Lovely sounds for TravellingLight...

OLIVIA CHANEY: LONDON

The TL team are thrilled to announce that Italian born Olivia Chaney will perform a very special acoustic set at WW Gallery for the opening of the Travelling Light exhibition in London.

Venue: WW Gallery, Hackney, London Town.

Date: Friday 15th May 2009

Time: 6-9pm

Photo by Patrick Williams

And where is this beautiful lady from?

Born in Florence, Olivia did most of her growing up in Oxford, and at age of 14 left home for specialist music school in Manchester where she took up a joint-first scholarship in classical piano and singing. Aged 18, another scholarship took her to the Royal Academy of Music in London where she became the only vocalist (and female virtually) on the jazz course where she developed the art of improvisation and performance in a freer context, studied composition, and learnt and collaborated with wonderful musicians.

Since graduating Olivia has danced and sung a lead role in the specially-commissioned abstract ballet 'Shore' (Cathy Marston/Dave Maric), which was performed in the sand-dunes beneath Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, strummed baroque guitar and sung as ‘Cupid’ in ‘Timon of Athens’ last season at Shakespeare’s Globe (Django Bates/Lucy Bailey), mimed synth-strings on X-factor, and lots more.

Olivia has recently taught herself the guitar and Indian harmonium for her own solo project, which increasingly reverts back to her roots in lyricism and in songwriters with stories to tell. Whether the songs she interprets are ancient, modern, traditional, her own, or from the innovative renaissance courts, Olivia twists them into her own unusual, potent and emotive sound world.

Do listen here - http://www.myspace.com/oliviachaney

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ALBERTO GROLLO: VENICE

The TL team first heard the wonderful Alberto Grollo whilst being spoiled by the Ambassador at the Italian Culture Institute in London. We were so distracted from talking about art by his beautiful sounds that we asked him immediately to provide the same relief at our opening in Venice!

Venue: Venice Private View

Date: 7th June 2009

Time: 3-9pm

Photo by Igino Zanandrea

For those of you who don't know..

Alberto is a master of all trades, from blues to country, rock to classic, he has recorded 18 albums to date. Alberto has supported The Byrds and James Taylor during their Italian tours, joining them on stage for many performances, and has toured solo in Italy, Germany, France, Austria, and USA. He also composes soundtracks for documentaries, movies and Italian TV programs.

Find out more about Alberto here - www.albertogrollo.com

The 2009 Venice Biennale: What's it about?

'Making Worlds' at the 2009 Venice Biennale.



The 2009 Venice Biennale is entitled 'Making Worlds' and will be presented in the renewed Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini and in the Arsenale. It is a single, large exhibition that articulates different themes woven into one whole. Considering collectives, it comprises works by over 90 artists from all over the world and includes many new works and on-site commisions in all disciplines.




Daniel Birnbaum with Yoko Ono



This year the Biennale is directed by the enormously charismatic international curator of institutions and exhibitions Daniel Birnbaum. Daniel has been Rector of the Staedlschule in Frankfurt am Main in Germany since 2001, and has recently been a contibuting editor of 'ArtForum' in New York. He has also contributed regularly to other magazines such as "Parkett" and "Frieze". He has written numerous publications and has produced essays for catalogues throughout the world.

Excerpt from Press Release for 'Making Worlds' by Daniel Birnbaum:

'The title of the exhibition, Making Worlds expresses my wish to emphaize the process of creation. A work of art is more than an object, more than a commodity. It represents a vision of the world, and if taken seriously must be seen as a way of making a world. The strength of the vision is not dependent on the kind or complexity of the tools brought into play. Hence all forms of artistic expression are present: installation art, video and film, sculpture, performance, painting, drawing and a parade. Taking 'worldmaking' as a starting point, also allows the exhibition to highlight the fundemental importance of certain key artists for the creativity of successive generations, just as much as exploring new spaces for art to unfold outside of the institutional context and beyond the expectations of the art market. Making Worlds is an exhibition driven by the aspiration to explore worlds around us as well as worlds ahead. It is about possible new beginnings - this is what I would like to share with the visitors of the Biennale. "

UK Representatives in Venice 2009

UK at the 53rd Venice Biennale 2009

For each Biennale International Art Festival The British Council commissions artists for the British Pavilion to celebrate the best emerging and established UK talent. Artists have included Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Bridget Riley, Anish Kapoor, Mark Wallinger, Rachel Whiteread, Gilbert & George, and most recently Tracey Emin in 2007.

