The inaugural edition of London Gallery Weekend, a new initiative celebrating art galleries in the UK capital, launches Friday, 4 June 2021. The event runs over three days and features 139 galleries from across the city, beginning with a focus on Central London on Friday, followed by South London on Saturday and culminating on Sunday with galleries in the East End. All participating galleries will be open across the three days, and until 8pm on their respective focus days.
A grassroots initiative developed to harness the energy of the London gallery scene
The London Gallery Weekend website is now live and includes a new interactive map feature, enabling users to plot their individual route around the city based on their gallery and exhibition preferences. From 3pm today users will also be able to download a series of specially curated routes by leading art world figures including Nicholas Cullinan, Aindrea Emelife and Sarah McCrory.
Over the course of London Gallery Weekend, participating galleries will stage a public programme of events featuring artists and curators, including exhibition tours, studio visits, book signings and children’s events, late openings and performances. L’Épicerie at Claridge’s will serve complimentary coffee and pastries to London Gallery Weekend visitors from 10am-12pm daily.
On Friday, highlights of the programme are to set to include a rare capsule performance of two characters from Jean Dubuffet’s Coucou Bazar outside the entrance of Pace Gallery in Burlington Gardens. Meanwhile, at Thaddaeus Ropac there will be a talk with artist Alvaro Barrington reflecting on the current exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Night Shades and Phantoms, and on how Rauschenberg has influenced his own artistic practice.
Saturday will see a series of performances by artist Tom Lovelace inside his installation, Bathers,at Sid Motion Gallery, and a conversation with curator Kiki Mazzucchelli to launch The Women’s Century – Female Perspectives in Brazilian Art at Cecilia Brunson Projects.
On Sunday, South African artist Mary Hurrell will stage an audio performance at Nicoletti responding to their exhibition by Hugo Servanin, and artist Claire Hooper will lead a walkthrough of her exhibition at Hollybush Gardens.
A grassroots initiative developed to harness the energy of the London gallery scene, London Gallery Weekend emerged as an idea over lockdown in London, during which time new connections were forged online between art dealers and gallerists united by common challenges presented by the pandemic. London Gallery Weekend is run by committees combining gallery representatives from east, central and south London, each bringing individual strengths in VIP relations, communications, finance and operations to benefit the wider network of the gallery landscape
Further details about the public programme can be found online here.
London Gallery Weekend, 4–6 June 2021