David WESTERN, born in West Sussex, trained at Worthing Art College (printmaking & photography) and moved to London in 1983. He has always been based in Brixton.
Lambeth Archives, who has acquired a number of his works, is showing a retrospective of this artist’s South London work between 1999 and 2026: ‘Ghosts of the High Street’ (until 31 October).

Here we are showing details from some of his watercolours - they show how observant and charmingly precise his style is. Visual poetry in everyday reality …

Recently I attended a lecture at the ZAHA HADID Foundation in Clerkenwell. I didn’t realise this independent charitable organisation was the famous architect’s own studio premises. In 1985 she rented one room in this former Victorian school, and gradually expanded her practice until it occupied the whole building. It has been turned into a Zaha ‘shrine’ showcasing some of her collections. It is currently undergoing a transformation, so these photographs may soon be historic!

Your London Publishing celebrated its tenth anniversary last year - a landmark date which coincided with the arrival of an exciting new project: The City Lovers’ Bookshop. It’s been in the pipeline for a couple of years and we hope to be opening its pop-up version soon … —————————-
We will reveal the Central London location soon and should be ready to open by the autumn. PLEASE follow us on Instagram or Facebook to be kept informed and to support us. 🙏

Oh the joy of celebrating a special occasion …! This time at The Ivy Asia in Mayfair.
How on earth did the celebrated West End Ivy Restaurant, started in 1917, turned into a chain of restaurants ‘famous for its maximalist design in fluorescent pink onyx and green semi-precious stone floors, cherry blossom installations and antique gold’?
Apparently when British businessman Richard Caring took ownership of the brand in the 2000s and expanded it into the ‘Ivy Collection’ of brasseries and cafes.
The first Ivy Asia opened in Manchester in 2019. It was a roaring success and branches spread like wild fire!
My birthday friend and I sampled the ‘Dragon lunch menu’ (I think) and the decor and music were best appreciated in the toilets!

You are in for a ‘rollercoaster’ treat when you visit Guildhall Art Gallery’s latest exhibition: Jock McFadyen with Jem Finer’. It starts with London’s underbelly: Jock’s austere and gritty paintings of the London Underground accompanied by Jem Finer’s music (inaudible at the lively private view). But then the show gracefully moves on to some of the artist’s most mesmerising paintings of London’s skies. RECOMMENDED.

I recently made the trip to North Acton, some 18 miles away from my east London abode, to visit the Syrian Levant Book Cafe in Standard Road, which the food Instagramer James Dimitri had so vividly described in one of his posts.
———————-
It is in the middle of Park Royal industrial estate, so I knew in advance the context would not be that of a cute neighbourhood.
———————-
But the decor of the place is charming and gorgeously exotic. In fact I walked past two Lebanese restaurants before reaching my destination. This little piece of Middle Eastern culture was at odds with the high rise modern development around the station with its new shops of familiar brands.
———————
I was also reminded of my days at the Museum of London when I would travel to very unattractive places to visit artists in their studios. I have real admiration for those brave enough to pitch their tents (literally for the Levant Book Cafe) in forsaken neighbourhoods. They are true pioneers and in their path others will follow.
———————-
By some serendipitous coincidence, I had attended the day before a zoom talk organised by the Centre for Cities, with David Lunts, former CEO of the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation. This Mayoral Project is delivering investment and regeneration for this area.
———————-
I was thankful for my delicious Middle Eastern lunch there, not at the Levant Book Cafe which is a paradise for those with a sweet tooth, but at the Lebanese Terrace Bakery, a comfortable and picturesque restaurant closer to the station.

