Andy Doig's Crosses featured on the opening night for Geisha Arts
We’ve all seen bar/cafe arts venues, usually an uneasy collaboration of cafe owner and poor calibre artists, with bland art getting a distinct back stage to the lattes, lagers and grilled paninis. At the opening of Geisha Arts (see here for details), I had a sudden realisation: this is the first time I’ve seen it done right. The emphasis is 50/50 art/cafe bar. Not some place with ropey pictures hung on the walls as an afterthought. But award winning artists placing their work at the centre of the hip Brighton Clientele.
Geisha arts is the brain child of Zac and Miranda Walsh in collaboration with the people at Madame Geisha. They have pushed the envelope to deliver a true art venue that marries harmoniously with a modern eating and drinking establishment – they haven’t sacrificed their ideals or strayed too far from their personal knowledge of the arts. It is an uncompromising urban space, a perfect canvas to show the best of underground emerging and established artists. Its also a good place to go and have a drink or something to eat, somewhere were you can interact, appreciate and discuss the artwork beyond the rarified confines of an alienating gallery system. And lets face it, its nice to have a drink in hand when looking at artwork (there’s a few boring conceptual shows in London I’ve attended that could learn a lesson here).
