Hello Cube
While the Hello Cube isnt quite a hidden London art gallery (it's at the Tate Modern, after all), it is a brand new digital installation that we couldnt help but shout about. Coinciding with the gallerys major retrospective of renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (on until June 5th) the installation has been created by design team Hellicar & Lewis and completely embraces the digital world we live in. Looking into a box of colour, movement and light you can tweet the Hello Cube to set off different displays within the box. Supported by the Louis Vuitton Young Arts Project, you can then enter a competition online and upload your own work (with a brief that explores the world of obsession) in which you could win a trip to Kusamas studio in Japan. With fashion and sound workshops and their own silent disco on March 24th, its a unique exhibition thats well worth checking out this weekend... To enter the competition, go here: Collectives.tate.org.uk.
Bankside, Sumner Street, SE1 9TG; 020 78878752.
Viktor Wynd Fine Art
Trust East London to come up with one of the coolest, quirkiest London art galleries we could find. At Viktor Wynd Fine Art the ground floor is dedicated in the manner of a Victorian-style shop called the Last Tuesday Society. Its jam-packed with curiosities and certainly worth visiting for the unusual taxidermy alone. Once youve sated your appetite for the weird and the wonderful, you can head up to the first floor where there's a regularly changing collection of (unsurprisingly) surreal artwork. Currently Baptise Ibar is showing a series of brightly coloured portraits and next up is a show about, so we're told, skeletons. With the addition of drawing and mask-making classes in the evenings, this place is a sure fire way of unleashing your creative side.
11 Mare Street, E8 4RP; 020 7998 3617.
Haunch of Venison Yard
Tucked away just off New Bond Street, Haunch of Venison Yard is a hidden gallery that you'll be very pleased to discover. Founded by Harry Blain and Graham Southern in 2002, the space has had an illustrious past, firstly as an 18th-century inn, then as Handels home for 30 years (and the place he died), before finally being the place where Jimi Hendrix laid his (feathered) hat for a few years at the tail-end of the 60s. Its now a wonderful gallery space which currently has a sculptural exhibition on mixed media on. Theyve also just opened a new space, just off Oxford Street on Eastcastle Street, with the first show by Scottish artist Katie Paterson including her famous 100 Billion Suns first seen at the Venice Biennale.
Haunch of Venison Yard, 103 New Bond Street, W1S 1ST; 0207 495 4050.
Haunch of Venison, 51 Eastcastle Street; 0207 495 4050.
Rebecca Hossack
After opening her first London gallery in 1988, influential Australian art dealer Rebecca Hossack has gone on to firmly establish herself on the art scene with two beautifully curated galleries in Fitzrovia that regularly feature works from little-known artists. Firstly, there's a very bijoux gallery in Charlotte Street, which currently has an exhibition on that ELLEuk thoroughly recommends: Ian Pennys From here and there, a series of large, painstakingly intricate and wonderfully whimsical hand-cut pieces that each reflect the natural world. The second gallery is over on Conway Street and up until March 31st is showing work that falls under the theme of landscapes, from the artists of the Gilchrist-Fisher Award.
2A Conway Street, Marylebone, W1T 6BA; 020 7436 4899.
28 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 2NF;020 7436 4899.
Rook & Raven
Opening back in November 2011 right in the heart of the creative hub of Fitzrovia, the seriously cool Rook & Raven is a very welcome addition to the up-and-coming Fitzrovia Place. The airy space is the brainchild of Rachelle Lunnon and Richard Grindy, who have combined their artistic backgrounds to create an innovative space to showcase artists and to provide a flagship for Art Consultancy 2R Art. Theyre currently showing a brilliant exhibition of iconic photographer Terry ONeills work in which some of his most famous shots have been re-interpreted by American contemporary artists. With their finger on the pulse of the art world, were excited to see what theyve got coming up next. Watch this space...
7/8 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, W1T 1HN; 0207 323 0805.
Feeling a bit cultured out after our pick of the best hidden London art galleries? Why not try out one of team ELLE's favourite hangouts? Or for more ideas for what to do in the capital, see our London guide.
