“Art magazine Elephant has a fittingly über-cool new art space, Elephant West, in White City. Enter… to be become instantly more hip” declared the Evening Standard.
It’s “an arts hub that champions emerging talent. Watch this space!” proclaimed Time Out in an Instagram video that garnered 59,000 views.
Elephant West drew an enthusiastic welcome from the press. Happily, the general public—art lovers, obviously, but also coffee cravers and espresso martini mavens lured in by our in-house café and bar Fuel—have shown their enthusiasm too, with the result that the opening party for our current “environmental takeover”, Muscle Memory, a collaboration between the painter Anna Liber Lewis and the musician Four Tet, saw people queuing round the block in the hope of getting in. And of course, because we are super-inclusive and welcoming, we let them in.
The events programme is steadily expanding. We’ve had a book signing with sculptor Conrad Shawcross, an evening of music clips and chat with video production company Somesuch (the people behind the new and much-discussed Gillette ad), and, unfolding in real time as I’m typing this, a talk about childbirth and its artistic representation featuring frank debate and graphic imagery.
Other more modest but no less important achievements might be the installation of a heating system that actually works and the craning in of a portacabin for staff to sit in. We are also due to open our expanded shop and outside café garden—the perfect place to hang out this spring.
Upcoming events include a Four Tet gig and performances by BalletBoyz: sign up for the newsletter at elephant.art to make sure you don’t miss out on exciting opportunities and invitations!
