In May last year The Times proclaimed the east end to be ‘London’s new Bohemia’. With galleries relentlessly sprouting up from Shoreditch to Bethnal Green, and the constant opening of new trendy bars and restaurants to cater for their young and artistic clientele, it seemed that the west end had finally had its day. Yet, as the fickle nature of fashion goes, the newly gentrified east is rapidly losing its cutting edge image and gallery owners are increasingly being lured back by the traditional charms of the west.
There have been a slew of new gallery openings in the west end in recent months. White Cube was one of the pioneers of this movement, opening a new venue, White Cube Mason’s Yard, round the corner from its original site in Green Park in September last year. Although its Hoxton Square venue still exists, it is somewhat overshadowed by this newer and far larger sister venue which has so far played host to high profile exhibitions from the likes of Gabriel Orozco.
Private collector David Roberts opened his gallery OneOneOne earlier this year. Situated minutes away from Oxford Street the consumer hub of the west end, the gallery is not only showcasing his impressive collection which includes work by the likes of Antony Gormley but also acting as a platform for young artists. Roberts is keen to stress this inventive side to his project, stating ‘As a collector it is important to me to encourage good, new talent to flourish’.
Meanwhile a bit further north, but still very much west, in Camden, the glamorous art collector Anita Zabludowicz opened Projectspace176 in September. Housed in a converted grade II listed 19th Century chapel, it provides not only an exhibition space but a resource room where arts research can be carried out. The inaugural exhibition ‘An Archaeology’ features the work of 38 artists from Zabludowicz’s own collection exhibiting pieces from artists such as Tim Noble and Sue Webster and Sarah Lucas. In tandem with the opening of the gallery Zabludowicz is running an offsite exhibition at the Baltic in Gateshead.
The move west continues with Mummery and Schenelle’s gallery on Great Titchfield Street opening this month and the Approach W1, sister venue to the Bethnal Green’s Approach E2, launching an exhibition by John Stezaker
Most of these new galleries are keen to assert the importance that innovation holds for them, stressing their desire to nurture ‘emerging artists and curators’. They are clearly aware that there is still a bit of work to be done to rid the west of its staid image. It may be a long while yet before the skinny jeaned and edgily bouffanted brigade of trendies leave the refuge of Shoreditch to hit the streets of Tottenham Court Road to see the latest exhibition, but maybe London could do with a little bit less cool and a little bit more quality art anyway.
