Ocula's Ultimate London Gallery Weekend Guide
'E Pellicci's was the spot,' Rory Mitchell recalls, reminiscing about his time working the reception desk at Maureen Paley in his not-too-distant youth.
A proper 'greasy spoon' caff, the time warp that is E Pellicci—run by the sibling duo Anna and Nev Pellicci—has been serving fry-ups, lasagne, beer, and even limoncello to East Enders (the Kray twins breakfasted there almost daily in the 1950s and 60s) and other hungry E2 walk-ins at all hours of the day for 123 years.
A can of Coca-Cola or a triple-scoop ice-cream milkshake was Rory's order on the hoof. On high days and holidays it was 'The Classic Set' (Cumberland sausage, egg, two rashers of bacon, mushrooms, beans and tomatoes, and fried bread/toast). While toward the end of the month, it was the humble ham and cheese toastie.
It's at this East London café, just along from Bethnal Green Underground, that Ocula Advisory's London Gallery Weekend tour begins (31 May–2 June 2024).
East London
Shutters up at 10am calls for a visit to Hannah Starkey's exhibition of carefully choreographed photographs at Maureen Paley, while on Three Colts Lane, a drop-in to her neighbours is worthwhile: Mother's Tankstation showing Matt Bollinger; Project Native Informant with Antonia Kuo, Kathryn Kerr, and Leslie Martinez; and Herald St presenting the burnt linen-and-birch panels and sculptures of Cole Lu.
Blinded by the recent scorcher of a weekend, we're saddling up and cycling through the backstreets of Bethnal Green due west to Shoreditch High Street. Our first pit stop is Emalin to see Adriano Costa's first solo exhibition with the gallery at their fantastic space (the oldest building in Shoreditch, in fact)—all sculpture—and Renee So at Kate MacGarry.
The East London leg wouldn't be complete without a short detour to Modern Art on Helmet Row (the other side of Old Street) to see Richard Aldrich's solo show of comely new paintings. The show continues at their Bury Street gallery in St. James's too. With the recent announcement of Joseph Yaeger's representation—the latest in a run of outstanding talents including Justin Caguiat, Andrew Cranston, and Mohammed Sami—Stuart Shave proves that his programme really is one of London's leading for contemporary painting.
The hunger is kicking in now. Pre-book Margot Henderson's Rochelle Canteen for a sunshine lunch in the backstreets of Shoreditch. Sadie Coles is a fan, but more on her later.
Alternatively, if you want to get one step ahead, move on south to 40 Maltby Street off Bermondsey High Street—open for lunch on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with a chalkboard menu that changes weekly (check Instagram). We suggest getting there close to midday as there's no chance to book. Borough Market is another option for those wanting something quick, and if you have the patience for the weekend crowds!
South London
Along Bermondsey's main strip, head to Georg Baselitz's upside-down paintings at White Cube—Simon Fisher came back raving. Cecilia Brunson Projects on the adjacent street would be my nomination, with a viewing room exhibition of paintings and works on paper by the late German-born Brazilian artist Eleonore Koch.
Expect to see never-before-exhibited works, produced off the back of Koch's time living in London. Elegantly unfussy, they're magical compositions that harness the power of the quotidian. With a major retrospective currently showing at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Universidade de São Paulo, this exhibition I'm sure is the next best thing.
VITRINE and Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery are just around the corner, and a good round-off to the South London leg if you can't quite get down to Peckham or Deptford. For those with the stamina, look out for gallerist Sid Motion's curated tour of South London galleries soon to be published on Ocula.
The upside to staying in Bermondsey is its proximity to London Bridge City Pier, the waterside departure of the third leg of the weekend journey: an Uber Boat to Millbank Millennium Pier, home to Tate Britain and currently Sargent and Fashion which had everyone at Ocula humming.
This goes every 20 minutes and will set you back £8.60. However, with the wind in your hair, and a 75cl bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (£26.50) (full menu here) in your veins, zooming past Shakespeare's Globe, Tate Modern, and Somerset House along the Thames could just be the best viewing experience of the weekend.
If you're more partial to a 18.7cl bottle (£7.00), suggest getting off a stop earlier (Embankment Pier) and heading on foot (23 minutes) past Trafalgar Square and Rolex UK Head Office up to Mayfair, to commence the afternoon's festivities. If you do make it to Tate Britain, then it's more of a 30 minute amble.
Central London
To break up the journey, dip into Danica Lundy's panoptical visions of human life at White Cube before crossing Piccadilly's thoroughfare for the final stretch.
In Mayfair, Sadie Coles HQ hosts Georgia Gardner Gray's paintings of cobrador del frac or Spain's 'frock-coated debt collector' on Davies Street (Matthew Barney at the Kingly Street gallery too). There's also the debut of the Royal College of Art painting graduate Hettie Inniss at GRIMM, while a revival of Isa Genzken's expansive installation, Wasserspeier and Angels (2004), takes over Hauser & Wirth.
If your legs (or wheels) can carry you to Fitzrovia, Yi To at Alice Amati, Gurminder Sikand at Maximillian William, and Suyi Xu at MAMOTH will all be worth the walk and talk. Also back in Soho, Leonardo Devito at The Artist Room.
If it's not 6 o'clock by now, it will be somewhere. Time for a pint (and scotch egg) at The Burlington Arms around the back of the Royal Academy, or a drink at Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst's old haunt, The French House.
Thai restaurants Speedboat Bar on Rupert Street or KILN on Brewer Street are Eva Fuchs' shouts in central—don't forget to book. But I have to be loyal to my guys at Shepherd Market's favourite Turkish, Fez Mangal. Say my name on the door and they may even give you a Coca-Cola on the house.
