The Maccabees’ new video is set in North Kennington

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

Indie rock heroes The Maccabees have many ties with North Kennington – some of the band live locally and they rehearse and record in a studio there (formerly owned by The Jesus & Mary Chain).

Now they’ve shot their new video Marks To Prove It in North Kennington – the spectacular view of the North roundabout you can see below is shot from everyone’s favourite modernist Kennington tower block Perronet House. They got there in the nick of time, just before the roundabout was besieged by roadworks:

Here’s the new single from Kennington’s own Florence & The Machine

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

The song is about the time Florence Welch got drunk and had a water fight outside, then inside, her Kennington home so it only seems fair to recall the time Florence got drunk and performed at South London Pacific. Long may Flo continue to get drunk and do interesting things in Kennington.

Her album is is released on June 1st. It’s called How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, which is almost certainly a reference to Ovalhouse Theatre’s banner:

Positions by Eva Stenram at Siobhan Davies Studios

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

Siobhan Davies Studios on St George’s Road is one of Kennington’s best buildings. It plays host to modern dance, yoga, pilates, therapies, and visual art, and the current art exhibition – Positions by London-based Swedish artist Eva Stenram – is the best one we’ve seen there.

This is Arrangement (after Irving Klaw), featuring reframings of risqué 1950s photos of Bettie Page and other pin up models:

This is part of her Score for a Sequence of Poses, again using pin-up photos as its inspiration:

This print is available to buy, unframed, for £60:

There are also a series of 1960s pin up photographs where Eva has digitally removed everything except one leg – eerie, and worth seeing in person.

Positions is open till March 22nd and admission is free. Eva will be leading a tour of the exhibition a week today, March 12th, from 2pm to 3pm.

Another current exhibition at the Studios addresses the age old question “is it art, or is it mould?”. It’s both! This is Lichen Colony by ceramicists Alison Proctor and Phoebe Cummings:

Photo by Robyn Caberet

Brocket Gallery

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

Brocket Gallery, a contemporary art gallery formerly located above The Three Stags, is now open in its new permanent location in the basement beneath The Boule-In on Windmill Row (see our Boule-In piece for more about how it came to be there).

Brocket’s first show in the new location is ‘Selected Artists’, featuring highlights from their roster. Both the founders – exhibition maker and art dealer Lizzie Glendinning and artist Jack Bullen – studied at Kennington’s own City & Guilds, as did many of the artists they represent.

This is the space:

They have made nice use of the skylight under the pavement. This piece is called Cavity by Samuele Sinibaldi and costs £860 (skylight not included):

This is an untitled piece, made of jesmonite, by Roshna Qorbanee, for £1350 which is as expensive as anything in the show (the cheapest item is £295):

This is Precipice No. 1 by Alex N Stewart, and could be the prettiest and most expensive piece of OSB board you’ll ever buy at £1350:

And finally, another piece by Samuele Sinibaldi – A Childish Game, or as we like to call it, Pot With Handlebars, £1200:

There were also some etchings and watercolours that didn’t photograph so well. We enjoyed the exhibition and really like the space, plus it’s more accessible than some of Kennington’s other art galleries, so we’ll be regular visitors.

Sean Dower at Beaconsfield

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

If you’re heading down to The Ragged Canteen at Beaconsfield Gallery for lunch or brunch, the current exhibition under the gallery’s railway arch is worth a look too – visual artist and musician Sean Dower has a bunch of musical instruments apparently playing themselves, in a rather spooky fashion:

It’s open to the public Wednesday–Saturday, 11am–5pm, and runs until February 28th. As for The Ragged Canteen, they serve drinks and cakes whenever the gallery’s open, plus lunch Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunchtimes, and all-day brunch on Saturdays.

Kennington’s own Florence & The Machine is back with a new song and video

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

It’s so brave and high concept. We really like it

Pre-order her album here.

The Boule-In

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

Brocket Gallery now occupies the whole of The Boule-In’s site and Peter and Cathy are focusing on their original Suffolk business.

