... and who would have thought that I'd set up office at The Muse. So here I am working for a…read morebunch of people who put on a retrospective exhibition of 60s pop artist Larry Smart. While most artists on the gallery programme are contemporary, this show has been an exciting trip down memory lane. And if you look closely you still find some references to Notting Hill's colourful past. I've been on guided walks following in the footsteps of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Hawkwind and everything comes together nicely in this little show at The Muse. I write this review listening to an amazing soundtrack put together by Jeff Dexter and surrounded by psychedelic mandalas and iconic portraits of Dylan, Hendrix and Lennon - retro heaven! And with the Grain Store right next door for my daily dose of veggie lunches and hippie hangout Alchemy still going strong a few doors to the other side, the 60s seem to come alive again. And did you know that this address is the birthplace of both Whole Earth Foods and Green & Blacks? Well, neither did I. Back to art, though. And after Larry Smart there will be a group show of the latest group of resident artists. There are also regular sound art, music and film nights. Definitely worth it looking beyond the market stalls set up outside during the weekends.

I had a really great time last time I came here on a bank holiday Monday…read more.. Walking back after a few drinks at the Walmer Castle and Beach Blanket Babylon, we headed down Portobello Rd and this gallery (which is also a bar) was open and having an impromptu party! Woop! My friend knew some people including the lovely bartender, so we 'popped in for a drink' - which led to another, and another, and another... yikes, Tuesday was not fun at work.... On this visit there was an exhibition on by a Korean artist. There was a lot of neon and it was easy on the eye. The lovely Italian lady in charge made me a delicious cocktail with fresh raspberries (before I switched to old faithful g&t's). All drinks were nice and strong, and average in price. The dj was playing a lot of awesome Trojan reggae and the vibe was totally relaxed and fun, with everyone dancing and mingling. The big front window is actually a sliding door, and it was completely open as it was a nice warm evening. This made it a) welcoming for passers-by to pop in and join our party and b) enticing for us to take our dancing outside onto the pavement! Great little venue and very fun! I don't know how often they are open for parties, but it's definitely worth dropping in if you are in the area and they are open...

I passed by the cultural centre a number of times but never stopped in until recently. I was…read moreinspired by my flatmate to take a language course so I thought it was best to refine my Korean (I can order food and speak to 4 year olds). I googled Korean language courses and came across the Sejong institute that runs free (Yes, FREE!) Korean classes. Because of the high demand, they only have 1 intake per year and it's purely by a lottery system. I didn't make the first cut for the intermediate course but luckily I was able to join as the ones initially selected couldn't join. (good for me!) So the course is free but you have to pay for the books which came out to about 45 quid for both books. It meets once a week for about 2 hours and you get weekly homework. The instructor is really good at explaining - also teaches at a good pace that the entire class can follow. I think I'm the only Korean person in the class which makes it quite interesting and diverse. Its great taking the language course at the cultural centre because you're exposed to the various programs, such as Korean movie night, lectures, art exhibits. You can really immerse yourself into the Korean cultural - as well as trying out some of the Korean that you just learned. There is so much to do there. There's even a whole library full of Korean dramas that you can go and watch there (unfortunately you can't rent them). Check out the website to see the various events they are hosting. Anyong!

we happened to walk by this on one of their first days being open. i don't think it was completely…read moreset up as how it appears to be now. i was so excited to see a korean cultural centre in london, as i wondered if there were many koreans in the city. when i go back to visit, i will definitely stop here to visit, and see how it has changed since its opening.