CITY SOLIDARITY The systematic destruction of all that symbolises life in Gaza - women, children, hospitals (there is no end to that sad list) became so unbearable to me that last July I joined the Women in Black vigils for Gaza. They gather every Saturday lunchtime (12.00 to 1.00 pm) outside Friends House on the Euston Road (last picture).
———————————
This particular vigil was set up by a Jewish Civil Rights activist immediately after the massacre of 7 October 3023 ( how is that for courage).
———————————
I also draw hope from the recent arrival on the London scene of two Palestine-friendly cultural institutions: the charming PALESTINE HOUSE with its lively Hibi Cafe-restaurant (Pictures 1-6) and the ambitious, beautiful IBRAAZ at 93 Mortimer Street. The latter, a four-storey building has a large exhibition gallery (currently showing the excellent ‘Parliament of Ghosts’ by Ibrahim Mahama Pictures 7-14), a cinema, library, large meeting room, a cafe and a bookshop which specialises in the Middle East and North Africa - with many books on Gaza.
————————————-
This Tunisian initiative, the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, a registered charity, describes the project as ‘a brave space for debate over dogma, inquiry over assumption where culture becomes a way of reclaiming our shared humanity’.
HEAR, HEAR … ❤️

When I planned to spend the afternoon at the Royal Academy, I didn’t expect to come across any London material … but I WAS WRONG.
In his London Bridge painting, the black American artist Kerry James Marshall focuses on the displacement of the famous landmark from the river Thames to the American desert at Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
In the centre of the painting a black man carries a sandwich board advertising Olaudah’s Fish & Chips, a reference to the former slave turned writer, Olaudah Equiano, who played a major role in the Abolition movement (depicted in the circular portrait).
Marshall draws a parallel between the common destinies of the bridge - displaced from its natural London environment to the Americas - and Equiano’s forced displacement from Africa to America then London.
————————
In the section ‘Africa Revisited’ Marshall also chose to focus on the two ‘White Queens’ of Africa, one of which, Londoner Ruth Williams, chose to marry Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana. The controversial marriage took place in London in 1948. In another significant act of displacement, the artist set his painting of the wedding in the ‘White Queen’s adopted country’, in front of the modernist General Assembly building in Gaborone.
——————-
Marshall’s paintings are bold, impactful, inventive, at times mysterious, at other times, the depth of interpretation will BLOW YOUR MIND!

Thrilling BOOK LAUNCH at Hackney Downs last Saturday! It was ‘Tessa Dunkin’s Hackney Mosaic Project’ at the Pavilion. My favourite type of launch when there are things to see and experience: visiting the workshop, meeting the makers and enjoying Tessa’s wonderful mosaics in the flesh. Do go and see the Hounds of Hackney Downs AND the Playground Shelter in the park! —————
I love her mosaics - they are beautiful, alive, serene and healing with their soft colours and gorgeous designs. The book is available from Spitalfields Life Books at https://spitalfieldslife.bigcartel.com/product/tessa-hunkins-hackney-mosaic-project

ART versus REALITY. Which is the most vibrant, the most alive?
——————————————————
Alexandra Blum is fortunate in having a studio overlooking the Thames Barrier and the vast industrial landscape of Woolwich Riverside. She finds the location deeply inspiring … And I find her work more vibrant than life!

There has been much raving about the newly opened V&A Museum Store in the Olympic Park (Stratford). The outside is disappointing but the interior lives up to the hype: it is incredibly PHOTOGENIC!
————————————
It was also liberating to wander around the place, led by my eyes only, without following a set narrative or a curator’s intention or feeling obliged to absorb endless historical facts.
——————-
There are very few captions, only for large landmark exhibits - for instance the surprising acquisition of a fragment from the Robin Hood Gardens estate, demolished in 2018 (picture 2), a perfect fit for the Museum of London …
The strapping and packing of objects became a thing of beauty and I noted a small army of women constantly polishing the glass barriers.
There is another museum store which took my breath away when I visited it in 2023: The Depot of Museum Boijmans van Beunigen in Rotterdam (the last two pictures). Also recommended.

