Hannah Barry Gallery, 4 Holly Grove, Peckham, London SE15 5DF
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Hannah Barry’s eponymous gallery has been based in Peckham since 2008, when the area had a more dubious reputation than now, but with the advantage of cheap rents and proximity to Camberwell and Goldsmiths schools of art and the South London Gallery. Other commercial spaces followed, making Peckham a potential rival to the East End as a gallery hub. Most have moved on since – Arcadia Missa, Sunday Painter and bo.lee, for example – but Hannah Barry has remained a constant presence close to Peckham Rye station. The stated aim is to promote emerging artists and experimental practices. I recall, for example, George Ruoy’s solo shows in 2018, 2020 and 2023 prior to him showing internationally with Hauser & Wirth last year, and the collaborative project of rising ceramicists Lindsey Mendick and Paloma Proudfoot, ‘PROUDICK’, in 2021. I’ve also enjoyed solo shows by James Capper, Natalia González Martín, Marie Jacotey and the current exhibitor, Harley Weir, as well as some adventurous group exhibitions – most recently the suitably extravagant ‘Sin Centre’. Moreover, each summer the gallery runs the unusual not-for-profit initiative Bold Tendencies: an international programme of site-specific sculpture and live events based on the top floors of Peckham’s multi-storey car park. Fine views across London and the chance to relax in Frank’s Café enhance the experience. The current Bold Tendencies runs to 20th September and features several permanent works together with Gillian Wearing’s ‘Dancing in Peckham’, 1994, actually in Peckham; and new site-specific commissions by Idris Khan, Emii Alrai, Mac Collins, Richard Dean Hughes and Raheel Khan – that’s his suburban house sinking – along, perhaps, with the values underpinning it.
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.