My girlfriend being a designer dragged me to an art gallery the other day. Now I love art, but, it…read morehas to have a certain dimension to it. I'm not being picky, I just want to see something that I couldn't do. (Now for my rant) I get irritated when I go to a gallery and there in front of me in all its glory is an A4 piece of paper with a blue square on it. No frills, no beautiful flowing brush strokes, just a blue square. Now you can put all the artistic blurb you want as a write up but it 'ain't gonna impress me.' Fortunately the Ray Johnson Please Add to and Return gallery wasn't like this. Ray Johnson was the pioneer for the mail art movement. The movement is where he would start a piece of art and mail it to somebody else, they would add to it and send it back, and on it went like this until the piece was deemed complete. The percentage of his work is collages, that in the beginning of the exhibit I couldn't connect with. As the exhibit went on I found I was coming around to Ray's extraordinary ability to combine complete randomness, humour and skill in his work. What truly inspired me about Ray's collection wasn't his art, but his random letters and snippets of notes he wrote when he forwarded his work to colleagues and friends. His mind fluctuated like an arachnophobia suffers bum-hole whilst watching, well, Arachnophobia. His chat was hilarious, he would have made a sensational yelper. One of my favourite letters was "THIS IS JUST TO SAY" I have eaten the limes that were in the iceb ox and which y ou were probably saving for breakfast forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold (The mistakes were as he made them) Ray's collection is bizarre, imaginative and often funny. His work is theoretical in approach and follows the Gestalt laws. Occasionally though he throws artistic theory out of the window with pieces that cause the viewer anxiety. If you are interested in collage or font, you should go to this exhibit. It is entertaining, creative cheese for the mind and best of all, free.

Marvelous gallery owned & run by Alex Sainsburythe socialist son of the famous family. This is a…read moremustsee place.Even if you dont see an erxhibition,a visitis worth it for the buidling alone.I went on a fabulous, free organised walk with a localhistorian, who showed us all the famous buildingsassociated with the silk & fashion trade of the 17th& 18th centuries in the area. Most houses were bothlived & worked in, & attempts were even made to growmulberry trees in the house gardens for the silk worms.English climate prevented this, so silk was imported& woven here & stretched on the lawns or "tenterdowns'with 'tenter hooks' to make the clothes for the rich famous. Street names reflect this industry

Visiting Leighton House was one of the many highlights of my trip to London a week or so ago…read more Leighton House is a historic house near Holland Park; it was the home of Victorian painter Frederic Leighton, who served as the president of the Royal Academy. Designed by George Aitchison for Frederic Leighton, construction began in 1865, with extensions added on in 1869-1870, 1877-1881, 1889-1890, and 1894-1895. The famous Arab Hall was an addition made to the house in 1877-1881. When Leighton died in 1896, his collection was sold off by Christies. The house was retained and opened as a museum in 1990. In the 21st century, an attached building was added to house visitor services, galleries for exhibits, bathrooms, and a cafe. We started with the room downstairs, which had a short video about the house and a gallery of architectural sketches and drawings of Leighton House. Then we went up the very cool staircase to a room where they are showing a very cool, sweet, and interesting short film about the house that they commissioned from an artist. Then, we finally went over to the house itself. As I walked into Arab Hall, my jaw just dropped: the tiles, the ceiling, the water feature... But the rest of the house is beautiful, too - with lots of art (including lots of works by Frederic Leighton) everywhere. It's a beautiful home. I loved our visit to Leighton House. I learned so much about Frederic Leighton and art of his period. It's also just a stunning piece of architecture and design. I highly recommend including it on an itinerary for a day in Kensington!

Beautiful location for a piano/opera concerto. Excellent acoustics and intimate ambiance. My girls…read moreand recently had the pleasure of attending a Camden Stewart show here and it was perfect. Beautiful art, room, performance and gallery.

I first came here for the Michael Craig Martin Private view which was some time ago. The difference…read morebetween going to a private view in the Gagosian and a private view in other galleries is there is no wine, I might have been a bit early but I didn't see a glass in sight. The space itself is great though, with one main large room and two smaller rooms to each side, I've been in the gallery in New York as well and it's a similar layout. The location could be better, situated in Britannia Street so the nearest tube station is Kings Cross.