I fell under the charm of the quirkiest bookshop in London: Word on the Water. It is housed in a canal boat moored along the Regents Canal at King’s Cross. I enjoyed both the originality of the venue and the choice of books.
————————————-
I fight a daily battle against acquiring more books … but I could not resist the appeal of this wonderful bookshop and bought a small book. I would never have been able to spot it in a Waterstones bookshop! At the cash desk they asked whether I wanted the book stamped and I gladly said yes to the delightful miniature barge. ❤️

Since 2021, the painter Graham Crowley has been curating yearly exhibitions in his studio/gallery at Wickham Market (Suffolk) under the title ‘Silent Disco’. He says he brings artists together who deserve to better known! He selects the artists and they select their work (one per artist).
——————————————————Graham the curator has described his state of mind in a fascinating 2023 catalogue called ‘The Tyranny of Ambition’. There he admits that he has abandoned his search for approval ‘I’ve learnt to set my own agenda’. He also quotes the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein:
‘I don’t know why we’re here, but I’m pretty sure it’s not to enjoy ourselves’. Having described the artists he selected in warm and loving terms, he concludes his essay ‘Enjoy’. If ever there was a contradiction in terms … And yet, both statements are true! ————————————————-The show is fully recorded on Graham’s website (under Films) with his lively commentary … but I had the privilege of visiting it with @ferhafarooqui and it was magical. At times there is a silent dialogue between the small paintings and large counterpart images (Lotz, Jenkins). Pictures
1. Amber Khokhar 2. Ferha Farooqui 3&4. Josie Jenkins (and Velasquez) 5&6. Lothar Gotz (and Towner Art Gallery) 7. Harriet Mena Hill 8&9. Graham Crowley

Back to ENJOYING London after a period of calm and reflection … Oh the range of it, the depth of it, and the joy of it! In no particular order:
1. Martin Creed at Camden Arts Projects (finishing on 29 June)
2. Guided tour of the Anthony Rudolph Collection (Anthony was the partner of and model for Paula Rego), Ben Uri Gallery 3. Meeting the author of the Tarot of Versailles at The Book Elephant. 4. Ancient India , living traditions; British Museum exhibition

The NLA - New London Architecture - is currently housed in Guildhall’s former business library in the City. There they have two fabulous MODELS of London, one of which shows 240,000 buildings across a 200 km2 area (Pictures 1 & 2).
I went specifically to hear a talk about the mapping of South Asian history, using the large London model. This was fascinating in many ways and based on the SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY LONDON MAP published by Blue Crow Media. It is so exciting to see ‘alternative’ histories being integrated into main stream history. Though it’s a pity this map was not better produced because its mission matters.
Pictures 1& 2. NLA London model; 3. Ayah’s Home in Hackney for Indian Ayahs and Chinese Amahs (nannies); 4. Bushra Mohamed; 5. Jagonari Asian Women’s Centre; 6. The South Asian History London Map

I was pleasantly surprised by my visit to Van Gogh’s House. It was derelict when it was first brought to the public’s attention but what a transformation now! The guided tour was excellent, the weather glorious and the trees in full bloom (in the neighbourhood, not at the house). Recommended!

This is the face of the SON OF GOD , and it is in London! At St George’s Cathedral in Southwark (opposite the Imperial War Museum). This exhibition of extraordinary photographs focuses on the elusive Turin Shroud, which was believed to have enveloped the body of Christ - Picture 5 shows you how, also the horizontal representation of the shroud held by angels. —————————-

Even if you make the trip to Turin, you will not be able to see the original which hardly ever goes on public display. So this is an excellent way of coming to grips with this extraordinary relic. —————————

While I was visiting this free exhibition, school children were rehearsing a song for the mass celebrated in homage to Oscar Romero, the murdered Archbishop of San Salvador.

To lunch or dine at the Clink Restaurant in BRIXTON PRISON is quite an experience. Security is a top concern and by the time they have finished with you, nothing is left to carry except your Visa card to pay the bill.
“Your meal is cooked and served by prisoners training towards gaining their accredited qualifications. By dining with us, you are giving them a valuable learning experience .”
————————-
How was the meal? Sophisticated and utterly delicious. I had crispy pork and garnish followed by a large oyster mushroom with tasty accompaniments, fantastic chunky chips and a blood orange pie with meringue topping. No alcohol. The phones being banned there are no photographs of the food - it’s a pity because it was beautifully presented. I left with a bittersweet feeling - worthy and well intentioned scheme but the gap between the two worlds feels so wide … The rural Brixton mill is just a short walk away and it was a very refreshing end to the day.

