Every year, galleries across London host galleries from across Britain and abroad for a month of collaborative exhibition making. Condo kicks off the 2025 art calendar with 49 galleries presenting more than 70 artists across 22 spaces. It’s both an exciting snapshot of what is happening in contemporary art across the globe and an annual reminder of the interplay of art and urban regeneration back home.
Make sure to wear comfortable shoes, especially when attempting to cover the entire map in one weekend. Uber may be tempting but exploring the changing face of London and the galleries’ architectural history can be as exciting as the art itself. Condo covers a whole range of former industrial and domestic spaces; some rough and ready, others elaborately restored; some easily spotted, others hidden behind discreet doors; up and down lots of staircases.
The route to most galleries leads past any number of food outlets along the way, from cafes and street food vendors, queues for food banks and bicycle couriers waiting outside dark kitchens. There seemed to be a surprising number of works referencing food and consumption, some figuratively, others less obvious. But maybe all the references along the way set the tone just as the smell of Smithfield Market seems to linger, even on a Sunday.
Some highlights, in no particular order:
Brunette Coleman hosting Francis Irv, New York
The perfect setting and curation of Rachel Fäth’s compressed steel sculptures and Zazou Roddam’s installations of salvaged materials to evoke memories of 80s New York lofts.
Emalin hosting Antenna Space, Shanghai
Top marks for ambience, you hear Peng Zuqiang’s video installations before you see them. A vintage projector takes centre stage. This ties in well with the memories linked to pieces of technology beyond their physical capture.
Maureen Paley hosting Air de Paris, Paris
Beautiful pairing of Wolfgang Tilmans’ exploding photocopier opposite Pati Hill’s xerographs of domestic life, somehow making perfect sense displayed at a former school.
Public Gallery hosting The Breeder, Athens
Probably the single most captivating work of art this year, Kyriaki Goni’s video stopped me in my tracks. Not Allowed for Algorithmic Audiences presents an AI generated virtual assistant’s warnings to humanity ahead of ending up in an e-waste dump.
Hot Wheels Athens London hosting Empty Gallery, Hong Kong
In Xper Xr’s piece you can only imagine the sound – of punching in for work, or the old organ playing pattern – a retro algorave for the mind.
Carlos/Ishikawa hosting Jason Haam, Seoul
Two delicious examples of food paintings under one roof with Moka Lee and Mike Lee.
Phillida Reid hosting Ehrlich Steinberg, Los Angeles
Another video installation that grabbed my attention, and not only because there were more references to food and drink. The presentation of a video within a larger projection by Lea Cetera made the scene of two gallery technicians come alive.
Sylvia Kouvali hosting Marfa’ Projects, Beirut
One of my favourite presentations with works curated in keeping with its surroundings and in dialogue with each other. Vartan Avakian’s impressions on books as symbols of history are presented on tiled walls reminding of the space’s own past. They face a selection of paintings by Caline Aoun towards a book on the fall of the Ottoman Empire, famine and colonialism in Palestine.
Arcadia Missa hosting Veda, Florence
The duo presentation of works by Lewis Hammond and Dominique White continues on from recent institutional shows at The Perimeter and Whitechapel Gallery, respectively.
Sadie Coles HQ hosting Jahmek Contemporary Art, Luanda
Make sure to allow plenty of time for four presentations at Sadie Coles HQ in Soho, including two strong women solos with Sandra Poulson and Klara Liden.
The Sunday Painter hosting Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala
Both shows on the upper and lower floors are strong, but the installation by GCAG Ferreira Da Silva downstairs steals the show. Everyday household items are presented as vessels for memory and for dialogue between past and present and as a means of coming to terms with grief.
Corvi-Mora & greengrassi hosting Fanta-MLN + Edouard Montassut, Paris
Corvi-Mora & greengrassi hosting Fanta-MLN + Edouard Montassut, ParisYou are led upstairs to greengrassi first for a group show including works by Gina Folly and Tonio Kröner. And then the latest solo exhibition by Lynette Yiodam-Boakye continues from her fantastic solo at Tate Britain and is well worth the extra mile (or a brisk walk from The Sunday Painter)
Condo London 2025 A collaborative exhibition by 49 galleries across 22 London spaces, 18th January – 15th February 2025
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- Air de Paris
- Antenna Space
- Arcadia Missa
- Brunette Coleman
- CONDO
- CONDO London
- Condo London 2025
- Corvi-Mora
- Dominique White
- Edouard Montassut
- Emalin
- Empty Gallery
- Fanta-MLN
- Francis Irv
- GCAG Ferreira Da Silva
- Greengrassi
- Hot Wheels Athens London
- Kyriaki Goni
- Lea Cetera
- lewis hammond
- Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
- Marfa Projects
- Maureen Paley
- Mike Lee
- Moka Lee
- Peng Zugiang
- Phillida Reid
- Proyectos Ultravioleta
- public gallery
- Rachel Fäth
- Sylvia Kouvali
- The Breeder
- The Sunday Painter
- Veda
- Wolfgang Tillmans
- Zazou Roddam
