Forget Shoreditch, contemporary artists take the biscuit in Bermondsey

Published 26 May 2010

First Peckham’s uber-cool bars make the headlines, now Bermondsey is the new place to go for contemporary art as Southwark Council funds two more art hubs and stays top in the trendsetting stakes.

In the same month that Tate Modern is ten, Southwark is building on its reputation as a go to place for art, entertainment, music, dance and theatre. This week, a new cafe opens in Southwark Park, just as an old biscuit factory gets a new lease of life as a warehouse style gallery as young, up-and-coming artists move from East to South London in the search for new venues to work in and exhibit.

The Market Gallery, supported by Southwark Council, has its opening night this Friday with an exhibition called Avalanche, a showcase of new and contemporary artworks by recent fine art graduates from Chelsea and St. Martins.

The refurbished art installation space at Dilston Grove Cafe Gallery projects launches tomorrow, 27 May. After two years and an £870,000 renovation project, Dilston Grove, reopens its doors as a spectacular venue for large-scale presentations of contemporary art.

Dilston Grove's inaugural show, Mémoire by Sammy Baloji, is the first solo exhibition in the UK by the Congolese photographer and filmmaker, produced in partnership with Autograph ABP.

You are welcome to attend the private views, details below.

Dilston Grove

Opening: Thursday, 27 May 2010, 6pm to 8pm.
Exhibition: Wednesday, 2 June to Sunday, 4 July 2010, 12pm to 6pm.
Venue: Dilston Grove, Southwest Corner of Southwark Park, London, SE16 2DD.
Travel: Canada Water on the Jubilee & Overground Lines.
CGP London

Market Gallery

"Avalanche"

The Market Gallery, Bermondsey, London.
29 May to 8 June

Private view
28 May 2010
6pm to 10pm

Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm
Saturday to Sunday, 12 to 6pm

A showcase of new and contemporary artworks by recent fine art graduates from Chelsea and St. Martins.

The inaugural exhibition is titled 'Avalanche' after a work on display by painter Matthew La Croix.

Five artists cross reference literature, science, history and myth to create a show of works linked to 'Avalanche' by a sense of looming disaster and entropic decline. Expect appearances from early feminist fiction, the untimely death of Alan Turing and a tube train in impossible movement. All this and more in a glorious Technicolor spread of painting, sculpture, photography and video.