We’re starting to think we can make things happen in Kennington just by writing down our wishes and posting them on the internet. When works started at the site of the former ASM Music shop at the junction of Windmill Row and Kennington Road, we asked on Twitter what it was to become and Kennington’s leading celebrity tailor Earl of Bedlam replied “an architect”. We responded “Not a lifestyle boutique then?”. Pure wishful thinking – but here’s how it came true.

Cathy and Peter Bullen are the couple behind Kennington’s most exciting new shop, The Boule-In. Having lived in Provence for a spell, Cathy started selling French antiques and vintage goods from her barn and garden in Bildeston, Suffolk in 2011.

So how did they end up opening their second shop in Kennington? Their artist son Jack studied at Kennington’s own City & Guilds. Cathy and Peter have a flat in South Kennington and were having a coffee in Sally White (where else?) while pondering how to secure permanent premises for Brocket, Jack and his partner Lizzie’s contemporary art gallery which had been temporarily located above The Three Stags. They looked straight in front of them and saw the former music shop being converted, so crossed the road and met the owner who happened to be there supervising the works.

Our friends at Earl of Bedlam were right – it was supposed to be an architect’s office, but that wasn’t permitted under planning regulations, so Peter and Cathy snapped up the ground floor for The Boule-In, and they’re currently converting the basement for Brocket’s gallery (watch this space for more on that once it has opened).

Back to The Boule-In. Cathy and Peter travel to France regularly and source all their stock over there – mostly vintage collectables, homewares and textiles from France, but some from Italy and beyond.

~~The prices are a fraction of what you’d pay at LASSCO, and the Kennington shop has already been so successful that they’ve had to head back to France and restock.~~

~~They’re open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am till 6pm. If you go on a Saturday you’ll probably find Peter and Cathy themselves there and keen to chat – they are very friendly.~~

As our Central Kennington predictions for 2015 stated, we’re anticipating “The Boule-In Effect” taking hold in Windmill Row and its surrounds, with a number of ever-so-tasteful boutiques opening up in the coming months, diluting the high concentration of estate agents that dominate Kennington Cross. We can’t wait.

our West and North West Kennington predictions for 2015

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

2015 will put North West Kennington on the map. This is the area south of Westminster Bridge Road and west of Kennington Road, and it is arguably the least visited, least known part of central London, despite some lovely buildings and smaller parks, Lambeth Palace, and Beaconsfield. Plus it’s yards from Parliament and it has the Thames running down one side.

Old Paradise Gardens, North West Kennington

2014 was already a big year for North West Kennington with tonnes of new riverside developments plus the new look Duchy Arms. 2015 will be even bigger thanks to the opening (finally) of Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery. The gallery will feature works from Damien’s collection including artists such as Francis Bacon, Banksy, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Sarah Lucas and Pablo Picasso. Entry will be free of charge. More info here.

Under the leadership of the entrepreneurial Justin Welby, surely this will be the year that Lambeth Palace opens to the public all year round.

West Kennington (previously known as Vauxhall) will also experience another year of change and growth. We are cautiously optimistic about the plans for the gyratory. New housing developments will lead to more scenes of sheikhs looking bemused as clubbers pass them on the way home.

Watch out Russell Norman – Counter – a new restaurant in the arches near Vauxhall station – will open soon and looks set to be a new entry in our Best Restaurants in Kennington list.

Come back tomorrow for our central Kennington predictions for 2015.

And the winner is…. Kennington!

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Young Fathers won the Mercury Music Prize tonight. They are signed to the most interesting hip hop label in the UK, Big Dada/Ninja Tune, which is based right here in Kennington. It’s the fifth time Big Dada have been nominated and their second winner.

Good luck to Kennington’s own Big Dada/Ninja Tune Records at the Mercury Music Prize tomorrow

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

They have two of the twelve nominations so they’re already winners in our eyes.

Kate Tempest is the second favourite at the time of writing:

and Young Fathers are outsiders in more ways than one, but Low is great:

Kennington Runoff

Surreptitiously exploring Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012

Category Archives: culture