Established 2005 Website www.parasol-unit.org Founded 2005 | Director Ziba Ardalan Phone +44 20 7490 7373 | |
 | ||
Location 14 Wharf Road, London N1, England, United Kingdom Address 14 Wharf Rd, London N1 7RW, UK Hours Open today · 10AM–6PMThursday10AM–6PMFriday10AM–6PMSaturday10AM–6PMSunday12–5PMMondayClosedTuesday10AM–6PMWednesday10AM–6PMSuggest an edit Public transit access Old Street station, Angel tube station Similar Victoria Miro Gallery, Camden Arts Centre, Raven Row, White Cube, Institute of Contemporary Arts Profiles | ||
Friendly video graffiti parasol unit foundation for contemporary art
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is an educational charity and a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery based in London. Established in 2005, the foundation is housed in a converted warehouse over two floors in a building that was renovated to a design concept by the Italian architect, Claudio Silvestrin. The gallery comprises roughly 5,000 sq ft (460 m2) of exhibition space.
Contents
- Friendly video graffiti parasol unit foundation for contemporary art
- Aims
- Funding
- Exhibitions
- EXPOSURE Award
- References
Parasol unit was established by its Director/Curator, Ziba Ardalan. A graduate in the History of Art from Columbia University New York, Ardalan worked as Guest Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She guest curated the exhibition 'Winslow Homer and the New England Coast' at the Whitney's Stamford, Ct. Branch (1984). Ardalan became the first Director/Curator of New York City’s Swiss Institute in 1987, before moving to Zurich, Switzerland, and then relocating to UK and founding Parasol unit. She has curated numerous exhibitions and has also lectured and written about art. Prior to her career in art, Ardalan obtained a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.
Aims
Parasol unit is devoted to promoting contemporary art for the benefit of the public. The exhibition programme comprises work by emerging and contemporary artists in a variety of media: sculpture, painting, installation, video and photography. The institution was developed on the model of a Kunsthalle, with no permanent collection.
Each exhibition is supported by a programme of educational events that engage with the public and local community. Exhibitions are also accompanied by a new publication, an artist’s monograph or catalogue, which is distributed worldwide.
Funding
Parasol unit, like publicly funded institutions in London continuously strives to raise funds to cover its running costs and hopes to secure its existence for future generations. The one-time donation by the founder is a reserve that allows the foundation to operate while other funding sources are identified. The reserve currently covers about 60% of the foundation's operating expenses whereas the remaining 40% are financed through Gift Aid scheme, grants from charitable organisations, private donations and sales of merchandise. These have included Arts Council England, Pro Helvetia, Japan Foundation, The French Institute (London), The Goethe Institute (London), The Austrian Cultural Forum (London), Henry Moore Foundation, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Portuguese Embassy and Australian Embassy, Tower Hamlets Council. Additional funding has been provided by private companies including Dataton, Deutsche Bank, Gallagher Limited, Goldman Sachs, Key Capital and Schroders.
The gallery space is privately owned and has been put at the disposal of the foundation at no charge.
Exhibitions
Every year the foundation organises four challenging and thought-provoking exhibitions of works by international contemporary artists working in various media. Parasol unit has introduced a host of international artists to London’s public and has been instrumental in launching the careers of artists such as Michaël Borremans, Yang Fudong and Charles Avery. Entry to exhibitions at Parasol unit is free.
EXPOSURE Award
In 2009, the foundation launched its EXPOSURE Award, an annual programme which gives recent graduates the opportunity to exhibit their work alongside a major exhibition at the gallery. Each year Parasol unit selects three winning artists from a UK art school. The judging panel selects which one, or more, of the graduates will be invited to mount a month-long exhibition at Parasol unit.