The Showroom

#185

A laboratory for new commissions rather than a salon of greatest hits, The Showroom invites artists to make first-time, large-scale projects that grow out of research with local groups and international collaborators. Expect single-artist exhibitions, process-heavy installations, and a long-running social practice strand that treats the neighbourhood as part of the gallery’s ecosystem.

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Opening Hours

Wednesday: 12:00 – 18:00

Thursday: 12:00 – 18:00

Friday: 12:00 – 18:00

Saturday: 12:00 – 18:00

What's not to miss inside?

Artist Commissions (Single-Project Format)

Most exhibitions are newly commissioned, giving artists room for risk and scale they might not get elsewhere.

You’re often seeing the ‘world premiere’ of a work—prototype displays, working archives and evolving installations are part of the language.

📍 Main gallery, Penfold Street

Communal Knowledge Archive

A long-term programme where artists co-produce projects with local residents, schools and traders in Church Street Ward.

Look for maps, manuals and toolkits produced with community partners—outputs are meant to be used, not just viewed.

📍 Reading area / project displays

Talks & Publishing

Conversations, reader groups and slim, idea-dense publications extend works beyond the exhibition run.

Many commissions leave a printed trace—handbooks, readers, or zines that document method as much as result.

📍 Event space and book stand

🤓 Fun Facts

Founded in 1983, The Showroom has specialised in first solo shows and major early commissions in London for emerging artists.

Since relocating to Penfold Street in 2008, the gallery’s programme has embedded itself in the Church Street market neighbourhood—many projects are site-responsive to this move.

Its process-driven model means exhibitions regularly include research material—scripts, prototypes, community toolkits—making ‘work in public’ part of the viewing experience.