Happy Hour - Exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Melior Place, London

We’re all cramming a load of things into Thursday nights. They are the most popular night of the week for exhibition openings.
I told the curator Roberto - who is also a friend -  I’d be at his show earlier than the 6.30pm opening time. Like a pre preview time...

I seem to be doing that alot - asking if turning up early will be ok. It always is.
Anyway by the time 6.30pm rolled around there were quite a lot of people there already. Kristin and I laughed at the eagerness of the guests!

It made me think of Roberto’s description of Happy Hour- that transitional time between work and family, it’s an equaliser; and typically associated with a drink as we shift between our work self and family/home self. .
And happy hour is also the perfect ‘private view’ time.

But i do think opening nights need to start a little earlier, but maybe that’s just me. .

The exhibition itself was worth getting there early for. It’s a group show at 2 Melior Place, SE1 and artists include Remi Rough, Sally Kindberg and Paul Abbott plus others.
The space is wonderful and run by the fabulous Kristin Hjellegjerde. It was great to catch up with her on the opening night.

The light filled exhibition space is the former home of Andrew Logan.

What would’ve been the domestic quarters display the smaller pieces in the show such as the works on paper by Remi Rough.

Back in the triple height main space Cecile Emmanuelle Barra’s piece is placed close to the indoor tree giving a spa like sense to the sculpture based around a towel rail.
Her work explores the Female Gaze and is comprised of various homewares which comment on patriarchy, domesticity & gender roles.
Note the chest hairs. I like this one a lot.

Paintings by Sally Kindberg

Paul Abbott’s Old English Passenger

Paul Abbott’s Old English Passenger, close up

Roberto and also I talked about the display and issues given the triple height open space and essentially limited wall space, as so much of the building is glazed.

Sally Kindberg’s paintings are mounted on crowd barriers ; the mounting is really fun and adds to Sally’s approach to art that plays on the ‘notion of the tragicomic in a society that is both civilised and ridiculous’

One of my favourite works in this exhibition is Old English Passenger by Paul Abbott, in the conservatory area.

A car door on the floor reflecting a video of an early Robin Hood film, played in the wing mirror. For me, the piece really delivered a visual sense of memory; the reflection in the tinted mirror, you can see it but not very well.

The artist recalls a childhood desire to be a hero ( Robin Hood) within his own family where alcoholism played a major part.

He merges the character of Robin Hood with the logo of Old English Cider, and fiction and reality become blurred in the recall.

As you’ll know already, I’m a big fan of Remi Rough and it was great to see a selection of his small paintings in this exhibition alongside a mural on the stairs leading to the main show space.

Remi Rough small paintings

Remi Rough mural

The show is curated by Roberto Ekholm, in the project space owned by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery at 2 Melior Place, SE1.
It runs til 25 May 2019 Open Fridays 12-4pm and Saturdays 12-5pm and by appointment in between.