Just three years after it was launched to give the capital’s contemporary art galleries a post-pandemic boost, London Gallery Weekend (LGW) is turning into an important fixture. Last month, there were more than 120 galleries showing in 135 venues, making it the largest event of its kind – double the size of the much more established Berlin Gallery Weekend. Major galleries including Gagosian, Sadie Coles and Thaddaeus Ropac mounted ambitious thematic shows. But what was most noticeable was just how many emerging galleries have launched since 2020 in a city believed to be losing money and vibrancy to other markets after Brexit.
So far this year at least 10 new galleries have opened in the capital, including Soup Gallery and Chemist Gallery in south London, Brunette Coleman in Bloomsbury, Alice Amati, Berntson Bhattacharjee and Night Café in Fitzrovia and Alma Pearl in Haggerston, east London. Incubator, founded by Angelica Jopling – the daughter of Jay Jopling, the owner of White Cube, and the artist and film-maker Sam Taylor-Johnson – opened in April on Chiltern Street, Marylebone. These are all part of a wave of younger gallerists, some now breaking through on the international stage.