A Gallery for ‘KINdred Spirits... or not another 'KIN Art Gallery!
In November 2008 the founder and head honcho at Scrawl Collective Ric Blackshaw launched a pop-up art gallery in London’s Soho called ‘KIN. ‘KIN (the apostrophe is important) was a collaborative effort between Ric’s street art and illustration print publisher Scrawl Collective, the illustration agency Breed London, the agency Start Creative and retail space designers Judge Gill.
During the gallery’s 6 month residency a series of open nights, live music evenings and lectures were hosted and the gallery became something of a magnet for young artists looking for an outlet for their work. This 6 months of running ‘KIN had a dramatic effect on the output of Scrawl Collective, widening it’s remit to encompass a much wider range of art and artists.
'KIN was always intended as an ongoing project and Ric's move back to his hometown of Manchester seemed like the perfect time to draw a line under nearly two decades of street art and illustration innovation, excellence and tomfoolery as Scrawl Collective and start a new chapter as 'KIN.
This new iteration of ‘KIN is the vehicle for Ric's curating, writing and print publishing bringing together Scrawl Collective art and artists with a new generation of artists and designers, to put out the best in contemporary practitioners who draw their inspiration and working practices from the same well of creativity that spurred the first Scrawl book way back in 1998. Music, sampling, comics, graffiti, graphic design, illustration and a healthily iconoclastic approach to the concept of accepted practices. This new incarnation will continue the collaborative spirit and restless creativity of the original ‘KIN gallery, whether online or in it's various physical guises. ‘KINdred Spirits indeed.
Ric Blackshaw
Ric Blackshaw is an arts writer, gallerist, curator and print publisher.
The author of two revered books Scrawl (dirty graphics and strange characters) and Scrawl Too (More Dirt) in 1999 and 2001 he went on to found Scrawl Collective, a highly regarded agency for street artists and illustrators. After tiring of dealing with commercial briefs Ric closed and then relaunched Scrawl Collective as a producer and retailer of print editions in 2004.
In 2016 after 20 years in the capital he relocated back to his hometown of Manchester to start a new chapter.
‘KIN is a distillation of Ric’s two decades spent collecting, collaborating, curating, writing and making connections all over the world.
Ric Blackshaw on Linkedin.