The best way to check out amazing art for free is independent art galleries in London (or anywhere for that matter). But today it is all about London!
I went there for an art fair, (article on its way as we speak) but I wanted to take this opportunity to discover new free art places in the city. And boy was I right to do so… I went to 3 awesome and exciting places I did not know about. Of course I made sure to add them to my custom Google map! Get the link for it at the end of the post.
As an independent foundation their goal is to develop artistic exchange and support artists in their creative practice. Their mean for that is to host residencies, organize partnership and present exhibitions to the public.
What I find is really interesting with their work is that they support under-represented practices and practitioners. So they provide a platform to the underdogs, to professionals who are in need of a better representation of their work. If you go there, there’s a strong chance you will see things you probably won’t have seen elsewhere.
For instance I their exhibition Asunción Molinos Gordo: Accumulation by Dispossession which is tackling the inequalities in the global food system.
Such an interesting, spot-on subject, on which we need more attention drawn. Through it I learned terms I had no idea of before, such as economic Dumpling. I was frightned by my own ignorance on the matter and realised how little there is educational resource and how much we lack in information on this in the media.
One word: eye-opening.
Where to stay : I stayed in a nice hostel near Hyde Park called Astor Hyde Park with a gorgeous lounge space you can check it out here. They have all the services you need and free diners a few evening of the week!
Where to eat : If you are on the go and need a sanwdich a Tesco is always around the corner. There are supermarket open late. Now if you have a little more time, let’s say for a scone and a coffee (who doesn’t for that) try one of the locations of Gail’s Bakery. Cute, good and cheap. What’s not to love?
Well you might be familiar with the Drawing Center in NYC, it is kind of the same idea and it is the only one in Europe!
This is a public, non-profit gallery dedicated to contemporary drawing. So they support all professionals connected to this awesome medium. (one of my favorite). And now they even organize the Drawing Biennial!
There I saw such an amazing exhibition, titled Modern Nature the show “explores our interaction and fascination with plants in relation to aspects of social change, personal well-being and scientific research.”
The title came from film director and artist Derek Jarman’s diary. When he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986 he started a garden and kept a daily diary on his action in the garden. This was a metaphorical way to reconnect with the idea of life itself and also to develop a nurturing activity. The whole exhibition feels like that story, peaceful, nurturing, making you question yourself and your own relation to plants and their meaning to you. I can’t wait for the catalog to be available!
One word: journey.
“The Mosaïc Rooms is a non-profit art gallery dedicated to supporting and promoting contemporary culture from the Arab world and beyond in London.”
They present free contemporary art exhibtions and many multidiscipinlary events. We have places like that in Paris dedicated to showing contemporary production of a specific culture and I am always interested to discover more. I think it is a beautiful way to discover another culture when you are not travelling. This will be the subject of an upcoming post for the ones in Paris!
Back to Mosaïc Rooms, there I discovered the work of an important artist in art history of this region: Mohamed Melehi.
He was an abstract painter, very well-known, he created modern artworks inspired by the traditional popular Moroccan craft as well as painters of the 1960’s. He also became a teacher at Casablanca art school and inspired many students. While developing his career he was also involved in graphic design and political causes, which got him to create for avant-garde cultural journals in the 60’s and 70’s.
It is very interesting to learn about such an important, historical artist and to see the context of his creation. Of course it makes you try to think of what was going on in your own country and the rest of the world, not only artistically speaking but also historically.
One word: history.
Here are a few pictures of my daily outings in the City. I was so happy to be back after a few months.
Going there is so easy from Paris! I took a flixbus and since there are electric outlets and Wifi I was able to work on the bus, those few hours just flew by. The round-trip and hostel cost me only 120€ !!
I know this can be expensive for some people but sometimes it is just as simple as this: do you really need these new shoes or do you want to spend 4 days in London?
Make sure you check out my updated free Google Map of London!
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