Most Recent
Fringe Report: Poetry Night at the Mumford Gallery
Feb 2009
Review by Brent Crude
See piece on Fringe Report website: Brent Crude reviews the Poetry Night at the Mumford Gallery (20 Feb 2009)
Poetry Night at the Mumford Gallery - Thursday 19 February 2009 - 18:30 (21:30)
Every Thursday night, in the intimate space of the Mumford Rooftop Gallery (www.mumfordfineart.net) on D'Arblay Street in Soho, there's a small gathering - a salon if you like. Those attending - not just invited guests, anyone can come - have the opportunity to view the art on display and to chat. There's entertainment too. Tonight, it's poetry night. Susan Johnson Mumford, who runs the Gallery, is an American. She's been running art shows in the small space among Soho's rooftops for over three years. Despite the recession, she's managed to make a success of selling art both from the Gallery and at art shows. She also represents the estate of the British sculptor Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993).
Among the audience is American post-graduate student Rebecca Pohancenik. Rebecca is researching aspects of the history of science, particularly those related to the development of clocks. She is also promoting an exhibition at the German Gymnasium from 5 March 09 - The Art of Lost Words (www.dexigner.com/graphic/news-g16886.html) - which she has been organising with her husband, designer and typographer Andreas Pohancenik. Also attending are writers Laura McGowan, Sally Crawford and (Joel says) would-be rock lyricist Joel Rockman. The poets reading tonight come from a range of directions, delivering work from the cerebral to the impassioned.
Ben Gwalchmai, a slight man with self-deprecating style, reads his slight lyrics almost apologetically from his poems, stored on his mobile phone. Ben is also putting together the first London School of Economics (LSE) Literature and Arts Festival at the end of February 09. There's a pause - and more wine - then Ricky Burns. Bearded, personable, he reads with a lot of energy and verve, and his A to Z poem shows an intense concern for words and their potential. Mary Edwards is a sort of rock and roll romantic, but think determination, rather than lassitude. Her poetry paints small, intimate pictures, as though you are looking at yourself passing a shop window - and you might not recognise what you see. Last is Si Baker, life coach and poet, who also runs the Tavistock Writers Group, a self-help, self-critical group of published and aspiring poets, dramatists, fiction writers and journalists. He reads quietly but sonorously, before ending the night with a slightly scurrilous description of physical love. That sends some in search of another glass of wine, and others thoughtfully home through the Soho streets.
Thursday Night at the Mumford Gallery is a regular, informal, gathering. Future dates include 26 February 09, 5 March 09.
(c) Brent Crude - Thursday 19 February 09 - Mumford Fine Art, Rooftop Gallery, 12 D'Arblay Street, Soho, London, W1F 8DU - (c) www.fringereport.com