Route 19

opening reception Tuesday 09 September, 1-9pm

Curated by Julia Muggenburg & Adrian Dannatt

“She waves her hand. The number 19 bus draws up obediently at her feet, by the edge of the pavement. She climbs up to the top deck as if she were walking on a length of unrolled frieze. The panel states that she can go as far as Islington. I am very sad. I feel I shall not really be upset until after dinner.”

1916, “Aurora”; Tender Shoots, Paul Morand (Trans. Euan Cameron)

“Now, sing, Michael, sing on the route of the nineteen bus”

Rudie Can’t Fail, Joe Strummer & Mick Jones, The Clash

“It’s cheaper to take the tube to Piccadilly
And then we can catch a nineteen or twenty-two”.
Devonshire Street W1., Sir John Benjamin

London, Europe’s only metropolis, is segmented by routes traversing star like from north to south, west to east, forming superimposed webs as they move. With Route 19, Belmacz excitingly presents an imaginative exploration of London’s spirited ways, delving into the city’s past, present, and future, offering a unique perspective on its character and progression. Taking a thematic approach, the exhibition will examine the city’s history through various lenses, as the artists investigate their perceptions of the city’s light, monuments, architecture, speech, expressiveness, history, anecdotes, literature…While also taking time for the ennui – the waiting, sitting, standing as Route 19 snakes around, showcasing the city’s potential for one to meander and the artistry this may foster.

London will not just be a collection of events, but a dynamic and evolving elastic entity with never-ending indomitable potential. It will offer considered perspective as to why it is one of the greatest cities on this here planet earth.

Stimulating and thought-provoking, this show is singular and decided in its ability to inspire visitors to explore and understand the city’s history – to go out, take a ride on the 19, enjoy it and report back!

In essence this is intended as a blue print to enjoy a compelling and multifaceted exploration for a deeper understanding of the city’s unique character and its continually involving legacy from the mundane to the magnificent.

Julia Muggenburg

Number Nineteen is the best bus route in London, everybody knows that.

I grew up on it, travelling back and forth throughout my misspent youth between my home in Islington and the watering-holes of Soho and the narcotic lure of those further reaches of the King’s Road. It is so geographically ripe, such a perfectly plotted trajectory through the best and worst of London and simply everyone m’dear seems to have lived or worked along it’s elegant artery.

This exhibition pays homage to some, many, of those artists whose only real underlying link is this bus route – most curatorial strategies are secretly arbitrary after all – and celebrates one of the unsung mythic networks of our city. The exhibition even has an upper and a lower deck, just like the bus itself….so please hop on…final stop ‘Battersea Bridge South Side’ !

Adrian Dannatt