London According to: Lisa Panting of Hollybush Gardens

Clerkenwell’s Hollybush Gardens was founded in 2005 by Lisa Panting and Malin Ståhl. It has an international and intergenerational array of artists who are represented in private and museum collections worldwide and have participated in many prizes, including Andrea Büttner, Lubaina Himid,  Claire Hooper, Kirshner & Panos, Jumana Manna, Falke Pisano, Charlie Prodger and Reto Pulfer. Panting discusses the changes she has seen in the last two decades and where to get decent ice cream and coffee near the gallery.

What’s great about your gallery’s location?

The area is full of interesting history. In different times, Clerkenwell was considered lawless and radical. In the 18th century the area housed gay cruising grounds, brothels, bars and later taverns where communists met, as well as being an area for writing and watchmaking. More recently, The Guardian used to be on Farringdon Road and it has a wealth of good and quiet pubs, small printers and unusual supply shops. You can still buy rolls of film around the corner from the gallery, and handmade candles from the Italian Church. We are within walking distance of the West End, Tate Modern and Shoreditch. We are also located at a transport hub  – you can get to five London airports very easily as well as being able to walk to the Eurostar.

What’s different about the London art world to that of other cities?

The city is both vast and intimate. The private galleries are tucked away across all parts of the city and this enables you to take more unusual walking tours. I think the diversity of spaces is unmatched. I love that you can walk into most galleries and see someone you know. Most galleries have an architectural identity linked to their neighbourhood. We have a very rich offering of institutional shows and activities, constant events and performances which, despite Brexit and the problems of obtaining visiting visas for performing artists, still seem to be possible.

How do you think that the way people see (and show) art is changing?

We are simultaneously seeing the re-emergence of large-scale work being shown and a plethora of small-scale, handmade works, alongside many group shows and historical exhibitions. People are coming back to galleries amidst the lessening grip of social-media platforms, as audiences remember that the haptic quality of art is an essential aspect of viewing it, as well as the communal act of visiting a physical space – that feels really important right now.

You’re bringing Cynthia Hawkins, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur, Ellen Lesperance, Siobhan Liddell and Bruno Pacheco to Frieze this year – what influenced your choice of these artists?

These artists have an incredible ability to form visual questions that demand your attention within several registers at once. They belong to the present and reach into the past, borrowing freely across disciplines and methodologies, making work that stands the test of time, while embodying a poetic that also speaks with relevancy and poignancy to the critical, political and philosophical discourses of this moment.

Favourite museum or gallery in London?

South London Gallery, ICA, Chisenhale Gallery, Camden Arts Centre, Tate, Barbican, Courtauld, The National Gallery. Privately supported spaces like Raven Row and The Perimeter provide a generous addition to the above.

Last exhibition you went to?

‘brecht: fragments’ at Raven Row.

Favourite place to eat near the gallery?       

Ice cream and coffee at Terroni, Quality Wines, St John, Brutto and Pizza Sofia, the food markets on Leather Lane and Exmouth Market at lunchtime.

Best bar or pub near Hollybush Gardens?

The Eagle, St John, The Sekforde Arms.

What changes have you seen in London in the last few years?

There is so much construction now including new developments behind the gallery at Mount Pleasant [postal] Sorting Office and new hotels popping up around us. Since Covid there is evidence of increased poverty as well as a surge in tourism. Small businesses are closing and we are in danger of losing much local specialism.

Best thing about London?

The ease at which you can find moments and beautiful places that are peaceful, and how by taking a different route you will come across unusual and interesting things.

Worst thing about London?

The evidence of 14 years of Tory rule, as well as the expense, and – despite the above – the density of people in busy areas and on transport.

Hollybush Gardens takes part in Frieze London, 9 – 13 October 2024, The Regent’s Park.

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^{Main image: Andrea Büttner, ‘What Is So Terrible About Craft?’, 17 May – 22 June 2024, Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Eva Herzog}