Representing the UK in 2009


Great Britain : Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen has been one of the most prominent art figures of 2008/09. Queen and Country, the work McQueen created following his commission by the Imperial War Museum as war artist in Iraq in 2003, was aquired for the nation by The Art Fund was was seen in venues in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh during 2008 as part of a national tour. McQueens feature film Hunger, commisioned by Channel4/Film 4 was released in 2008 and has won an incredible 23 major international film awards.

The details of Steve McQueen's exhibition at the Venice Biennale will remain under wraps until the launch in June!

Location: British Pavilion, Giardini di Castello 30122

Vaporetto: Giardini

7 June - 22 November 2009

Wales: John Cale

John Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the rock & roll band The Velvet Underground. Cale will be presenting a new, specially commissioned audio-visual intallation from Wales. Known for his exploration of the phsiognomy of sound, Cale undertook a series of cathartic physical performances in Wales to create work that draws upon his lifelong concerns with the passing of time, the durational and the multidisciplinary nature of presentation.

Location: Capannone 1, Ex-Birreria, Giudecca 8000
Vaporetto: Palanca
7 June - 22 November 2009




Scotland : Martin Boyce

Glasgow-based Martin Boyce's work realtes to and transforms the space around it creating sculptural art inspired by modernist design history. Boyce will represent the fourth Scottish presentation at Venice with No Reflections which will build on the critical success of previous projects.

Location: Palazzo Pisani, Calle delle Erbe, Cannaregio (off Campo Santa Marina), 6130
Vaporetto: Rialto
7 June - 22 November 2009


Northern Ireland : Susan MacWilliam

Susan MacWilliam has spent over ten years exploring cases of paranormal activity. The subject of her work is the psychic and the supernatural, as well the field of psychical research. She uses video, photography and sculptural installation to investigate personal and social histories in a way that mediates between worlds of art and psycichal research.

MacWilliam's exhibition for the Venice Biennale will include a major new work, Falmmarion and two other video works Eileen (2008) and Dermo Optics (2006).

Location: Istituto Provinciale per L'Infanzia, Santa Maria della Pieta, Castello 3703a
Vaporetto: San Zaccaria
7 June - 22 November 2009

Desperately Seeking Boris!

Bring us Boris!

In our continuing bid for world domination we ask for your help in tracking down the one man who can further our cause. We need a meeting with our Mayor Boris Johnson in order to secure permission for a Travelling Light event involving a well known London landmark.

If you happen to be mates with Boris or know someone who can help us get in contact with him please get in touch with us!

Contact: wwgallery@gmail.com

x Travelling Light Team.

The Travelling Light Team.

Chiara Williams

Artist Chiara Williams is one half of WW Gallery. Director, curator, organisational genius and general geek, Williams adds glamour and energy to everything she’s involved in. Half Venetian and half Londoner, it was always her ambition to exhibit at the Venice Biennale. Williams grew up between family in Venice, London and Moscow and worked in various galleries and museums, including the Biennale itself. Whilst working in education, Williams’ imagination was dulled and so she returned to her earlier desires, eventually setting up WW Gallery with Wilson. Williams’ theoretical background is in art history and film, she studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and has a slow wit.

Debra Wilson

Artist Debra Wilson is the other half of WW Gallery. Director, curator, technician and all round creative genius, Wilson was born in the port of Plymouth, her father was in the Navy and she spent her whole childhood on the move. At 16 she left home and continued to travel, living and working in Sydney, Zurich and for five years in New York where she was involved in guerrilla-based art happenings. After settling in Hackney and feeling stuck working in education, she began to plan her great escape and decided to finally kick her own ass into setting up a project space with like-minded souls. Wilson’s theoretical background is in art and psychology, she studied at CSM, LCC and UEL and is funny as fook.