THRILLING news: the wonderful new bookshop at Elephant & Castle has started taking in our publications. It is The Book Elephant owned by Tim and Kasia Wrobel (photo 2). They opened on 24 December 2024 after many frustrating delays but have been going strong ever since. It’s a really lively venue which serves tea and coffee, ant the hope one day of introducing beer!
At weekends when it’s really busy the bookshop is in the hands of the lovely Lucia and Eva (photo 4).
I’ve started volunteering there one day a week … Why? The start of a new venture? WATCH THIS SPACE …

My friends have been raving about the Towner Art Gallery exhibition - ‘Drawing the Unspeakable’. I was curious and escaped to Eastbourne for a day.
It is an extraordinary show: the drawings of course but also the terrific curation of father (David) and daughter (Lisa) Dimbleby. Their texts -with dialogues- are beautiful and not only throw light on the works on display but also why they were chosen. Outstanding and very moving. The exhibition ends on 27 April.
From the INTRODUCTION: ‘What do we do when a situation feels unspeakable? When our body is disturbed - unsettled by emotion, fraught with feeling, which cannot be put into words. When speech does not release the disturbance, but distorts or augments it, or when a mouth is blocked and words do not come at all.’

‘VAN GOGH BREAKS RECORDS AT NATIONAL GALLERY. The show was the Museum’s most popular ticketed exhibition’ reports the Museums Journal (online, 23 January 2025). The selection of paintings was outstanding and so was their presentation against beautifully coordinated colours. But Van Gogh’s slim connection with London was not mentioned, understandably. If you would like to catch up with it, check our publication ‘The Streatham Sketchbook’ (available on Amazon). Streatham was indeed the key location in this instance …

Very moving tribute to the life and work of Timothy Hyman at the Royal Academy today: lots of testimonials to celebrate this artist’s passion for life and art. Emotional and inspiring … ❤️❤️

Hew Locke’s exhibition at the British Museum is PROFOUNDLY moving. This artist provides such an important testimony to the deep, deep roots of our western culture - the British Museum is a major London institution which is too easy to trust without questioning. Full marks to them for commissioning this searching and soft spoken artist to challenge the hidden life of museum objects.
——————————
“Do objects belong here, or in their place of origin? What is their place of origin? I have my opinions. Things change and shift and opinions differ. Everything is fluid” writes the artist.
——————————
So much emotion in this soulful exhibition! DO GO.

Will you be moved as much as I was by the exhibition ‘In the Footsteps of the East London Group’ at the Nunnery Gallery? It bridges past and present in one clever move - the show juxtaposes the historic work of the East London Group (ELG) born in Bethnal Green in the late 1920s with that of contemporary artists. The latter have been asked to choose a historic work that resonates and produce a response to it.
———————————————————————————————
After the tumultuous years of WWI and its aftermath, the working class men and women of the ELG opted to paint subdued, poetic works, simplifying their cityscapes to essential blocks bathing in a soft, dreamy atmosphere broken by the occasional human silhouette or the slightly surreal intrusion of posts, sticks or branches.
—————————————————————————————
The first five pictures (details) are by the ELG, the last five (more details) by contemporary artists, ALL treating East London subjects - what do you think? I find restlessness and complexity have replaced the calm, pensive approach of the 1930s-40s. Explosive, vibrant colour has replaced the restricted palette of the earlier generation. FASCINATING comparison.
1. Elwin Hawthorne 2. Walter Steggles 3. Elwin Hawthorne 4. Harold Steggles 5. Elwin Hawthorne 6. Michael Johnson 7. Ferha Farooqui 8. Gethin Evans 9. Tim Craven 10. Alexandra Bloom. NUNNERY GALLERY until 22 December

The painter Timothy Hyman died this week, very unexpectedly. He had been a friend for well over 30 years. His two muses - his wife, Judith and his city, London were a constant source of inspiration.

