James Taylor Gallery

Ok people, berate me for being a good for nothing lazy arts reviewer. Pelt me with rotten vegetables even! One of the most original and exciting new spaces that has opened up in Hackney this year was right under my nose, I was told about it time after time by artists friends and still I managed not to go. Shame. On. Me. Ok, you can stop now because I’ve been, and it is truly the star of Homerton. Depending of course on how much you like experimental and site specific art.
It’s a not-​for-​profit exhibition space, placed temptingly close to Homerton and Hackney central rail stations (that means you can get there easily, non East London dwellers). It has a very strange look about it in some ways, which I’m later told is due to its heritage. It has been a squat, a china warehouse nand a Victorian factory. Although not necessarily in that order. It’s also huge. 10,00sq ft huge to be precise. I went to see Matter of Time which consisted of a number of large scale location-​based art installations.
I was treated to some wooden sculptures by Paul Mart, glittery floor paintings by Alistair Levy, and some swings (I love art you can play with, even if it’s simple) by Elisabetta Alazraki. They apparently broke during the exhibition (!) so I’m grateful that it wasn’t me sitting on the swing at the time or I may have been typing this from a hospital bed. When I left it did dawn upon me how much I would buy the space for if I had a spare million quid down the back of the sofa. Go and have a peek before the some property developer has the same idea as I did.