The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

33 | THINGS TO DO | Art galleries
11am-4pm, by appointment at all other
times.
13A Park Walk, SW10 0AJ
T: 020 7349 9332
www.thelittleblackgallery.com
Mica Gallery
Mica opened in the wake of the
Arab Spring in 2011 with an exhibition
of contemporary Egyptian art from both
before and after the country s revolution.
The gallery specialises in — and is an
acronym of — modern Islamic and
contemporary art which has been
influenced by Islamic culture or heritage.
The Mica definition is pretty flexible —
modern Islamic works are rooted in
traditional calligraphy and geometry,
while the contemporary artists are more
broadly inspired by Islamic cultural
heritage at large from British, European,
Arab, African and South Asian artists.
By appointment only from 10am-6pm
Monday-Friday and 11am-6pm on
Saturdays.
259A Pavilion Road, SW1X 0BP
T: 020 7730 1117
www.micagallery.com
Michael Hoppen Gallery &
Michael Hoppen Contemporary
Gallery
The Michael Hoppen Gallery specialises
in 19th, 20th and 21st-century photography.
Based just north of the King s Road,
near the Chelsea Potter pub, the gallery
has been in Chelsea since 1993.
The Michael Hoppen Contemporary
Gallery — another major international
photographic gallery — opened in 2000
and occupies the second floor of the
same building. It supports established
and emerging contemporary artists.
Monday-Friday 10.30am-6pm,
Saturday 10.30am—5pm.
3 Jubilee Place, SW3 3TD
T: 020 7352 3649
www.michaelhoppengallery.com
Royal Borough of Kensingon & Chelsea, Family & Children s Service
Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club is a private members’
club. The membership is divided into
ordinary members who practice the visual
arts – painters, sculptors, architects,
photographers, designers and so on – and
associate members from related fields, such
as musicians, actors, gallerists and writers.
The club was founded by artists
including sculptor Thomas Lee and painter
James Abbott McNeill Whistler as a rival to
Mayfair s Arts Club. Originally based at
181 King s Road, the club moved to
143 Old Church Street in 1902.
The Chelsea Arts Ball, held from 1908 to
1958, was a themed public fancy dress ball
that became progressively more lavish —
and raucous — and grew to occupy Chelsea
Town Hall and then the Royal Albert Hall.
It was originally held for Mardi Gras, but
eventually moved to New Year s Eve. It was
banned in 1959, but was revived in 1984/5.
Club membership was opened to women
artists in 1966. Would-be members need to
be proposed and seconded by people who
have known them for more than two years
and who have been members of the club
for more than two years.
The outside of the building is sometimes
painted to mark an event, such as the the
70th anniversary of the end of the Blitz
in 2011.
143 Old Church Street, SW3 6EB
T: 020 7376 3311
www.chelseaartsclub.com
Artwork
for the
Chelsea
Arts
Club
annual
dinner
1968
Northcote Gallery
The Northcote Gallery, which has a sister
gallery on Northcote Road in Battersea,
specialises in modern British and
international contemporary paintings and
sculpture and hosts ten solo exhibitions
from established and emerging artists
each year.
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-6pm, Sunday
1pm-4pm.
253 King’s Road, SW3 5EL
T: 020 7351 0830
www.northcotegallery.com
Offer Waterman & Co
Established in 1996 amid the small
cluster of art galleries next to the
La Famiglia restaurant on Langton
Street, Offer Waterman is a leader in
the fields of 20th-century British paintings,
drawings and sculpture, and can
also offer expertise in American and
European, Impressionist, modern
and contemporary art.
Monday to Friday 10am-6.30pm, by
appointment on Saturdays.
11 Langton Street, SW10 0JL
T: 020 7351 0068
www.waterman.co.uk
Proud Chelsea
The Proud Group was launched by
Alex Proud in 1998 and includes a
music venue in Camden, a speakeasystyle
venue in the City, a gallery just
off the Strand and Proud Chelsea —
a photographic gallery that aims to
introduce high-quality photography to
a mainstream audience.
Proud uses popular themes to create
accessible exhibitions with a distinct rock
n roll emphasis — the Sex Pistols, Bob
Marley, Bob Dylan, the Libertines and
the Rock n Roll Years have all been the
focus of exhibitions.
Daily 10am-7pm, until 8pm on
Wednesdays.
161 King’s Road, SW3 5XP
Proud Chelsea
T: 020 7349 0822
www.proudonline.co.uk/
Saatchi Gallery
In 2009 and 2010 the Saatchi Gallery
held five of the six most attended
exhibitions in London — the only one to
achieve more visitors was Van Gogh at
the Royal Academy of Arts.
Charles Saatchi opened his original
Saatchi gallery in 1985 in a disused paint
factory in St John s Wood before moving
to County Hall on the South Bank in
2003. The gallery was forced to close
in 2005 after a row with County Hall s
owners and was without a home for
three years.
In 2008, the Saatchi Gallery reopened
at the Duke of York s Headquarters —
a vast 70,000 sq ft space that was
a perfect blank canvas to display paintings,
sculpture and installations. The
gallery exhibits contemporary art from
home-grown talent, often previously
unseen, and international artists that
have rarely or never before exhibited in
the UK.