He was also passionate about Pierre Bonnard and narrative painting (from medieval manuscripts and early Sienese painting to the contemporary work of Jiro Osuga and Bhupen Khakhar). He wrote books about these, but he would also weave some of these unlikely themes into his own paintings.
He was a deeply north bank man, calling South London ‘Terra Incognita’ in the painting ‘My London Cosmos’. Despite that he occupies a prominent place in the artists’ chapter of our latest book: ‘London’s South Bank - A History’. Oblivious to the clash of time, his ‘Utopian Thoughts while Crossing Waterloo Bridge’ pays homage to his absolute favourite painting, a 14th-century fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in Siena. Siena in his mind, Siena in London …
YOU WILL BE MISSED TIM ❤️ ————————————
1. Tim Hyman in 2019
2. And 3. Were purchased by the Museum of London: ‘Night Bus’ (1981-5) & ‘At Barbican Station’ (1991-3) 4. ‘Utopian Thoughts while crossing Waterloo Bridge’ (detail), 2009 (Private Collection)

One of my secret pleasures when going round the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is to catch up with artists I have met, those who have become friends and/or those who have been reproduced in Your London Publishing books. The selection is not exhaustive and in no particular order:
———-
1. Jock McFadyen 2. Sarah Medway 3. Tim Hyman (x2). 4. J’aime Gili. 5. Gethin Evans. So good to see you there!

The Waterloo Festival ‘Gardens, Rivers and Marshes’ was such a joyous occasion at St John’s church … outside (jazz) and inside (exhibitions in the crypt). The paintings of Lisbon born Joao Simoes-Brown looked like precious stones on the crypt’s austere brick walls and the photographs of Steve Hollingshead, projected, were an incredible record of 30 years of photography in this special neighbourhood.
An inspiring event, well attended and blessed with sunshine. What a church can do for its congregation …

On this day four years ago, when London had been struck by the pandemic, my son, whom I had not seen for three months, came to visit me in my Shortlands home (London Borough of Bromley). He was with his partner and they brought large beautiful strawberries and other fresh produce. They were also bearers of life-affirmation news: the arrival of a baby for the following January.
————-
I was heavily masked and we met outside. It was unreal then and still seemed unreal now, but the WALL of HEARTS along the Albert Embankment bears testimony to these extraordinary times and my three year old granddaughter, once a COVID baby, is a radiant, clever little girl. Life and death are so closely intertwined … ❤️

I delightfully lost myself in the landscapes of Jock McFadyen at the weekend … the subject matter hovered between Bethnal Green and Scotland, with occasional leaps of the imagination, for instance Bethnal Green and Mont Blanc united in a single picture. Mostly large paintings dominated by a still and glorious sky, the urban sprawl is reduced to a thin strip glittering with lights but otherwise lost in the immensity of the cosmos. This is a selection of details. To see the real thing, head for the Grey Gallery in Helmsley Place, Hackney next weekend - open between 12.00 and 5.00 pm

St Paul’s Cathedral seems to be the great winner in the current (wonderful) show at Guildhall Art Gallery: Anne Desmet - Kaleidoscope London.

The Royal Academician is riveted by the use of a Kaleidoscope on her two favourite cities - London and Rome, metamorphosing both in surprising ways. At times, this new look on cities drives the artist to produce cosmic imagery - the last picture, planet visiting, inspired by Antoine de St Exupery’s ‘Little Prince’.

To understand early paintings of London, you have to look abroad. After Antwerp (which has very strong links with London) my quest took me to Spain and one painting in particular: ‘El Greco’s View and Plan of Toledo’ housed in this city’s wonderful El Greco house and museum. It is dated around 1610-14. At that date the image of London was still in black and white. The earliest oil painting ‘London from Southwark’ dates from around 1630.

