A: ‘Are we there yet?……..’

B: ‘Yes we’re nearly there’

theartmarket will be open again from this Saturday, selling artists books and zines. 12pm – 5pm

There’s still alot to do in terms of programming the space for the coming months, we’ll be working closely in collaboration with Zoé, Jess & Jen on a project called ‘Watch This Space!’ in the weeks building towards Christmas. Assisting in designing, fixing, sourcing & organising with a view to launching a new program of events next January and beyond. A slow launch effectively. It’s important not to rush these things – especially at this stage when the space hasn’t been open for a long while. There’s a lot of groundwork to do, but I’m very excited about the prospects of the coming activity set to take part there, as well as satellite activity elsewhere.

It’s now located in a new unit after Zoés’ long negotiations with the landlord. With the move there was a lot of fixing & mending to do. At this point I’d like to offer thanks, on behalf of theartmarket, to everyone who helped out and a special thankyou to Tom Railton for building the walls.

Now Located to: theartmarket & Kunstfreund Gallery, Unit 60/61/62/63, The Merrion Market

Here’s a line-up of the activity happening in the new space towards Christmas:

25.11.09 – ‘Cartune Xprez‘ 6pm-8pm
Cartune Xprez is a travelling roadshow of animated videos and multimedia performances. So far we have birthed a few epic tours, many scattered screenings, and two DVD publications with a slew of inspiring artists.
£3 Entry £2 Concession

10.12.09 – ‘Draft’ 6pm-8pm
The first in a series of one night illustration showcases. Curated by Nous Vous in collaboration with theartmarket – part of the ‘Watch this Space!’ project. First to be exhibited are Matt Hodson, Cameron Steward, Nicolas Burrows & Gareth Brew.

11 & 12.12.09 – ‘Fresh Leaf’ 12pm – 5pm
A two day zine fair. This is effectively a pilot for a project called ‘Fresh Leaf’ which will evolve into a artists book and zine fair, with workshops and activities happening through the day. We hope to run this once a season. This event will simply be an opportunity to come and grab some nice handmade gifts before Christmas.

We’d be super pleased if people can make it down!

On another note…

We’re also organising a gig at Nation of Shopkeepers on Tuesday 24th November from 8pm. It’s a showcase of musical artists in the ‘Hair Piece Champion’ collective. Tiger trap will be running a club night afterwards. Mechanical Owl Vest For Tysso Glaciers hairpiecechampion.blogspot.com

We’ll also be exhibiting at the Contemporary Art Society in London, set to take place January 2010. The show is part of their ‘Rotate’ program, which highlights emerging artists and artist led spaces around the country. Leeds based Jocie Flynn is among the list of previous participants, she exhibited alongside Rachel Goodyear who has been shortlisted for this years Northern Art Prize, which begins 26.11.09. We’re very happy to be taking part and will be responding directly to the space, the main piece we are working on: re-covering all the books in their Library with custom hand-made sleeves.