SKIP Gallery: Q&A with Catherine Borowski

SKIP Gallery does what it says on the tin. A gallery space in the form of a skip, SKIP was conceived in 2016 when its co-founder Catherine Borowski got fed up with with the lack of accessibility in the art world. “I wanted to do a show during Frieze but when I began looking for a space, I couldn’t find a thing. Everything was either booked out or really bloody expensive,” she says. “The thought just pinged into my head: wouldn’t it be good to do a show inside a skip?”

SKIP’s latest exhibition is the result of a dare made between Catherine and her gallery co-founder Lee Baker over a boozy birthday lunch. Having eyed up Richard Woods' work at the Folkestone Triennial that same day, Lee messaged the artist on Instagram to ask if he’d be interested in collaborating with SKIP.

Fast forward several months and on 1 June, in a parking space in Hoxton, East London, Richard Woods will open the (strictly metaphorical) doors to Upgrade – a month-long site-specific installation that engages with its immediate setting and surrounding neighbourhood to explore issues of housing and urban regeneration in one of London’s most rapidly changing neighbourhoods.

Below Catherine gives Zetteler the lowdown on SKIP, its collaboration with Richard Woods and why dares made over celebratory lunches are the very best kind.

How did SKIP Gallery come about?

It all started in 2016. I wanted to do a show during Frieze but when I began looking for a space, I couldn’t find a thing. Everything was either booked out or really bloody expensive. Suddenly the art world felt really closed – there was no way to do a show or get on the radar of the art world. Ideally, I wanted a space that people would walk past on their way to Frieze but that was completely impossible.

I knew that there had to be another way of showing work. The thought just pinged into my head: wouldn’t it be good to do a show inside a skip? Take the art to the art world and present something that everyone would see, simply by walking past (apart from the bigwig poshos who slink past the Frieze VIP Beemer).

SKIP felt so exciting because it was so easy, cheap, accessible and a bit cheeky – we could put a skip on any street in London and open it up as a gallery. SKIP started feeling like a piece of work in its own right. There’s something very strong about just doing it and just making it happen. Install a skip anywhere in London, invite artists to collaborate, buy a cheap box wine and open it up for a show, that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.

What made Richard Woods the right artist for the exhibition?

Lee and I loved Holiday Home, [Richard’s contribution to the Folkestone Triennial 2017 which saw six cartoonishly colourful bungalows appear in unlikely places around the harbour town], and the narrative behind it was spot-on for SKIP. We went to have a look at his sheds on my birthday last year, and over a boozy lunch we dared each other to contact Richard and ask him if he’d do a SKIP. Lee dropped him a note on Instagram and to our absolute surprise Richard wrote back almost immediately and said yes.

The exhibition takes place during the London Festival of Architecture – what sort of significance does that add to the artwork?

Richard’s work has a very strong relationship with architecture so it felt like a natural fit. The history of Hoxton also architecturally speaking has a really interesting history.

Do you have a dream location that you’d like to install an exhibition? Where’s next?

SKIP has been installed in London, Bristol and Milan. Next on the list is Sydney – we are in talks to take SKIP over there this summer. Then there is Miami, the Venice Biennale, South Korea, Naoshima in Japan and of course Frieze. I just need the parking place and a skip permit!

Keep up to date with SKIP Gallery’s latest escapades – head over to its Instagram!