A brand new art gallery called Gasleak Mountain has just opened in Nottingham - we sit down with its founders to learn all about this exciting, inclusive space...
So what is Gasleak Mountain, and how did it start?
Gasleak Mountain is an art gallery and community interest company based near Sneinton Market, run by local artists: Renie Masters, Charlie Dean, Harry Freestone, and Pádraig Condron. Nottingham has a great artist community and our aim is to feed that community through events, exhibitions, workshops, and parties, prioritising experimentation and celebrating queerness.
We all met at university and wanted to continue working together after graduating, so in summer 2019 we started a collective to curate events and workshops with other emerging artists. We did a lot of groundwork in that first year, but the pandemic compromised a lot of our plans for public events. Once we were able to host events again, we decided we wanted a rebrand. That’s where Gasleak Mountain came from; that wasn't just a name change, but a complete rebuild of our intentions and promises to our community. For most of our existence, we were based in One Thoresby Street, an amazing artist-led organisation which allowed us to build that community. Thanks to that, we were able to move to our own space on Carlton Road last May.
How did you come to have that name?
We wanted something ridiculous and delusional that worked with our new manifesto. Something over the top, culty, escapist, and also chic. Renie was dealing with a gas leak in her house at the time and it kept popping up in conversation. We liked the idea that the fumes of a gas leak could cause hallucinations. We’d been talking about creating a geographical landmark in Nottingham that would show up on the map. The idea of a mountain in the middle of the city felt good, and the idea that it was a little secretive and hallucinatory was exciting. It doesn’t make much sense the first time you hear it, and it’s often called Gaslight Mountain instead, which we find hilarious.
How does it feel to have opened your own art gallery?
Kind of unreal. We recently painted our sign on the shop front and it felt wild to see our name on a high street. We all got a bit giddy from that. Seeing it grow to what it is now has been such an exciting and confusing journey. The support we’ve had and the people we’ve got to work with because of that has been such a loving experience. Realistically, it can be a little unforgiving at times, with limited time and funding. We’re all very grateful to all the wonderful people that show up to support us, it’s gorgeous to be a part of their world!
We recently painted our sign on the shop front and it felt wild to see our name on a high street. We all got a bit giddy from that
What are the aims of Gasleak Mountain?
Showing under-represented art in the Midlands, not circle-jerking, being gay and fun, and not taking the art too seriously. All this good stuff while celebrating our friends, being open to change, and being a safe and inclusive space.
Where do you see Gasleak Mountain going in the future?
We’ve all got different visions for it, but we all hope it continues after us. For now, our focus is urgency. Making space for people to experiment, meet each other, and learn new skills. We want to offer a range of different creative practices in the hopes that we can expand people’s networks. From working together for the past four-plus years, we’ve learnt a lot about what each of us offers to the group, so in theory the Mountain could expand in so many different directions - and that’s what we find exciting.
You can find Gasleak Mountain on 7 Carlton Road
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