Peer Sessions is a London-based nomadic crit group founded in 2009 by artists and educators Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas after graduating from the Goldsmiths Masters in Fine Art programme. Drawing on Visual Thinking Strategies, we have shaped our own unique approach to facilitating inclusive and supportive crit sessions for contemporary artists. We aim to generate constructive feedback and engage with current concerns in art and society. There is no restriction on media, and to date we have discussed live performance, video, workshops and publication projects in addition to sculpture, painting and installation. We have held more than 110 sessions and given feedback to over 170 artists.
We are currently hosted by Chisenhale Gallery (London) and ArtQuest (London). We have also met in numerous artists studios and been previously hosted by Cass Arts (London), Channel Sundays (Hamburg), South Kiosk (London), Studio Voltaire Associates' programme (London), Enclave (London), ASC Gallery (London), Focal Point Gallery (Southend-on-Sea) and Banner Repeater (London). Additionally, we have presented the work of Peer Sessions at Goldsmiths College, the University of Portsmouth and University of the Arts, London. Alongside our crits, we run collaborative projects consisting of residencies, workshops and exhibitions. For our 2017 project ‘Future Refrains,’ funded by Arts Council England and a Kickstarter campaign, we paired selected Peer Sessions members with recent MFA graduates and commissioned them to collaborate in producing new time-based work for inclusion in an exhibition at ASC Gallery (Bermondsey). Acclaimed artists Adam Chodzko, Lindsay Seers and Hayley Newman participated in the project through guest moderating a Peer Session and participating in the exhibition and events at ASC Gallery. Our project Who Thinks the Future?, was awarded Arts Council funding and utilised our discursive workshop format to develop an exhibition at Lewisham ArtHouse. The exhibition was selected for Deptford X and ArtLicks Weekend Festival 2014, and was shortlisted for the Workweek Prize, awarded to the most critical, risk taking projects. For further information see:
