[paoe]

I went to POW yesterday and it was closed, the chap their said it was now going all online... Also just seen on rightmove that the space is now up for rent (£95k pa for those who are interested).

Are they really shutting up the storefront or are they planning something special?
Does this have anything to do with banksy being on the missing or is he just taking some time out to spend his stacks of cash??

[Deleted]

Where we gonna que this Christmas then ?

[Sacked...]

Aug 2, 2013 10:47:51 GMT 1 @rok said:

Where we gonna que this Christmas then ?

Dont worry , i'm sure NEXT will have a sale on.

[Dungle]

It's been shut for ages.

[phage]

Aug 2, 2013 11:12:01 GMT 1 Dungle said:

It's been shut for ages.

did you spell shit wrong?

[11]

Hope they come up with a new address soon - I put a sofa on order at DFS - I'll feel a right tit sitting in me LazyBoy outside a 24hr Tesco Express

[paoe]

Hahaha may rent it just so I can be the first in line for a release

[Shoot Again]

Aug 2, 2013 11:23:54 GMT 1 paoe said:

Hahaha may rent it just so I can be the first in line for a release

With £95K (ie. the rent) you don't need to queue, just buy yourself a canvas ! ;-)

[Happy Shopper]

I lack of Banksy could certainly mean they have to find a cheaper way to do things.
The shows they put on never seemed to be a great success, compared to more succesful online sales, so perhaps a bit of a waste of money having such a large space.

[paoe]

Aug 2, 2013 11:29:29 GMT 1 Shoot Again said:

Aug 2, 2013 11:23:54 GMT 1 paoe said:

Hahaha may rent it just so I can be the first in line for a release

With £95K (ie. the rent) you don't need to queue, just buy yourself a canvas ! ;-)

Yea but then i miss out on all the fun of being freezing cold, soaking wet and extremely paranoid lol

[phage]

Aug 2, 2013 11:54:56 GMT 1 paoe said:

Aug 2, 2013 11:29:29 GMT 1 Shoot Again said:

With £95K (ie. the rent) you don't need to queue, just buy yourself a canvas ! ;-)

Yea but then i miss out on all the fun of being freezing cold, soaking wet and extremely paranoid lol

They have special places in Soho that may be able to help.

[johnnyh]

It's main issue lets say for want of a better description is that it has never been a proper gallery.

It had a decent chunk of the print market but that has moved sideways in recent years. As it developed prints and promotion of artists they moved on and worked with others etc

Did not work as a gallery would with reg shows etc........bit of a shame really as think it has played a decent role in most people's collecting and collections

[Cocteau 101]

It's sunny in LA.

[angel41]

I may be wrong here but wasn't the shop opened only a few years ago so they were online only before then.

[geoffw]

I hope they come back - the space was lovely and they were super-supportive of VNA from a very early stage, culminating int he Invader LE launch we held at the gallery. I remember packing away the LE for the launch in the downstairs printing room surrounded by some of the best art I've seen. Took me 2.5 hours to out 100 mags in envelopes I was so distracted.

Do feel they could have done more with that space though - the Lister show was great but aside from that there seemed to be very little activity.

[G-Man]

Would be a shame for them not to have a store front/gallery space in London, they have been such an important part of the scene for so long. I for one would miss the place, and Dora too

[kel]

Having laid the foundations for one of the main Urban galleries in London/UK you would have expected them to keep the momentum going. Seems as already mentioned they would rather concentrate on making/selling prints than having a store front. I always find it strange that they will run with an artist and not follow up with further releases whilst (as the phrase goes) the Iron is hot.
I suppose not a bad business model though. Get somebody like Dran on board, produce a few prints, make several thousands for a couple of weeks work then take a month or two off.

[street4RT]

Has anyone on here had any recent comms with POW at all?

[phage]

Aug 2, 2013 14:30:08 GMT 1 street4RT said:

Has anyone on here had any recent comms with POW at all?

I was in there 3 weeks ago getting a COA.

Why do people think they are shut anyway?  

I just thought they used the space for doing COA work mostly now?

[street4RT]

Aug 2, 2013 14:33:34 GMT 1 phage said:

Aug 2, 2013 14:30:08 GMT 1 street4RT said:

Has anyone on here had any recent comms with POW at all?

I was in there 3 weeks ago getting a COA.

Why do people think they are shut anyway?  

I just thought they used the space for doing COA work mostly now?

Cheers phage
Do you know their opening hours?

[stvro22]

A lot of artists are either not making prints or doing it through their own website these days. Also To be apart of the POW family lost its luster. They began releasing lesser known artists that most people took one look at saw it wasn't Banksy and couldn't be bothered.

[twist65]

I imagine its just a case of they haven't renewed the lease, and kept the place open whilst they were still paying rent on it. Prob would have closed it sooner if that wasn't the case. Always seemed a bit pointless to me anyway, since any release of any worth would sell out in milliseconds online and they didn't really use it as a gallery space, so whats the point in having an expensive retail space? Total guess and ill-informed speculation on my part though!

[phage]

Aug 2, 2013 14:39:24 GMT 1 street4RT said:

Aug 2, 2013 14:33:34 GMT 1 phage said:

I was in there 3 weeks ago getting a COA.

Why do people think they are shut anyway?  

I just thought they used the space for doing COA work mostly now?

Cheers phage
Do you know their opening hours?

I've no idea mate.  POW are a law unto themselves.  When you go for a COA the door is always locked, so i guess the come in and browse aspect of the shop they used to have is no longer available?  I'm really not sure.  Sorry.

[street4RT]

Aug 2, 2013 15:44:14 GMT 1 phage said:

Aug 2, 2013 14:39:24 GMT 1 street4RT said:

Cheers phage
Do you know their opening hours?

I've no idea mate.  POW are a law unto themselves.  When you go for a COA the door is always locked, so i guess the come in and browse aspect of the shop they used to have is no longer available?  I'm really not sure.  Sorry.

So if i contact Dora kindly for my COA she would be able to sort me out and let me know of a time she is at the shop ... have I got it right?

cheers again buddy

[phage]

When you fill in the POW COA page, it will usually give you a reference number. Then for me, someone, usually Jen, emails and suggests a day and time to take it to the shop. I'm London based, so thats maybe why they suggest it, but i can't say they suggest that for the whole country.

In fact, what do people further afield or O/S do about getting a COA?

[phage]

Thats only for the inspection by the way. COA is then issued by PC from somewhere else and takes at least a couple of weeks usually.

[geoffw]

Aug 2, 2013 14:52:57 GMT 1 twist65 said:

I imagine its just a case of they haven't renewed the lease, and kept the place open whilst they were still paying rent on it. Prob would have closed it sooner if that wasn't the case. Always seemed a bit pointless to me anyway, since any release of any worth would sell out in milliseconds online and they didn't really use it as a gallery space, so whats the point in having an expensive retail space? Total guess and ill-informed speculation on my part though!

The basement was the screenprinters and storage too so everything was on site. At peak times when they were working on multiple prints (even small runs) with multiple layers you need space for the drying racks and storage for the old screens.

Then factor in all their print stock that was also stored there and you could soon fill the place up.

[twist65]

ah fair do's then geoff, never been so didn't realise they printed on site, thought it was just a shop/gallery!

Wonder where that lots moving to then? If they fancy moving up north I can make a bit of room in our place, rent payable in APs, much cheaper than London rates.. =]