As we prepare for our first exhibition of 2014, Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue, CHELSEA space would like to say thank you to everyone who made 2013 another great year in our exhibition history.

We started last year with second reflection / symmetrical contents STURTEVANT and SECONDEDITIONS which turned out to be the London prelude to the controversial Sturtevant’s first major UK solo show in a public gallery Leap Jumps and Bumps at the Serpentine Gallery.

Prior to the CHELSEA space show, between September and December 2012, Sturtevant’s ‘Duchamp Bicycle Wheel’ 1969-73 was shown at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. We were very fortunate that the curator of the HMI display, Pavel Pyś, accepted our invitation to come to Chelsea to talk about the contemporary relevance of Sturtevant with the artists Markus Eisenmann and Elizabeth Peebles. We are particularly grateful to Markus and Elizabeth for working closely with Sturtevant to make our show possible and for presenting their own superb collaborative works as SECONDEDITIONS.

Sturtevant’s Bicycle Wheel 1969-73 at the Henry Moore Institute crossed over with their excellent exhibition 1913: The Shape of Time to which CHELSEA space loaned an Omega Workshops rug attributed to Frederick Etchells and made for the 1913 Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. Donald Smith included this important item from our collection in the CHELSEA space exhibition Ideal Home in 2011, we also loaned the rug to the Courtauld Institute in 2009 for the exhibition Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-1919 and it is currently on loan to Le Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris for the exhibition Decorum: Tapis et tapisseries d’artistes which runs until 9th February.

Following Sturtevant and Second Editions came Dobells Jazz Folk Blues dedicated to the specialist London record shop serving musicians and fans alike from 1946-1992. CHELSEA space would like to thank Leon Parker from British Record Shop Archive for his enthusiasm for the idea of an exhibition about Dobells and his tenacity in helping us obtain loans for the show. We are particularly grateful to the Museum of London for loans of Dobells’ shop fixtures and fittings from their collection and all of those who lent us material from private collections, including many former Dobells staff from the 1940s onwards. We were very lucky to be able to exhibit original photographs from two of the great music photographers, Val Wilmer and David Redfern, we also had a fascinating talk from former Dobells ‘Saturday boy’ Brian Peerless. The show was hugely popular and it was great to hear all of the incredible anecdotes about this much loved and lamented music institution.

In the summer CHELSEA space presented a new olfactory–acoustic sculptural composition by Oswaldo Maciá entitled The Library of Cynicism:the archeology of sound and smell. For CHELSEA space’s first exploration into the olfactory in art, Oswaldo Maciá took the ancient Greek figure of Diogenes as a starting point to “undo assumptions of truth and belief through a sound and smell experiment with objects”. Oswaldo Maciá’s film of the installation can be viewed here.

The summer was also a period of change in the personnel at CHELSEA space with curator Kate Ross completing her research time at CHELSEA space and Daisy McMullan being appointed as the new Chelsea Arts Club Trust Research Fellow. Kate and Daisy had worked together at CHELSEA space as curatorial assistants and administrators, also establishing our offsite project with the Gate Theatre Notting Hill, and co-curating the exhibition Surface at Chelsea Futurespace. We wish Kate well in her new role at the Jewish cultural centre JW3 and in her continuing work as the curator of the Notting Hill Arts Club. We also welcomed artist/archivist Karen Di Franco as our new Programme Co-ordinator. Karen is currently working on a day of talks, performances, and screenings for 14th February as part of the exhibition Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue.

We also called time on our sister gallery, Chelsea Futurespace, this summer. After seven successful years and 30 exhibitions we and our sponsor, the property developer St James, agreed that the project was complete and we ended magnificently with a show of prints by Peter Blake. We are grateful to Sir Peter for such a superb finale, to St James for supporting this major project, to all of the artists for their generosity and brilliance, and to all those who visited the exhibitions.

In September we opened the new season with Richard Wilson: No Formulas a show of preparatory drawings, collages, maquettes, and prints. Richard was hugely generous with his time and energies, not least because our opening was only 3 days after his epic 1513: A Ships’ Opera on the River Thames. He clearly thrives on hard work and a full diary so we wish Richard a busy 2014! We are also grateful to De La Warr Pavilion’s Jane Won who conducted a superb interview with Richard Wilson in the lecture theatre at Chelsea and wrote a great text for the No Formulas publication.

We finished our year with the hugely popular Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling bringing a Tennessee-based letterpress workshop founded in 1879 to London for their very first UK exhibition.

It was a great pleasure to work with Hatch Show Print‘s Master Printer, Jim Sherraden, who flew over especially for the show arriving just a couple of hours before his first lecture followed immediately by the CHELSEA space private view, a fantastic opening event that included live entertainment by top Nashville musicians.

Jet Lag clearly did not affect this American printmaker as he spent the week giving talks, visiting letterpress studios, and meeting friend old and new. After a frenetic week Jim left as he arrived, giving a gallery before heading to the airport (via the Chelsea Arts Club!). We owe Jim a huge debt of thanks. We are also grateful to our old friend Jason Brown who co-curated the show with CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith, and to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum who own and operate Hatch Show Print.

Jim Sherraden wasn’t the only Nashville attraction in town during the Hatch Show Print exhibition: We were very lucky to be treated to a superb preview gig by Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup AKA Sugar and the Hi Lows

and at the private view we received a Bluegrass masterclass from Nedski and Mojo (Stephen Mougin and Ned Luberecki).

Other events during the show included a talk from designer and lecturer Nigel Bents and lunchtime music from boyleANDshaw‘s Adrian R Royston with Richard Lamy. Thank you to everyone who made Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling a perfect end to a great year.

All CHELSEA space and Chelsea Futurespace publications are available from the University of the Arts London E-Store. The private view for our next exhibition Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue is on Tuesday 28th January 6-8.30pm, for information on the Jarman study day on 14th February contact Karen Di Franco at [email protected].

Happy New Year!