Future Map 12 at Lethaby Gallery

Several art schools in London make up the University of the Arts, and 50 emerging artists were chosen from all of their graduate and post graduate exhibitions of 2012 for Future Map 12.

Hundreds and thousands of artists graduate each year, and what becomes of them next does not depend on what happens to them, but on what they make of it all, and if they can be persistent, proactive and determined enough to find a place in the art world. Not all will become practicing artists – few anyway purely make and sell work, and so this is a chance to note favourites and rate who you think will still be showing work in a few years’ time. You can invest, too, as all the work is for sale.

Works which particularly caught The Upcoming’s eye included Elisavet Tamouridou’s photo constructions creating depths of narrative, James Woodgate’s white-goods sculpture which leans in an odd alien way, and Tess Faria’s video of what happens when you leave an art student in a bare room with a couple of props. Mostly fine art, there is also design, textile, moving image, painting and sound art. High production values make the work ready to show in any gallery.

If you are wondering if it is worth battling through the snow to see this exhibition, the selection makes it a superior degree show, with work varied throughout current practice and scaling various media. Visiting also gives a chance to catch a glimpse inside the Granary Building complex at Kings Cross, where Central Saint Martins moved in 2011. It’s a magnificent fusion of grand Victorian industrial architecture reimagined with a vast glassy atrium, and is surely an inspiration for their students.

Eleanor MacFarlane

Future Map 12 is at the Lethaby Gallery, University of the Arts London, until 9^th February 2013. For further information visit the exhibition’s website here.