Domo Baal, a founder of London Gallery Day, says she decided to join ranks with her WC1 and EC1 chums after hearing the question ‘are you an East End or a West End gallery?’ one too many times. Strictly speaking, the answer is ‘neither’. But London’s often overlooked central zone – around Bloomsbury, King’s Cross and Clerkenwell – is home to 25 galleries. Baal’s Georgian townhouse is perhaps the most beautiful space of the lot. On Friday April 25, the gallery launches a show by Rachel Adams ( ‘Long Reach’, pictured). Saturday April 26 sees installations and happenings in the building’s former coal cellar.
3 John St, WC1N 2ES. www.domobaal.com
Pyjama-clad colossus of painting and film, Julian Schnabel (‘Grotto', 2013, pictured) is showing vast canvases at this former Express Dairies depot in Bloomsbury. He’s giving a free talk on Friday April 25, but you’ll need to book in advance.
7a Wakefield St, WC1N 1PG. www.dairyartcentre.org.uk
The poetic decrepitude of forgotten US corners comes to King’s Cross courtesy of photographer Phil Bergerson’s ‘American Artifacts’ (‘Le Mars, Iowa’, 2007, pictured). This independent space is also home to the Paperwork bookshop, which is offering a 40 percent discount on its art and design titles.
10a Acton St, WC1X 9NG. www.workgallery.co.uk
Galleries don’t come bigger than Gagosian, which is handy when your roster of artists includes heavyweights such as Giuseppe Penone. The Italian fills the gallery with leather, marble and every art connoisseur’s favourite substance – gold.
6-24 Britannia St, WC1X 9JD. www.gagosian.com
Painting is off the wall in this smart Clerkenwell gallery. Don’t be put off by the title, ‘Enantiodromia’, which refers to a Jungian theory of opposites: there’s plenty of engaging art to enjoy, including Angela de la Cruz’s knockabout canvas constructions.
15 Clerkenwell Close, EC1R 0AA. www.foldgallery.com
This Whitecross Street stalwart never lets a lack of space hamper its ambition. Recent exhibitions have filled this sliver of a gallery with sand and blocked your path with a pinball machine. Currently on show are Salome Ghazanfari’s raggedly urban photos (pictured).
201 Whitecross St, EC1Y 8QP. www.ancientandmodern.org
Another small space with big ideas, Breese Little holds regular talks in collaboration with the LSE. Freshly installed are sculptures, paintings and prints (pictured) from Cuban artist Elio Rodríguez’s fictitious business, Macho Enterprise.
30b Great Sutton St, EC1V 0DU. www.breeselittle.com
If you want to predict where the London art world is headed, tap Stuart Shave’s telephone calls to his estate agent. Having set up shop in Shoreditch and Vyner Street in the 1990s and Fitzrovia in the noughties, Shave’s arrival in this quiet Old Street square means others are certain to follow. The gallery opens on Friday with work by Eva Rothschild (pictured), whose sculptures should bring angular elegance to the most eagerly anticipated launch of 2014.
4-8 Helmet Row, EC1V 3QJ. www.modernart.net
London Gallery Day: what to look out for
On April 25 and 26, galleries in WC1 and EC1 will stay open late and hold special events for London Gallery Day. We make our pick across the two postcodes to help you get started
Our pick of WC1 galleries taking part in London Gallery Day
One of London's hottest contemporary art galleries, visitors flock to this vast space, part of US super-dealer Larry Gagosian's ever-expanding empire. Located off the usual gallery circuit in King's Cross, it attracts a select crowd of art buffs, students and the odd scenester. The layout is very visitor-friendly with one main room and two smaller ones. Despite its small size Gagosian has hosted shows by seriously big names such as Howard Hodgkin and Francesco Clemente, plus a second tier of fashionable US and European artists including Carsten Höller and Cecily Brown. There's another branch at 17-19 Davies Street, Mayfair, W1K 3DE (7493 3020).
Our pick of EC1 galleries taking part in London Gallery Day
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