OOF Gallery, Warmington House, 744 High Road, London, N17.
oofgallery.com Instagram: oof_gallery
OOF is one of London’s less orthodox spaces. First, for the location, into which it moved in 2021 after three years of pop-ups elsewhere: a Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse in the grounds of Tottenham Hotspur’s football stadium – you reach it via the extensive club shop. Second, for the associated magazine OOF, published twice a year since 2018. And third, for being ‘the world’s first cutting-edge art space dedicated to football and the culture that surrounds it’. All of which leads to an unusual audience: football fans who wander in curiously, and art lovers who visit more deliberately – which I recommend, as what you’ll find what’s shown is by no means as narrow as it might sound. Football here is the setting for art that explores social, political and aesthetic issues.
OOF is run by Eddy Frankel (better known as Time Out’s art critic) and Jennie and Justin Hammond (who used to run their own gallery in Archway). Currently, you can find all sorts of artistic angles on the football shirt: designs inspired by artists, such as Walthamstow FC’s William Morris shirt, Rachel Maclean’s take on the Celtic-Rangers rivalry, and Jonathan Monk’s critique of the worldwide spread of football marketing. A whole room is dedicated to ‘Post Match’, Leo Fitzmaurice’s classic of the genre. As described in a typically informative label, his origami cigarette packet shirts are
‘about capitalism, sponsorship, symbolism, self-destruction, advertising, aesthetics and getting the badge in when the badge just wants your money, and doesn’t care if you get cancer in the process.’
London’s gallery scene is varied, from small artist-run spaces to major institutions and everything in between. Each week, art writer and curator Paul Carey-Kent gives a personal view of a space worth visiting.
