Opening this autumn at Offer Waterman, On Foot, curated by Jonathan Anderson, will bring contemporary artists into dialogue with iconic works of modern British art. Anderson's own fashion designs for JW Anderson and LOEWE will inhabit the spaces as viewers and bystanders to the works. Pieces from recent seasons have been chosen for the way in which they transform the body and give it sculptural potential. The exhibition will unfold like a walk-through London, embracing the stark contrasts and unlikely juxtapositions that even a short journey through the city offers up.
From the salubrious streets of Mayfair where the gallery is located, to the provocatively storied alleys of Soho where the JW Anderson store has its home, the exhibition's galleries will each act like a pause at one of the social spaces or experiences the journey has to offer. Celebrating all aspects of the city from the pub to the park, the gallery's corridors and staircases will become pavements and traffic-clogged streets with skaters lingering, while ceramics and sculptures will represent crowded scenes. JW Anderson's pigeons will take over a storeroom and a garden square bench will allow visitors to take in the surprising abundance of flora and fauna the city has to offer. Rounding off the journey by ducking into a pub, a diverse cast of characters will each tell a story of the city they live in.
For the exhibition Anthea Hamilton has collaborated with JW Anderson to produce a limited-edition version of the iconic pigeon clutch which will be presented at Offer Waterman and the JW Anderson Soho store.
Artists will include Igshaan Adams, Frank Auerbach, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Hans Coper, Shawanda Corbett, Sara Flynn, Lucian Freud, Anthea Hamilton, Barbara Hepworth, Akiko Hirai, David Hockney, Leon Kossoff, Stanislava Kovalcikova, Florian Krewer, Doron Langberg, Jennifer Lee, L. S. Lowry, Henry Moore, Cedric Morris, Dame Magdalene Odundo, Walter Sickert, William Turnbull and Christopher Wood, among others.
On Foot will be free and open to the public from 18 September to 28 October 2023
Offer Waterman opened his first gallery in Chelsea, London in 1996. Now based in a five-storey Georgian townhouse in Mayfair, the gallery has developed an international following for its exceptional 20th Century and Contemporary art. Previously the historic William Morris & Co showroom, the gallery at 17 St. George Street provides a relaxed and understated exhibition space across three floors, with a library and research centre on the fifth.
The gallery's experienced and approachable team are dedicated to helping collectors, at all levels, develop remarkable and individual art collections. Offer Waterman is known for its historical exhibitions including, Frank Auerbach, Early Works (2012), David Hockney, Early Drawings (2015), Robert Rauschenberg: Transfer Drawings from the 1960s and 1970s (2016) and William Turnbull, Centenary Exhibition (2022). In 2023 we collaborated with fashion designer Jonathan Anderson on the exhibition On Foot, which placed 20th century British art in dialogue with Anderson's own designs and works by contemporary artists and makers. Most recently, in the autumn of 2024, Frank Auerbach: Portraits of London, produced in collaboration with Francis Outred, presented 25 major landscapes from private and museum collections and attracted more than 5,000 visitors.
Offer Waterman is an established benefactor of museums and arts organisations and the gallery has supported numerous museum exhibitions including the Tate's most recent David Hockney retrospective (2017); the Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits (2019) and David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, (2020) and Barbara Hepworth: Art and Life at the Hepworth Wakefield (2021-22). In 2023, the gallery sponsored exhibitions by two leading female artists - the beautifully curated Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge and the equally compelling Gwen John: Art and Life in Paris and London at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
