This is how it happened: two young artists, working together and sharing a studio, felt their space had more potential. They felt there were things not being shown in their city and wanted to offer a platform to emerging artists. As simple and as elegantly as that, they started their own space. The artists Sam Levack and Jen Lewandowski established French Riviera in London in 2011 in an old shop on Bethnal Green Road that doubles as their studio. Small, independent artist-run spaces are indispensable for any vibrant, open and flexible art climate. Less rigid and worn down by tradition, history and commercial expectations, they are quick on their feet and, in the owrds of Michel De Certeau, sly as a fox. The quality of a city’s art scene can be measured by its independent spaces. As Levack and Lewandowski put it: “what we are really doing is nurturing a community, bringing people together and creating something that can help develop artist’s careers and also have a lot of fun along the way. It’s all about experimentation!”