Chisenhale Gallery

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Artist-centred and commissioning-led, Chisenhale Gallery presents new work—often first UK institutional solo shows—by emerging to mid-career artists. Housed in a converted factory in Bow as part of Chisenhale Art Place, it’s known for giving artists time and space to produce ambitious installations, films and performances that frequently go on to wider acclaim.

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Opening Hours

Sunday: 12:00 – 18:00

Wednesday: 12:00 – 18:00

Thursday: 12:00 – 18:00

Friday: 12:00 – 18:00

Saturday: 12:00 – 18:00

Admissions

Adult £16.00

What's not to miss inside?

The Commissioning Model

Rather than tour ready-made shows, Chisenhale works with artists to produce new projects from idea to install—so each exhibition feels like a premiere.

Studios upstairs, gallery downstairs: commissions can grow on site, with scale and materials shaped to the space.

Read the commissioning text first, then look for fabrication clues—fixings, joins, projection rigs—that reveal how it was built.

📍 Whole gallery; one exhibition at a time

Film & Performance

The programme regularly centres moving image and live work, using the former factory’s volume for ambitious sound and projection.

New films often pair with talks and transcripts—research you rarely see in commercial spaces.

If it’s a film show, stay for a full loop; note how sound design uses the long hall and how seating shapes the viewing rhythm.

📍 Dark room / flexible hall

Editions & Publications

Artist editions and booklets extend the commission beyond the run—useful for tracing early careers later on.

Many later prize-winners first appear here; editions become time-capsules of those debuts.

Skim a past booklet and compare to the current show—what stays constant in the gallery’s curatorial voice?

📍 Front desk / bookstand

🤓 Fun Facts

Chisenhale Gallery was established in the early 1980s in a converted factory in Bow as part of Chisenhale Art Place, a cooperative of studios, gallery and a dance space.

Its exhibition model focuses on new commissions—typically a small number each year—rather than a rolling group-show calendar, giving artists time to develop site-specific work.

The gallery’s alumni include artists who later achieved major awards and national exhibitions, making its programme a bellwether for contemporary practice in London.