Having built a steady presence with a recent surge in commercial and not-for-profit galleries relocating or setting up centrally, London’s EC1 and WC1 areas welcome back London Gallery Day for its second year. With 24 contemporary art venues taking part, the programme offers visitors an opportunity to explore and discover new spaces, and many venues are hosting special events including performances, talks, film screenings and book launches.
London Gallery Day launches on Friday evening (6-8pm) with a series of previews at selected venues. domobaal, one of the event’s organisers, will open its latest exhibition Rachel Adams: Long Reach, and there are also preview events at Hollybush Gardens, exhibiting Bruno Pacheco: Sunshine and Sentiment, and Arcade, showing Alessandra Spranzi and Luca Bertolo. Dairy Art Centre will host Julian Schnabel in conversation with Hans-Ulrich Obrist to celebrate the launch of Schnabel’s exhibition, Every Angel has a Dark Side (free but ticketed).
On Saturday, all participating venues will operate extended opening hours from 12-8pm. Special events include a talk on artist books with Jeremy Evans, Catrin Morgan and Kasper Pincis at Dalla Rosa Gallery, an artist talk at Fold Gallery London with Simon Callery and Onya McCausland in support of the exhibition Enantiodromia, and a book launch for Made by Hand: Contemporary Makers, Traditional Practices at Work gallery. The evening sees Senate House host a series of readings and performances convened by Sami Jalili and Sharon Kivland, with Mura Ghosh (ticketed event: £10).
Speaking about London Gallery Day, gallerist Domo Baal said: “There’s very much an east-west divide in London, but there’s also a lot going on in the centre that is often overlooked. There’s no cluster, no galleries on the same street, so London Gallery Day is as much about content as it is geography. The idea is loosely based on the Gallery Weekend Berlin model… we don’t have a selection process and the galleries don’t adhere to a particular style of work either, so we seek to be as inclusive as possible.”
Participating galleries also include: Ancient and Modern, Breese Little, Cabinet, Carlslaw St*Lukes, Charlie Smith London, Contemporary Art Society, Cubitt Gallery, Eagle Gallery, Gagosian, Maria Stenfors, Marsden Woo Gallery, Modern Art, Parasol Unit, Rokeby, Tintype, Victoria Miro, Work. Special guests for 2014 are Senate House and WW Gallery.
London Gallery Day 2014, 25 April (6-8pm) and 26 April (12-8pm), londongalleryday.com
