A project that turns under-used phone boxes into art installations has sparked a street fight between a Shoreditch gallery and the east Midlands kiosk owners. Dubbed Artzelle, the summer installations by Guerilla Galleries features the art of top emerging artists came under fire recently, with the gallery accused of criminal damage amongst other things – all of which it denies. The project is designed to bring contemporary art to the public sees one-off pieces valued in excess of £75.00 displayed boldly in easy to access locations.
Since it started, a number of works have been ‘liberated’, with some lasting mere hours before being spirited away. But fine art on the street falling into public hands is what the project is all about, the gallery say, even though now the threat of legal action could force it to re-think its activities. Cologne-based curator Silvan Gottschall said: “Phone boxes are monuments to a bygone era and more likely to used to answer the call of nature than to phone a friend. Artzelle encourages human interaction with street furniture that is seldom used as designed.”
Offering FREE one-off prints of original work where prints are not commercially available is the gallery’s way of encouraging people to look closers at the wealth of genuine art out there, a gallery spokesman said. A total of 84 original works had been earmarked to feature in sites from Shoreditch to Kings Cross before the Bank Holiday interruption. “Guerilla Galleries will not and do not condone breaking the law. As always we will continue to seek new and innovative ‘legal’ ways of bringing art to the public.We’re interested in encouraging public dialogue with living artists and bringing art to the people.”The gallery added it was always on the look out for opportunities to showcase work, but will look closer at it any association with unwelcoming hosts. “We’ve shown in the past we’re happy to clean and install good art in any location, but to be legally slapped and battered for having done so isn’t our cup of tea.” The Guerilla Galleries Artzelle project is scheduled to continue through until 30 September.