Huzzah for UK Yelp! Finally! So I am going to Yelp a two year old show and gallery visit for my…read more400th review. Nyah. This gallery was the art highlight (and only art visit since I went with and for my two teenage sons who abhor art galleries/museums) of my very short trip to London two years ago. I came to see the Francis Bacon triptychs and was not disappointed. For an added bonus, Damien Hirst's works were being shown as well. The gallery is pretty nondescript from the outside located on a small side street near the Kings Cross Station. The front belies the large, well-lighted space inside. The Bacon works were positively glowing. This space seems nicer than the New York Gagosian but maybe I was just enamored by the Bacon paintings.

I've been to this charming gallery quite a few times over the last few months, about time to add a…read morelittle write up ... I can't believe I didn't discover Hundred Years Gallery much earlier. It has been open for about three years now and combines all the things I love about an art space - relaxed atmosphere with people dropping in for a coffee and a chat throughout the day and an exciting programme of emerging visual and sound art. Something new and exciting happening here every time I have visited. The current exhibitions will be showing over the Easter weekend: a charming retrospective of photographic work by a Serbian artist is shown in the upstairs bar area. Be prepared for a bit of a shock when you walk down the stairs to the main gallery where a much darker experience of the "Sacred & Profane" group show awaits. A philistine comment to round this off: they serve some of the best Spanish wine here, just saying ...

Not a very big place, looks a bit run down. Has comfortable sofa to relax in. Coffee and cakes on…read moresale. Had an exhibition of work from Hurdy Gurdy on, when I visited. Pop along, you may see something you like.

What would I do in my lunch break without all these art galleries? Well ... possibly read more…read morenovels ... but its always nice to go out and walk about a bit. This gallery space is in close proximity to many other great galleries. It try to compete by putting out the cute stuff. Currently they have fun and well known contemporary art like Damien Hirst and Banksy on the walls, plus a few less well know but equally fun Japanese artists. It's an interesting display ... a wide range of art put into a relatively small space. So against the usual white cube concept of the past, where they tried to give each piece acres of space. Its like a modern style Victorian salon display on a white wall.

I was walking around the area last week and my friend and I passed by the Opera Gallery. It is a…read moregallery with many different contemporary works. The thing that drew my eye was the giant painting of Mao comprised of painted army men. It was SOOO cool. The door man/bouncer was really friendly and funny. He told us we could take pictures of everything in the gallery including him. Downstairs there are more paintings as well as different sculptures. If you're into contemporary art, this is a place that has some interesting artwork and installations!

One of the most out of the way random locations I've ever been to as it is in between main stations…read moreso prepare to walk. On first visit what will hit you is the clean lines and whiteness of it all. It is very similar in feel and mood to the White Cube on the other side of the Southbank. It's so clinical, white and spacious it perfectly marries a modern theme of art and the restaurant that Damien Hirst wanted to portray it would seem. It's actually two floors but a lot of rooms that are vast wit very high ceilings and lots of Space to see the art from back afar. It feels like the gallery of the future. Something you might see Kubrick do for one of his films, and for that it gets high praise from me. The exhibit wasn't amazing but the space did let the work sing as you walked through it and did that job well.

Newport Street Gallery is a brand new art space in relative nomansland. I wonder if it will do the…read moresame to Vauxhall/Lambeth as The White Cube did to Bermondsey? Criticism or doubts about regeneration and gentrification aside, Newport Street Gallery is a beautiful place, even before you have seen a single piece of art. And don't be put off when you learn that Damien Hirst is the driving force behind this venture. You don't have to be a fan of dots or pickled sharks to enjoy the gallery. While affordable examples of Hirst's own works are available in the shop, the gallery space is given over to works of art in his collection. Entry is free, and the art is great - what's not to like! There are plans for a restaurant - perhaps a bit unimaginatively called "Pharmacy" like its original in Notting Hill Gate. Expectations are high whether he'll be able to create the hype and wonder of the YBA years.