The location says it all, really. After hopping off the overground at Shoreditch High Street and encountering a flurry of pedestrians, cyclists and cars, I turn onto quiet, cobbled Elder Street. It’s a short stretch, lined on either side with pretty red-brick townhouses, a balm for the bustle of London’s East End. It’s also home to The Cold Press, a gallery, printmaking studio and artist’s residence that advocates a slower and more mindful way of making and viewing art.
“The studio came first,” says Kate Lawrence, who greets me at the door, painted dark blue. She and her husband, Ben, had been working in the commercial art world here in London when, twenty years ago, they decided they were ready for a change. “We’d had wonderful experiences, but it was all necessarily about big spaces, big venues, big trade fairs, lots of staff, lots of money,” says Ben, who’s been waiting for us upstairs. “We decided to work together, just the two of us, and to pare it right down, cutting out the logistical nonsense and focusing on a more purposeful interaction with individuals.”
And what of the art? Rather than having a stable of artists, The Cold Press partners with an ever-evolving group of individuals who value natural materials and generally work on a small scale. When I ask Kate, who’s tasked with finding them, what makes someone a good fit, she replies, “It’s a gut feeling. A sense of excitement about their work. And the thought that we might be able to collaborate to produce something slightly different to what they’ve done before.”
Rather than exhibiting pieces that you might find elsewhere, she and Ben give artists time and space to quietly explore new ideas and processes without having to worry about turnover or volume or numbers.
