Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Rd, London, N1 7RW
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 6pm
Nearest tube: Old Street (Northern Line)
Buses that stop near the gallery: 4, 43, 55, 56, 205, 214, 243 and 394.
Long before I lived in London, back when the full beastly extent of the city’s gallery circuit was beyond my comprehension, I visited Victoria Miro to see the first of numerous memorable exhibitions – Chris Offili’s first showing of the Upper Room. Therein I discovered an artistic oasis of restraint and modesty – all tucked behind the City Road McDonalds – a gallery that specialises in simple pleasures.
Victoria Miro has made her name nurturing the careers of the brightest young artists. Artists such as Tal R, who should be referred to as a painter’s painter if he isn’t already. His simple brazen use of pure colour and line is joyful and child-like, sloppy yet precise. His works display an erudite and respectful approach to the history of painting, without pandering to taste. Sarah Sze, similarly, plays to my childish side with her play-box architecture gone monumental. Constructions of assorted paraphernalia explode across floors and climb up walls, ordered autistically in a performance of unseen or imaginary meaning.
The exhibitions at her gallery all seem to successfully negotiate between being both outstanding and unpretentious, while the skeletal timber beam roof that spans the upper floor is a treat in itself.
