Although the name of a new gallery opening on the site of the old Windjammer Gallery on Reid Street may be ?Interim?, the plan is to make it a permanent venue to nurture both artists and their audience.

Interim hosted its first exhibition opening on Friday, intended as the first of many for budding artists to learn, gather experience and eventually exhibit themselves.

?The concept of the Interim space is to integrate art and education under one roof,? said gallery director, Kendra Ezekiel. ?The Kaleidoscope Art classes houses the majority of the building alongside two smaller rooms which have been set aside for solo and small group exhibitions.?

Ms Ezekiel said exhibiting opportunities for local artists suffered quite a blow in recent months with the closure of three galleries in Hamilton.

?The Interim space aims to help fill this void,? she said.

?The underlying imperative of the work to be shown in the space is to display a level of experiment and growth, regardless of the artists? stature. Also a unique feature of the space is that the exhibiting artists are required to be on site every Saturday to meet and chat with the public,? Ms Ezekeil explained.

?The Kaleidoscope students will also have the added benefit of being exposed to the artists and artwork currently being produced in Bermuda.?

Photographers James Cooper and Meredith Andrews were the first two artists invited to exhibit in the new space. Their show opened on Friday.

Ms Andrews, a photographer for said the work she does for the paper bears little resemblance to the exhibition.

?My job and my work are two very different things. Working as a photojournalist requires you to illustrate the facts. As an artist my message can be more conceptual and imaginative.?

Ms Andrews? show features a series of portraits taken on Brick Lane, a well known street in the East End of London.

?The street has a fascinating and multicultural history which is reflected in the images. The impression I hope the viewer gains is that of walking down Brick Lane itself,? she said.

Ms Andrews who lived and worked in the area, said it was the experience of being there that inspired her to shoot the series. She did the work with a Hassleblad camera on transparency film, and printed the images digitally on matte paper.

James Cooper has also used the digital medium for the work in his exhibit and the pieces are big.

?My half of the show features fairly large 35 inch by 20 inch digital prints. Each is a staged scene of a single person in a landscape,? he said.

?I have a series with people lying down in non-typical places,? he said. ?They have a voyeuristic quality that is interesting and a bit disturbing, as if you are seeing something perhaps you shouldn?t.?

Mr. Cooper explained that ?the actual experience? he photographs is important to him.

?In this case just lying on the ground is so primal, so basic, so animal-like that it is a positive experience for the subject and also for the viewer to witness, yet it also seems somehow rebellious and anarchistic, which is pleasing,? he said.

Not content to simply capture a true slice of life, Mr. Cooper directs his work, but not completely. ?I like to collaborate with the people I photograph, it is enjoyable to be there for both of us, which is important to me. I like the temporary aspect of it.?

Describing the photograph of a girl in rock-cut with green arrows Mr. Cooper said: ?It satisfies me on several levels. I like the scarred, man-made landscape.

?There is a basic beauty in that hole, I gave the girl a can of spray paint and she made these wonderful arrows and then posed like a queen. It made me smile.?

?I am also interested in commenting on photography itself and the arrows reinforce this ?look at me? aspect of pictures in a pleasing way. So you can see, perhaps, I try to create pictures that are simple but not simplistic.?

Shows at the Interim gallery run for up to four weeks. The installations of James Cooper and Meredith Andrews closes on April 18.