Under-threat Kemistry Gallery aims to come back bigger and better

Kemistry Gallery has been open for ten years and has showcased the work of Saul Bass, Ken Garland, Milton Glaser and Ben Eine.

The gallery is now facing closure due to the impending redevelopment of its Clerkenwell home.

However, the gallery is not only fighting against permanent closure, but is also aiming to come back bigger and bolder, with plans to relaunch as the UK’s first not-for-profit gallery space dedicated to graphic design and visual communication.

This plan will also see the space operate independently of Kemistry, the consultancy that has so far been funding and directing the gallery.

The Arts Council has given the gallery a £15,000 grant, which will go towards a feasibility study for the plan and will also help support a special exhibition, planned for next February, which will showcase the ten years of Kemistry exhibitions and also act as a pilot for the new plans.

An advisory board featuring the likes of D&AD president Mark Bonner and UAL professor Fred Deakin has been appointed to work with the Kemistry Gallery team on the vision and relocation plans.

The gallery is seeking to raise a further £15,000 to fund the exhibition and feasibility plan and has launched a Kickstarter appeal in a bid to raise the cash.

Those backing the campaign can receive books and prints from Jean Jullien and Malika Favre and a one-day print workshop with Anthony Burrill is also on offer.

Kemistry creative director Graham McCallum says: “Our aim for this exhibition isn’t just to put on the very best historical and contemporary survey of graphic design that we possibly can. We also want to give everyone a taste of the Kemistry Gallery that is to come by piloting a bigger, better and bolder space for showing and discovering the fine art of graphic design.”

Mark Bonner says: “The UK is extraordinarily good at graphic design and yet there is only one gallery space dedicated to showcasing this art form. The art and design community – and the British creative economy more generally – cannot afford to lose Kemistry Gallery and the plans to re-establish the gallery and expand its activities into a wider educational and public engagement programme are incredibly exciting and much needed.”

You can contribute and help save the Kemistry Gallery through the Kickstarter page.