Artefacts

New galleries proliferate. From May, the unlikely location of Eastleigh, Hampshire, will boast 'the largest commercial gallery in southern England'. Michael Gaca, director of the Beatrice Royal Art Gallery, is still looking for artists to fill his huge space, but has already divided art into 12 types. Most are self-explanatory (interiors, abstract), but it will be interesting to see what turns up in the room labelled 'Art of the Unexpected'. Any artist keen to exhibit should call 0703 610592.

At the other end of the country and with a very different approach to selling art, Anne-Marie Culhane and Trudi Gibson have just opened Out of the Blue, a new gallery at 25 Blackfriars Street, Edinburgh, which 'aims to challenge the existing gallery structure' through 'increased enjoyment and ease of access to contemporary artwork'. The gallery's avowed aim is to promote 'an interaction between the artists and the viewing public'. It remains to be seen whether the traditionally reticent citizens of Edinburgh will rise to this challenge.

Perhaps they would be easier with the anonymity of the 'fast-food' approach to buying art currently championed by the Centre 181 Gallery in King Street, London, where artist Phillipe Bradshaw's 'boxed multiples' can be had via a vending machine, the first of a number to be installed in galleries around the country. Change for a tenner, anyone?