CUBITT ARTISTS

Cubitt is an internationally-acclaimed gallery, cultural programme and the last remaining artist-run studios and gallery in central London. We have been notified that our current lease will not be renewed beyond October 2026, which means we’re leaving our current home in Angel, Islington, after over twenty-five years here.

We are now looking to secure a new home in order to continue our decades of cultural and community work.


Above: Founding Cubitt Members

HISTORY

First established in Kings Cross in 1991, Cubitt began as an alternative to commercially focused galleries and has continued to grow while remaining true to our founding ethos by continuing to offer affordable artists studios, a locally embedded civic, education and community programme. For fifteen years the flagship Curatorial Fellowship has demonstrated the organisation’s commitment to supporting artistic and curatorial experimentation.

Past and present studio artists who have made their home at Cubitt include Peter Doig, Chris Ofili, Tomma Abts, Janice Kerbel, Ingrid Pollard, Dexter Dalwood and Nicole Wermers. Exhibiting artists in the programmes have included Simeon Barclay, Helen Cammock, Tacita Dean, Jasleen Kaur, and Christodoulos Panayiotou.

In the early 2000s, Cubitt transformed the creative landscape by initiating its Curatorial Fellowship, which served as a launchpad for global institutional leaders such as Michelle Cotton, Helen Nisbet, Emily Pethwick, Polly Staple, Bart Van Der Heide, Gregor Muir and recent Jarman Award-winning artist Morgan Quaintance.

Since 2019, the organisation has expanded on its longstanding community and education programmes, deeply rooted in its Islington location, with a Civic programme established by former Director of Programmes Amal Khalaf.

Above: Cubitt Community Zine Fair

OUR GOAL

Cubitt’s current home has been at Angel Mews for over 25 years, where we have nurtured artistic talent through a number of historic exhibitions and our community programmes which have collectively reached tens of thousands in the local area.

Since receiving news earlier this year from our private landlord that they would not be extending our lease, we have truly come together as a community by working closely with our trustees, communities, stakeholders and others to help to find a new home that allows us to continue to bring transformative, experimental work to Islington and further afield, as well as continuing to flourish as the last remaining artist-run studios and gallery in central London.

Cubitt exists because of the work of generations of artists, curators, cultural workers and local communities who believe in grassroots, artist-led experimental practices. We historically haven’t been funded by large amounts of private giving, nor are we a large-scale public institution. As such, we provide a unique and important part of London and the UK’s cultural ecology. We want to continue to provide:

* Affordable studios for artists in central London

* A wide-ranging and deeply integrated community and education programme, including our work of over fifteen years with young people and students, as well as older people and those living in extra-care facilities in Islington

* A community-led space that is open for use and events by local communities, shaped by the needs of the neighbourhood, and grounded in a commitment to social justice

* World renowned contemporary art programming, with key opportunities for early career artists and curators

Your contribution will make it possible to continue our work.

Above: 'Practising Bodies' Kirsty Russell, curated by Seán Elder