Such is the context for Bold Tendencies III, [see details] the third and doubtless boldest of sculptural exhibitions by the brilliant Hannah Barry Gallery. The ambition, the sheer scope and the obvious media delight for this show have given it a somewhat mythical status. Attendees at the sunny launch have swollen from a probably conservative 700 to 1500 and The View is fast becoming the best in London.
Arriving on foot from the neighbouring Peckham Rye station (ten minutes / £2.40 Victoria or London Bridge) the entrance is a ropey elevator that smelled of somebody else’s urine. ‘Heaven’ was written on the stainless steel. It was so good I wondered if one of the curators had pissed in the corner themselves. … the pioneering role that this gallery, just returning from their Peckham pavilion in Venice, is playing in the emergence of Peckham as London’s most current art area. read more…

Move over Hackney! London’s next creative hotspot, signalled by this bold rooftop sculpture park, could be south of the river, reports Hermione Hoby, Observer
It’s a hot Tuesday night, and 1,000 twentysomethings have elected to spend it in a multi-storey municipal car park in Peckham. It’s a crowd impressive enough to match the big, bold artworks they’re here to see. A sculpture park on the roof of the 10-storey building in Rye Lane forms the highlight of the third Bold Tendencies exhibition from the Hannah Barry Gallery, which has joined forces with four local artists’ groups for a formidable show.
Coming so soon after the success of Barry’s Peckham Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, if anything can substantiate claims of an influential youthful art “scene” in Peckham, this is it. Among the works is James Balmforth’s Failed Obelisk, with its detached apex flailing on a spring, and a ziggurat-like piece from Molly Smyth called Motion Towards Collapse: both names suggest defectiveness but the pieces couldn’t look more assured of their own clout and strength. The rooftop also boasts a cafe and bar designed by recent architecture graduates Lettice Drake and Paloma Gormley - daughter of Antony Gormley, whose cast-iron bollards (part of Southwark council’s Peckham regeneration programme) grace the nearby Bellenden Road. read more…