An art gallery within a town house that is not stuffy or pretentious. Sign us up.
8 Holland Street is a contemporary art space where everything is for sale and you can actually test out everything; furniture, art, rugs, vases the lot.
The gallery in Bath is both a guesthouse and a museum, speaks to my aesthete heart and dream to be buried in art… I mean sleep but you know what I mean.
In the Mayfair salon are two exhibitions that piqued my interest and you should visit if you are in London for the summer as they are there for the duration of the season so it’s all very win, win. This also happens to be one of London’s most charming corners.
SIBLINGS: Catrina Riccabona, Siblings, an exhibition of handcrafted paper yarn tapestries which is both in honour of her self-healing journey and the relationship between her own siblings. The pieces in the collection are tapestries made up of correlating panels. Exploring structural effects of knots and floats. Riccabona builds a connection and plays on the stories of life between siblings, that intricate relationship of togetherness and an ache for difference, to stand out whilst being united. Using Sateen, a weave technique that produces a smooth pattern atop the fabric in these blocks that are present in the weave, it recalls the rough and smooth of any intricate relationship and how simpatico they are. The smoothness itself is a metaphor for relationships between siblings, between family, or any loved ones really; the rough with the smooth and how we make it work. The rough terrains and how we make our way around them so it could very well apply to life as a whole. This is the story she tries to tell and an exhibition worthy of your time. Especially in this part of London.
IL DOLCE FAR NIENTE: Just in time for the summer photographer Lucy Laucht’s pictures are on display at the gallery alongside, new to me artist Caroline Popham in a complimentary exhibition that tells the story of the world in one of our most vulnerable moments. I have always loved Laucht’s work and how she captures Italy and the languidness of its summers, the togetherness and the cohesion of doing nothing whilst rather blissfully being at peace with life in these quietest of moments. Whether it is laying by the beach or hanging on a boat, there is a charm to her images, the stories it tells of togetherness and summers to remember. Italian summers are idyllic and enchanting, full of life with a lean on family and much muchness. Laucht captures these moments so effervescently.
And then there’s Popham’s work in compliment to Laucht’s life in the abstract but never less poetic. Unseen Places is a collection of Papercut collages that explores shapes from memory. She framed the work during the pandemic, when “travel was limited and adventures had to happen in the mind.” At least I think it was during that time… gosh the pandemic; what a time to be alive. We lived through that. Popham pulls from memories of past travels, shapes that form an indelible part of memory, memories that became essential to keep our wandering minds at ease as the world outside of our walls battled with unrest from elements we could not see. Her work captures a renewed hope in the way we chose to explore the world when we were allowed to explore the world again to revisit those old places and see new shapes take form. We ached for the world outside and moved the shapes into place in our minds, as we tried to hold on to it. A feeling most of us can relate to. We celebrated the world as once knew her but looked for to exploring her newness; new colour palettes and the new relationships they encourage, the way in which we can see the world in its minutest, but full of memories too.
Three exhibitions in one absolutely charming space, must see.