ASPEX OF LOVE

The art gallery celebrates turning 40:

Forty years ago, a group of ‘scruffy artists’ walked into the office of Freddie Emery-Wallis, the leader of Hampshire County Council. The recent graduates from Portsmouth Polytechnic, wanted to stay in the city and had branded themselves as Art Space Portsmouth (Asp). They soon came across an abandoned church in Brougham Road, Somers Town.

Les Buckingham recalls: ‘When they first saw that building it was almost wrecked. A quarter of the roof was missing, kids had used it as a knocking-shop and all sorts of things.

‘They found out who owned it, and they were incredibly lucky – it was the county council.

‘So when these scruffy artists walked into his office – it's amazing they even got to his office – and said we'd like to have Brougham Road, he said: “That's interesting. We'll completely do the roof, we'll give you a grant straight away and we'll give you six months free rent to get the studio sorted.”’

The first Asp exhibition (Aspex) was in June 1981 – Rachel Fenner’s Sculpture & Drawings 1973-1980, and so a new gallery was born.

Les was Aspex’s first director, who started there in 1984.

‘The first two or three years were artistled,’ he explains. ‘But they wanted a gallery and they wanted to show artists from abroad and the rest of England – cutting edge artists to inspire them. After they'd done a bit of that, they then said, right, we need to get back into the studio and we need someone to run it, and that’s where I came in.’

Les left in 1999 and was replaced by Jo Bushnell, who will be overseeing the gallery's 40th anniversary celebrations.

Jo says: ‘Even in this difficult time, it's lovely to have something to celebrate, and to look back at the legacy of the last four decades and the amazing work that's been done – but also to look forward to what we are going to do in the next year and into the future, and how to ensure that Portsmouth remains a vibrant centre for contemporary visual arts.’

Previous big anniversaries have also been marked with special celebrations. But the 25th was arguably the most significant – they closed down at Brougham Road on April 1, 2006, and reopened at their current home, Vulcan Building in Gunwharf Quays on December 1 that year.

And the 35th saw them reconnecting with their roots.

‘We had an auction, 35 And Counting, we went back to some of the artists we'd worked with and asked them if they could donate works as part of a fundraising initiative to develop an artist residency again with the space. Having come from an artist-led institution, and then moving away from that, we then re-established an artist's studio within the space.’

So this year, they aren't letting the pandemic stop them from celebrating, with Life Begins at 40 (see panel, far right). Throughout the four decades, education has been a key part of the Aspex ethos.

‘It's incredibly important,’ says Les, ‘we're losing that creativity in schools, especially art and music. Many, many people have said get the arts back in schools, so we see ourselves as sort of the last bastion of where this happens, and going out to schools and having them come in to us...’

Jo expands on the theme: ‘It was important to me when I took over from Les, and for Les when he took over from the artists, that the foundation stones of Aspex have remained constant for those 40 years.

‘It's always been about supporting emerging artists and innovative practice – it's always been about revealing the creative process.’

Since 2003, Aspex has held a competition every two years for emerging artists, Emergency.

‘There are people of all ages, right through from toddlers to older people, and encouraging them to be creative themselves, and that hasn't changed.

‘While we've changed shape, from the back streets of Somers Town to Gunwharf Quays, in terms of the core of what the organisation is about, our mission and our vision has been constant, and I think that's quite special.

‘We've often talked about artists starting at Aspex, and we don't necessarily mean at that early point, just post-graduation, but really right as kids.

‘I recently got a message from Clarke Reynolds, a really interesting developing artist. He's gone through this incredibly difficult situation of losing his sight, and yet he’s using it to spur on his creativity.

‘It's very exciting to see him grow and develop. He said Aspex was the first gallery he ever visited and he loved coming as a child, and he feels that's what's made him an artist.’

Both Jo and Les are passionate about art being able to talk about big themes and making art accessible to all.

‘When I look at our back catalogue, it is diverse,’ says Jo. ‘The artists we have shown have come from all over the world, we've always been really multicultural in our perspective, we've always been an advocate for disabled artists.

‘These themes which are now being discussed in wider society – how do we make our society fairer, we've been doing that all the way through. ‘Visual art is especially good at this, giving people a way into the discussion and the debate around what's important in life. It's support for the artist, it's encouraging creativity in the wider community but it's also saying: “We aren't an island, we're part of society and we contribute to the debates in society.”’

The gallery is currently closed, but when coronavirus restrictions lift, it will reopen with In Search of Chemozoa by boredomresearch, presenting ideas for an alternative cultural understanding of cancer.

It's always been about supporting emerging artists and innovative practice

We aren't an island, we're part of society and we contribute to the debates in society