Crouch End Tiger Hidden Banana

Crouch End Tiger Hidden Banana is Crouch End Festival’s 2022 art exhibition offering presented by North London Art Dialogue.

Crouch End Tiger Hidden Banana

July 8-17 

Crouch End Tiger Hidden Banana is Crouch End Festival’s 2022 art exhibition offering presented by North  London Art Dialogue. 

North London Art Dialogue is a group of eleven artists who meet up regularly to view and discuss recent artworks. Andy Metcalf, a local Crouch End painter, initiated the idea of a forum for local artists to meet and share their diverse practices, processes and concepts. Through this inclusivity, an exciting synergy emerged,  nurtured by the contrasting and wide-ranging approaches of those involved. 

The title – part-obvious/part-absurd – comes from a pun on Ang Lee’s film title Crouching Tiger Hidden  Dragon. The ‘banana’ of the title represents the fact that all members of the North London Art Dialogue are,  or have been, members of Turps Banana’s correspondence course. 

A proportion of this group have exhibited before, recently at Thames-Side Studios Gallery with In formation and In response at The Nunnery in 2021. 

The opportunity to be part of the Crouch End festival came suddenly and out of the blue one month ago. The  group has hit the ground running to get this Tiger climbing up the clock tower. If there is a sense of DIY to  this project, that is because that is exactly what it is.  

The Crouch End Festival is a blend of music, theatre, magic, comedy, lectures, exhibitions and markets,  reflecting the exciting span of styles the artists of North London Art Dialogue bring to this celebration of  creativity. To sum up the work of the artists in a word is impossible, even a sentence would be tricky.  Approaches vary; however, it is the passionate endeavour of each artist’s practice that binds this group  together. Dreamscape-landscapes spar with images of animalistic-spiritualism and portraits – represented in  the form of cluttered desks – engage with sensual portrayals of Indian Gods. Figurative story-telling  interplays with energised abstractions whilst edgelander canvas-weave converses with urban landscapes. 

What at first appears to be a disparate collection of works belies underlying themes of place, geography,  soul and spirit that tie and connect them together. The exhibition purposefully and exuberantly jumps and bumps from painting to painting allowing unique narratives to emerge as each visitor negotiates their individual trajectory around the Original Gallery space. 

Artists exhibiting – Nicky Amin, Bone-Waller, Linda Breeds, Maddy Buttling, Gabrielle Eber, Leslie Farago,  Andy Metcalf, Helen Pavli, Helen Scalway, Matthew Swift and Emma Withers. 

The show opens at 9 am on Friday 8th July at The Original Gallery, Hornsey Library, Haringey Park, N8 9JA and runs through the festival weekend and on for a further week, finishing on Sunday 17th July.  

The Private View will celebrate the opening of the exhibition from 6 pm – 9 pm Friday 8th July. North London locals and visitors to the area are all invited to come along, enjoy a glass or two of wine and take in the art and friendly atmosphere. Original paintings and some prints of original artworks displayed will be on sale. 

Key times and dates: 

Friday 8 July 9am – 9pm

Private View 8 July 6pm -9pm

Saturday 9 July 9am – 6pm

Sunday 10 July 12am – 2pm 

Monday 11 July 1pm – 6pm

Tuesday 12 July 1pm – 6pm

Wednesday 13 July 1pm – 6pm

Thursday 14 July 1pm – 6 pm 

Friday 15 July 1pm – 6pm 

Saturday 16 July 1pm – 5pm 

Sunday 17 July 1pm – 3pm 

Matthew Swift and Adam Smith can be contacted for further  details on: 

Adam Smith aka Bone-Waller, 07946 352928,  

adamsagarsmith@yahoo.co.uk 

Matthew Swift, 07734 103721, matthewswift3@icloud.com