Exhilarating visit to the newly opened Drawing Room, Tannery Arts. Nestled within the historic compound of Bermondsey Pickle Factory, the neighbourhood is a blend of old and new - a really attractive recipe, well worth a visit. The Drawing Room is sited in a new building , adjoining an old one reconverted into residential flats.
The exhibition ‘The Time of our Lives’ has been carefully curated to fit the ‘pioneering drawing practices of women artists’. 1. Sonia Boyce. 2. Sutapa Biswas. 3. Claudette Johnson

Hugely enjoyable immersive exhibition in Clink Street (next to the prison). The multi-media show attempts to capture the soul of Seoul in Korea through images and music in a series of twelve tableaux including ‘Urban Pulse’, ‘Goblins’ and ‘The Moon’. With treasure hunt thrown in for good measure … and reward on the way out!
Cheaper during the week and with the usual reductions for the young and the old.
This is partly on the site of the late Vinopolis and before that of the extraordinary’H. G.’ Exhibition (Artangel).

PREPARING A GUIDED TOUR OF THE SOUTH BANK: in and around the Imperial War Museum (formerly the Bethlehem Hospital). The gallery ‘Visions of War’ is really worth a visit. Great selection of pictures, excellently captioned and including extraordinary film footage.
On the day I visited I also popped into ST GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL (Catholic), just across the road, where the Filipino community was celebrating the 15th Feast of Sto Nino. What a contrast! Life and Death side by side …. ———————
1. Digital collage with Tony Blair, 2007, kennardphillipps 2. Dead Germans in a trench (detail), 1918, William Orpen. 3. Belsen: April 1945 (detail), Doris Zinkeisen 4. Malta Convoy: Basuto Deal with Overflow Mail on the Causeway, the Palace, Valletta (detail), 1943, Leslie Cole. 5. The Menin Road (detail), 1919, Paul Nash. 6. General view Imperial War Museum 7-10 Filipino Festival, St George’s Cathedral

To win over Dagenham to the magic of art is probably one of the most difficult things in the world! But the energetic Katja Rosenberg is trying to do just that under the pseudonym of Art Catcher.
She coordinated the creation of the Dagenham mosaic outside the Dagenham Heathway station. Alas, most of it is now hidden by a more or less permanent double stall selling clothes.
In the increasingly joyless Dagenham Heathway shopping centre, Katja has taken over a tiny shop window, the ‘Pink Tardis’, at the back entrance of the shopping centre, where she presents tiny exhibitions drawn from local talent. The latest is centred on six-year old Eleonora, so young and so gifted. Congratulations …

Antony Gormley’s exhibition ‘Body Politic’ at the White Cube Gallery, is extraordinary. I will single out ‘Resting Place’ because in one magisterial swoop, it settles the age-old question: is a city defined by its walls or by its people?
An aerial view of this large installation reveals an accumulation of BODIES, each made up of purpose-made bricks and presented in a variety of positions (including some yoga poses). But on entering the room, the installation looks like the BUILDING BLOCKS of a city, blending walls and people in perfect harmony.
For centuries many, many artists have felt more comfortable choosing one or the other. This ‘reconciliation’ is SO satisfying …

For an authentic taste of Christmas, I would urge everyone to visit London’s suburbs where clever interior designers definitely do not rule. Avoid Hampstead or Richmond, here I serve you Dagenham …!

I felt a real Christmas blast on my way to Imad’s Syrian Kitchen near Carnaby Street. There is really delicious food to be had at Imad’s who fled Damascus after the Arab spring. He was one of those illegal immigrants Britain is so raging about, but London is now the richer for it. His story has been woven into the pages of his recently published book: ‘Imad’s Syrian Kitchen - A Love Letter from Damascus to London’.

Check our SPECIAL OFFER on Your London Publishing website (link in bio) - three ground-breaking London books in one go, with free postage and packing.