London Culture on a Student Budget

A House of Leaves
DRAF – Symes Mews, 37 Camden High St, NW1 7JE
until 16th Feb

This exhibition takes place in a relatively new art gallery situated just off the busy Camden High Street. The space was originally a furniture workshop however today it remains hidden in a muse, away from the market stalls and the tourists. The gallery is the new home of the David Roberts Art Foundation [DRAF]. The art foundation is a perfect example of an emerging group of art collectors, those who search for talent over fame. A House of Leaves is curated by Vincent Honoré and has been highly praised by critics.
The exhibition is currently in its “third movement.” The work is structured in the form of a symphony in three movements with an epilogue. Each movement is based on a central work, the first piece was a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois exploring “hybrid forms, from fragmented figures to abstraction.” The second, a painting by Gerhard Richter and the third, which is currently on display consists of a piece of performance art by Pierre Huyghe. Huyghe’s piece is an exploration of “performance, rhythm and volume.” (see this for a sneak peak.) It will finish with the interesting concept of the epilogue where the pieces will be emptied out leaving a void thus exploring the building as a space. The experience of this particular exhibition will always be different as the pieces are constantly changing.

By the end of the exhibition, a huge range of artists will have displayed their work including: Tony Cragg, Katy Moran, Luis Camnitzer and Pietro Roccasalva- to name a few. Although to many UCL students, these names are unknown, A House of Leaves is a great way to emerge oneself in some more abstract artistic concepts- especially when in such close proximity to UCL.