REBEL REBEL | Bankrobber Gallery

WE HEAD TO THE SHORES OF ENGLAND FOR THIS LATEST INSTALLMENT IN OUR ONE TO WATCH GALLERY SERIES. WEST LONDON TO BE EXACT. WITH THOUSANDS UPON THOUSAND OF UNIQUE GALLERIES AND ASPIRING ARTISTS, IT'S HARD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM ALL. BUT, BANKROBBER STOOD OUT TO US WITH ITS INDIVIDUAL CHARM AND APPROACH TO BEING ICONIC. NOT FOLLOWING TRENDS, BUT CREATING THEM WITH THE WORK THEY CHOOSE TO SHOWCASE AND THE ARTISTS THEY SUPPORT. WE SPOKE WITH BANKROBBER'S MAEVE DOYLE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE STORY BEHIND ONE OF LONDON'S COOLEST GALLERIES AND BEST-KEPT SECRETS.

Tell me about the neighbourhood BANKROBBER is in - Notting Hill right?

Notting Hill has always been a neighbourhood of contrast, where dense social housing rubs shoulders with affluent candy coloured Victorian villas, many of which were badly subdivided in the fifties and sixties into cheap bedsits, popular with artists, musicians and writers. It also has a huge Afro-Caribbean influence. All of this helps create a vibrant melting pot of multiculturalism. The Clash came out of Notting Hill, which helps picture the feelings of a generation of lost youth in the seventies and eighties. It's this energy and subversion that three decades later inspired the concept for BANKROBBER.

What was the concept behind BANKROBBER?

"My daddy was a bankrobber but he never hurt nobody, he just loved to live that way and he loved to steal your money." The concept behind BANKROBBER was to create an environment in contrast to the stark, and often sterile, atmosphere that had become prevalent in the London art world. It invites people to connect and discuss a changing collection of works from the likes of Banksy, Russell Young and Peter Doherty, whose show of blood paintings caused the street to be temporarily closed as an army of paparazzi mobbed Peter and then girlfriend Kate Moss.

What sets BANKROBBER apart from other galleries?

London BANKROBBER runs from a pink house on Lonsdale Road. The ambiance is esoteric, due largely to the strange Victorian architecture - a funky pink building surrounded by mundane cityscape. The most pleasure is derived from watching people's jaws drop as they step through the doors, initiated into an obscure secret society.

Tell me a little about your NYC contigent...

After several eventful sorties to both the east and west coasts, BANKROBBER chose to forge an alliance with the colourful NY gallery owner Stephan Keszler. Together, we put on a number of successful group shows culminating in last summers controversial 'BANKSY WALLS' show, held in a cavernous, derelict power station in the fashionable Long Island resort of Southampton. Visited by thousands, it bought a new and eager audience to a previously elitist genre, a peculiarly British intervention to a Long Island institution.

When did you open?

BANKROBBER opened five years ago in a tiny space directly across from The Pink House. It was open three days a week, and although it started small, it expanded more than anyone's wildest dream. The neighborhood remembers the time Peter Doherty and Kate Moss drove up for the opening of BLOOD PORTRAITS in 2007. Doyle Devere (another Notting Hill art gallery) opened in 2009 around the corner from BANKROBBER and we instantly clicked and started collaborating on exhibitions. The first pieces were Diamond Dust portraits of Kate and Pete styled to look like the moors murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady (infamous for their murders of young children in the 1960's). The work evoked a massive emotional response from the generally reserved Londoners in the area. The first day I received death threats, windows were broken, and the pieces sold.

What's the space like?

There is an esoteric ambiance due to the strange Victorian architecture and walking through the front doors is like entering another world, a secret private 'other world' available only to those initiated by the group. What types of shows are you interested in running? We don't put on shows, we serve the artist, art agents and collectors, sourcing work specifically tailored to there needs and tastes. What upcoming projects are you excited about? We are excited about sourcing new works, building collections and developing new artists.

Who is your pick for 2012?

Our pick for 2012, is the same as the past two or three years: Russell Young.

Russell Young

His career has skyrocketed in the past couple of years and is showing no signs of slowing down. I expect his work to be remembered amongst a group of artists that define the first part of the new millennium and the way the future will remember this time in art history Russell Young is an artist from Northern England, who grew up during the turbulent sixties' and seventies' of Britain, where life was tough, and the sarcasm was even tougher. Inspired by Cy Twombly and Jackson Pollack, his most famous works feature pop culture icons from decades past, such as Jackie O., Elizabeth Taylor and Sharon Tate, as well as modern day icons such as Kate Moss. Not only limited to beautiful women, some of his most popular works include prints of Mick Jagger and Mohammad Ali. He splits his time between the east and west coasts of the U.S., and has had exhibitions spanning North America and Europe, with future ventures at galleries as far flung as South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. His preferred method of showcasing his art, however, is through his live California studio webcam, which lets spectators watch in real time as he creates his art. Find this, as well as other information about this artist here