Sophie Wilson

The self-styled ‘curatrix’ of Pharos Gallery, Wilson was born and raised in Liverpool. Growing up against a backdrop of the Mersey Beat poets, a riotous music scene and the Liverpool Tate, she was inspired from an early age to work with creative people and the arts . Wilson studied English literature and drama in Sheffield, where she specialized in psychoanalytic theory and made short films. She then travelled down under to get an MA in Curatorship. It was here she gained her experience of the commercial art world in the galleries and auction houses of Sydney, meanwhile forging links with the stars of the Indigenous art community. Back in London, after a period of working in art logistics, Wilson decided to throw caution to the wind and set up her own collective. A handshake, a Hackney horizon and a menthol cigarette later, Pharos was born. Wilson continues to use her business brains in the context of international radio and TV broadcasting, whilst aiming to deconstruct the west end art system from a bunker in E8.

Lisa Farrell

Lisa Farrell is the love child of WW Gallery. A documentary photographer, trainee curator and all round and east London arts groupie, she gained honorary membership at the local Supine Studios where she bumped into Debra Wilson and Chiara Williams. Starting out as nervous intern, she soon progressed to ‘visual communications’ and is now unable to tear herself away from their creative genius and all round hilarity. Lisa will be heading to Central Saint Martins in September 09 to study fine art curation.

Eva Lis

Eva Lis is a Polish born artist living in Hackney, East London. Working across a number of disciplines, including print-making, painting, sculpture and site-specific installation, she prefers to work within a “public dynamic” taking more confrontational approach to social issues. Her past projects include 'The Universe Project' multimedia art project commissioned by the Grimm film production in Oslo; 'Parade of the Denizens' a horse drawn art exhibition in collaboration with Ed Pien; 'Visions of Excess' exploitation video project in collaboration with Paul Redfearn; SEK-Kulturverein-Art Studios, Berlin, ongoing collective multimedia art project. She is currently studying for MA Fine Art at the UCL Slade.

Lucy May

Lucy was born in Malaysia in 1982. She graduated from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in 2005. May is currently studying for MA Sculpture at the Royal College of Art and is based in a studio space in East London.

Stephanie Wehowski

Stephanie completed a Media Arts Foundation at the University of Arts London in 2000 and went on to study Fine Arts at Westminster University. She was born in the trading city of Luebeck, Germany, and she arrived in London in 1996 where she still resides and works.Stephanie works mainly in the medium of large scale sculpture and installation, which have in the past occupied parks and abandoned buildings. The installations themselves often include video or sound and focus on creating an atmosphere to which allows viewers to dive into introspection. Stephanie is interested in touching a world outside the realm of the intellect and words, but which is nonetheless graspable.

About Pharos Gallery and WW Gallery.

Pharos Gallery is an art collective based in the beating heart of London’s East End art scene. Built from a manifesto which aims to decentralise the West End art system. Pharos functions at the most basic level as a forum for artist to network, communicate and share ideas. Working with local artists, upcoming talent and established artists on curated and themed exhibitions, Pharos aims to build bridges between the adventurous projects of the East and the more traditional, transactional setting of the West End. For more information visit http://www.pharosgallery.com/.

WW Gallery is an artists' run space in a converted Victorian terraced house in Hackney, East London. Running a series of fearless and ambitious shows, WW features an eclectic array of work that runs from the beautiful and ornate to the grotesque and unsettling. Breaking away from the tendency of their East End counterparts to show work with a dry and introspective concern with theory, concept and the politics of the art industry, WW looks outward by staging shows centered around wider social and cultural themes. The result is often dark, frequently humorous and at once democratic and challenging. For more information visit http://www.wilsonwilliamsgallery.com/.