London’s West End galleries mark the peak of the October art season with the autumn edition of the West End Gallery HOP! on Thursday 14 October.
Over 60 galleries across Mayfair, St James’s, Soho, Fitzrovia, and Marylebone will be opening until 8pm for visitors to ‘hop’ from gallery to gallery during the evening.
Art of London is delighted to work in collaboration with Mayfair Art Weekend to present this West End Gallery HOP! Galleries will be welcoming visitors outside of their regular opening hours. There will be a series of self-guided curated trails and guided tours of the HOP! to encourage visitors and collectors to see as many galleries and as much art as possible.
For a full list and map of participating galleries please click here. To give a flavour of the variety of prestigious galleries taking part in The Hop!, we have picked a few to highlight:
Daniel Raphael, Gommie: Poems on Things, 13 October — 6 November, Tues — Sat 11am — 5pm. This is the first solo exhibition of new works by British-born poet artist, Gommie. It includes large scale maps and debuts a collection of twenty smaller illustrated poems that present a more complex approach to documenting politics, environmental and societal issues, public opinion and emotion.
Workplace, Simeon Barclay: England’s Lost Camelot, 10 September – 29 October. The exhibition takes as its starting point the legacy of the gallant knight, examining the persistence of its associated iconography in British folklore and its lasting influence in the construction of still prevalent ideas of masculinity. Combining research of this medieval legend with reference to popular culture and his personal biography, Barclay explores the contestation, and strategic negotiation of cultural narratives that influence our behaviour and conformity to archetypes.
Amanda Wilkinson, Joan Jonas Fawn Grove, 17 September — 14 October, Mon — Fri 11am — 6pm. This exhibition was inspired by a short text by Joan Jonas, ‘Fawn Grove’, originally published in an issue of the magazine Art-Rite in 1974. The text recounts a walk that Jonas took through the countryside with her dog Sappho. The content, structure and rhythm of the text reflect numerous elements that have recurred in Jonas’s work over a long career: the notion of a journey, circular movement, mirroring, our relationship to animals and nature and the artist’s abiding interest in poetry and literature.
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, William Tillyer: Mulgrave Tensile Wire Works and Mulgrave Tensile Wire Scrolls, 7 October — 11 November , Mon — Fri 10am — 6pm In the Mulgrave Tensile Wire Works, William Tillyer has probably produced the most radical paintings of his career. Stainless steel wires strung across a metal frame and held in tension by turnbuckles, support geometrically shaped areas of metal mesh, woven through with paint reflecting the colours of the North Yorkshire landscape, in which the artist has lived for most of his life. While evoking the landscape, the arrangements of the mesh shapes owe much to the Suprematists and Constructivists of the early 20th Century, El Lissitzky and Malevich, Rodchenko and Gabo and even to Kandinsky.
White Cube, Mason’s Yard, Theaster Gates, 17 September — 30 October, Tues — Sat. ‘Oh, The Wind Oh, The Wind’ is an exhibition of new works by Theaster Gates. Forming part of a multi-venue presentation in London dedicated to Gates’ involvement with clay, it coincides with ‘A Clay Sermon’ at Whitechapel Gallery and a two-year-long research project and intervention with the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection.
Mark Williams, Director of Art of London, says: “Art of London is a celebration of public art, in some of the world’s most famous locations, and so we are proud to partner with Mayfair Art Weekend for this exciting activity. A lot people may feel like art is not for them or they don’t understand it and are too nervous to go into a particular institution because of certain stereotypes. We hope that both those new to these galleries and seasoned art-lovers alike will take the opportunity to explore come October 14th.”
About Art of London:
Created by Heart of London Business Alliance, in partnership with some of the UK’s leading cultural institutions, Art of London is a major new consumer arts initiative, championing the cultural sector, celebrating art in every form and showcasing the vital role culture plays in society. Visit artoflondon.co.uk for more information.
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Photo: Installation view, ‘Theaster Gates – Oh The Wind Oh The Wind’, White Cube Mason’s Yard, 17 September – 30 October 2021. © Theaster Gates. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick)