered with local venues in South-East London.
Some Art I’m interested in
Most of my favourite practices explore the relationship between sound and space, ideas around ‘liveness’, and sonic histories, and practices that try and push beyond the restrictions of the contemporary art world. Black Obsidian Sound System are one of my favourite collectives that do this brilliantly, offering lower rates to hire their sound system for community events, and existing as much outside the art world (if not more) as in it. I’ve followed their work from the Liverpool Biennial to a fantastic Glasto set last year. Julianknxx’s show at Barbican was phenomenal, and the musicians he worked with, and the platform he gave the sonic moments, made it for me.
I’m such a huge fan of Theresa Weber’s work. We’ve known each other since RCA and her work just keeps getting stronger. I can’t wait for our show at the gallery in June. It’s a duo with sound artist Nathanael Amadou that will explore subterranean worlds, aquatic mythical creatures, dark matter, and elements of the myth of Drexciya through sculptural installation, performance and sound.
Some Design I’m interested i
I love old-school hi-fi and speaker designs. I’ve got a pair of 1970s LEAK Sandwich floor speakers at home, but as soon as I can afford it I will be reaching out to Shivas Howard Brown of Friendly Pressure for a (major) upgrade. He’s a real hi fi guru, and has kitted out Jumbi and Moko with proper systems – the designs really are sublime, and artworks in their own right.
Some Culture I’m interested in
When I think of ‘culture’ my mind turns to food, so I want to shout out a couple of fab local spots in Deptford that you can try when visiting the gallery. The RTG Kitchen is a market stand that serves undoubtedly some of the best jerk chicken this side of the river, with impeccable sides.
TT’s Breakfast serves up traditional Nigerian breakfasts. It’s mostly vegetarian, and if you get the ‘full Nigerian’ it will last you the day. I’m serious, you won’t regret. On certain days, family-run Lai Loi Vietnamese supermarket has great lunchtime Bánh mì.
Some Style/ Fashion I’m interested in
I’m not a big follower of new fashion brands and designers, but I love the work Adeju Thompson is doing with Lagos space programme, a “non-binary, luxury design project exploring African futures”. They focus on the Adire technique and heavily feature indigo dye – I very much operate within a black and blue wardrobe so this naturally appeals to me. I also really appreciate the links that Nicholas Daley draws between fashion, subculture and music in the UK through his collections.
Some Tech I’m interested in
I’m not a tech person at all, but I do enjoy the ways it is being used in art at the moment. I recently went to a great show at POUSH in Paris curated by Ruba Al-Sweel, that documented life behind, in front of and through the screen. The works hurtled the audience into the apocalyptic extremities of the digital sphere, but in very inventive, often comically ironic ways. If old-school tech is more your thing, I suggest coming down to our current exhibition, a solo show by bill daggs, where you can play soundscapes recorded onto cassette on old tape decks and join the clash.
Some Music I’m interested in
I like to start each day with some spiritual jazz – Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Nala Sinephro, Lonnie Smith, Matthew Halsall. The heavy vibrations are a great way to ground the morning madness. From there it can go anywhere really. I love collecting vinyl, and have a sizable collection that heavily features jazz-funk, Brazilian fusion such as Flora Purim, Airto and Azymuth, plenty of soul, house, dub and dancehall singles and increasingly bruk and early jungle. I love finding lost nuggets from the UK underground, so I’m always on the lookout for brit funk and acid jazz gems!
I always find myself doing obsessive deep-dives into genres or musical landscapes. At the moment it’s the incredibly diverse sounds of the Latin Caribbean. Dembow from Dominican Republic, early El General reggaeton from Panama, Cuban hip hop etc. But particularly the sound system culture on Colombia’s Caribbean coast – the systems are called Picos, painted in mad vivid colours, and focus on Champeta, Salsa and even Congolese Soukous. The artist duo Invernomuto & Jim C. Nedd. made a brilliant film about them that I saw at Liverpool biennial. The sound is being championed in London by the likes of Bushbby and the Movimentos nights – you just can’t go wrong here, seriously.
Whilst on the live music tip, check out Steam Down, a jazz jam like no other every Wednesday. It’s now in Peckham but used to be down the road from the gallery at Matchstick Piehouse (please donate to save!!). The Jazz Refreshed programme is brilliant as well – I recently discovered Cykada through them – a mind-blowing fusion of Bitches Brew, prog rock and Turkish psych (to my ear at least!).
Finally, I religiously listen to Jamz Supernova and Gilles Peterson on Radio 6 on a Saturday. It’s the perfect way to get the weekend moving, and I often have it on in the gallery office. A healthy dose of my new music discoveries come from this weekly session!
A museum and gallery show recommendation –
There are some really good institutional shows on at the moment. I thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Pierre Hart’s show ‘Bio-Data Flows and Other Rhythms – A Local Story’ at Whitechapel. I’ve been a longtime fan of Andrew’s practice that pairs painting and sound. The local area around the gallery is placed at the heart of the exhibition’s identity, celebrating migrant communities through epic paintings, a beautiful film and sound piece that you can literally feel thanks to a speaker system inside the seating. Shabaka features heavily in the soundtrack (I believe, based on style of playing and name credit), which could never be anything but a delight. You’ve also got Zineb Sedira’s immersive cinematic masterpiece downstairs that was a personal highlight from the last Venice Biennale.
For a gallery shows, I loved the pairing of Nour El Saleh and Benjamin Orlow’s work recently at Des Bains, and I’m very excited for Luke Silva’s first UK solo with Sherbet Green opening 4th April.
I’m keeping it in the family for this one and handing over to my wonderful neighbour Ema O’Donovan from Xxijra Hii. Ema runs a compelling programme at all times and was a big inspiration for me setting up at the Enclave (and still is!) I can’t wait to see Yuli Serfaty’s show.
