Style 43

Stolenspace art gallery, based in the heart of the hip and trendy area of London, “Brick lane“. We went down took some shots of the gallery and art works in there by the likes of SEEN, Shok1 and Word to your mother plus many more. here’s a a mini interview with the people behind Stolenspace finding out a little more about the gallery.

Questions by:James S and Mark W

you have a web site that i know that your almost finished with, how do you think it will benefit how people look at the gallery and the art works?
It’s finished… check it www.stolenspace.com… I think with the site it gives people the chance to see the work who can’t make it down to the space physically, it also gives us a chance to document and show the past shows we’ve held.

You told that u had the name “stolenspace” for quite a number of years before the gallery came about, what was the reason behind that?
Yeah sure I first came up with the name StolenSpace about 10 years ago. I was trying to think of a term that encompassed all the work I was seeing that I found inspiring… from tracksides to stickers on the back of a sign to street riding. The common link was that it was all stolen space, using and exploring the environment outside it’s conceived intention . It’s also a metaphor for how the work also plays on your subconscious. I liked the way the two words sat together, so it kind of stuck. A few years passed and I thought it would be good for a website, so I registered the domain… which sat dormant for years and got surpassed by other projects and ideas. Till now!
i have been “stolenspace” half a dozen times since you have opened, and there’s always some thing new, is that import for you guys?
Totally, it’s what keeps us buzzing. We’re not about sitting around and waiting, we’re always hatching some plan, working on the next show etc. We like the idea of people rolling by and checking out what’s going on at StolenSpace and always finding something new to check out. We like people to visit regularly and feel part of the StolenSpace family.
you have artists works from all over the place from new york and Brazil to local Londoners , what is the thought process behind the picking of artists and their works?
The common link is that the artist are doing something original and in keeping with the thinking of StolenSpace. It’s not about showing JUST street of graffiti artists, it’s about thinking, ideas and juxtaposition. Most importantly it’s not all about ‘known names’ it’s about giving talented artists a space to exhibit. We hope that with our group show’s there will be names you’ve heard of alongside names you haven’t, but each artist work stands and speaks for itself.
There’s no process behind picking the work, it’s about our collective feelings and passion towards the artwork and artists.


i presume the concept behind the name “stolenspace” is in reference to the graffiti culture stealing wall/street space, so taking art to the streets. and now you are taking that same art movement and taking it back indoors where it has a price in some case’s. do you think this is the way to go in the day and age that the authorities are clamping down graffiti on the streets?
As explained, thats the initial and literal idea, but it does stretch beyond that to a metaphorical idea of ideas and thought sticking in your mind. Like when you see something and can’t get it out your head. But your right, when I grew up in London it was possible to see full colour tracksides and painted trains running… with the increase in Street art more work was visible in the streets, however with the crack down on illegal works it’s become harder to see work, so a gallery environment ran by people who are either actively involved or strong support of the work gives another domain and audience to the work and artists. But as previously explained the gallery is not about being a graffiti gallery, we’re not that. It’s more a mindset.

some people look at artists such as bansky and d-face as sell outs based on the success they have achieved. do you have a reply for that mentality or opinion?
Ummmm, yawn. OK. What does ’sell out’ mean and who decides who’s a sell out? Surely it’s about the artists integrity? What would people rather? That those artist worked in a burger chain flipping burgers so they could be ‘pure’ whatever ‘pure’ means? Surely thats detrimental to the artist work and quality, if the artist sells enough artwork to live as an artist surely thats going to be productive and progressive to their work, that’s being less of a sell out than working for the man? Surely that’s being a sell out? The hardest decision for any artist be it visual, musical or physical is to concentrate solely on their work, 7 days a week 24/7 and not compromise their artistic beliefs.
I think the people that are quick to use the word sell out, really need to walk a mile in the artist shoes before being so blasé about making those claims.
is it a conscious decision to have maybe less d face stuff in the gallery than some might think?
Yes, it’s not a D*Face gallery and he was very conscious about not making it appear that way. We tend to actually play down his work in the space as part of a group show, it would be easy to push that all the time but neither he or StolenSpace want that to lead the gallery and we wouldn’t want the gallery to ride on his popularity, there’s so many amazing artist in StolenSpace that they all deserve equal focus.
Have you got any plans to make more people get creative and get involved in any kind of street art like graffiti, etc.?
Hopefully by coming to the shows and seeing the amazing work that will inspire and encourage people to be creative. We recently did a work shop with young offenders, so maybe some more youth community projects.

In the news recently, there was a report about a teenager getting killed whilst trying to tag a train. How do you think it’d be best to try and make people have a more responsible attitude towards tagging, or graffiti in general?
I think you answered your own question… there’s no responsible attitude to graffiti, thats part and parcel of what it is. But really I think the consequences need to be put in perspective, I don’t think anyone can think hitting a train is worth loosing your life over… it’s not like the trains even run. There’s easier and more prominent ways of getting up that last. It’s about thinking outside of the constraints. But I have the utmost respect for the artists that still go and paint trains.
Have you thought about expanding StolenSpace so you have a place similar to Southbank, where people are free to constantly graf without being given an ASBO?
As far as I can make out the spot at the Southbank get painted so much that nothing runs for more than a day before being dogged. So I think the wall in Truman carpark which is painted regularly but left for at least a month is more the right approach. This year we plan to stay on top of it being painted regularly. The Truman brewery I think is already one of the best spots to see streetart/graffiti in London.

Do you think that graf is going to go more towards a more artistic route instead of just tagging a name or nickname somewhere, so more like Banksy, etc., than just a scrawled name on a wall somewhere?
I don’t think the word graffiti describes the whole picture, there’s so many different levels and so many people want their own thing from it. For some people it’s about damage, for others it’s more than that. Who knows what Banksys route was?

Do you think that the way the Hayward Gallery/NFT owners are allowing people to tag there is benefiting graffiti’s profile in London/the UK at large?
I think if things were left clean for longer then it would. Maybe if London had more good legal spots like that then it would mean they ran cleaner for longer. But it’s certainly a progressive step.

How do you plan on expanding in the future; where do you hope to take StolenSpace?
Just to get StolenSpace to a point where all the show works are selling in order to support the artists and survive as a gallery. Then grow to a larger space, in order to have a permanent collection as well as solo shows.

Anything we should look out for 2007 at stolenspace?
Every month!! Each month this year is a new solo show by an incredible artist. Shows to look out for… all of them. But we’re working with Al on a one day special group show in June.

A big thanks to Stolenspace for finding some time to answer these questions. be sure to drop by and check out the gallery. go to their site for all the info:WWW.STOLENSPACE.COM