An art gallery in Hampton Wick is giving artists a space to rediscover their passion for creating—inviting their local community on the journey with them.
Founded in 2021 by Kate Howe and run alongside fellow artist and business partner Sally Minns, the RuptureXIBIT has been firm in being a space for artists.
Their aim was to open a space for all types of artists to develop sustainable creative practices free from pressure.
Described as an ‘experimental lab space’, the London art gallery offers a variety of support.
This ranges from workshops hosted by the artists-in-residence, 1-on-1 mentoring on intensive 4-week residency programs.
They also invite different artists to display their work at the front of the art gallery on a quarterly-basis.
Kate describes the intensive 4-week residencies as ‘helping people see beyond the edges of their material’, giving artists a place to experiment with the medium itself.
RuptureXIBIT’s invites community to witness the development of art as part of the exhibits, workshops, and rotational gallery spaces areas.
Community engagement helps galleries like RuptureXIBIT to survive, but also to continue with it’s goal especially with funding for the arts sector being cut significantly in recent times.
Sally said: “[It] allows people to see what art is, rather than a high-street retail gallery and thinking that is what the sum of what art is. But art is so much broader.”
“We want people to see all these different things that they may not understand or even like, but to come and see and investigate something you may not see in this area.”
This extends not only to artists, but writers as well, as shown with their recent completion of the Templum – an insulated portion of the gallery that serves as a space for writers to work.
Kate said: “We don’t want you to work on real life in there. The idea is that you enter the space to transform yourself and your ability to think.”
“We generally want to unplug people and let them soak in the space.”
The commitment to this space has lead to the RuptureXIBIT to continue in it’s artist-centric ethos to thrive.
Kate said: “If you’re a philosopher, you’re an artist, you belong here. We want our community to be intermingling so they can borrow ideas and inspire each other as much as possible.”
Further information of RuptureXIBIT’s latest workshops and exhibits can be found on it’s website and instagram page.
Featured Image Credit: Marlee Clarke