Blink at Safehouse, Peckham, London SE15 – September 2024 – Now before anything else, Blink is an excellent show (and the one next door is rather decent as well), there’s some really really interesting work in here, there’s some gorgeous paintings in here, if you get a chance over the weekend, and it really is a case of blink and you miss it, it is only on for this weekend, if you do get a chance then you really really should try and go. It was rather packed for the opening night last night, it felt like an event, a couple of events actually, there are two Safehouse spaces, Safehouse One and Two, two halves of the same rather derelict semi-detached house on a Peckham side street. Blink is happening in one side, the other is occupied by (ex?) Royal College of Art students – actually that RCA side is very vague in terms of the who, what and where (didn’t see any advance publicity or listings or anything much, who knows?). Blink is the reason to be here, the reason for an overseas trip on the overground, train ride over the water to Peckham from Hackney rather than staying on this side of town for last night’s openings over here. We’re over in South London reasonably early on a Friday night that feels like it is getting ready to kick off (in a good way) in Peckham. I like Safehouse, I like showing work in Safehouse, it is my kind of white cube, you do wonder how safe it actually is when there’s this many people tramping over what’s left of the floorboards in the semi darkness, it does feel like a Summer venue to me and the nights are starting to draw in now, this is a dark space that needs as much natural light as it can grab.

So both sides of the gallery are busy, it is good when openings coincide, there’s good work to be found in both exhibitions, there are some gorgeous paintings in here on the Blink side of things, some smaller pieces luring in the shadows that really are worth searching out, Blink is impressing. Actually is it called Blink or is it called Room Share? This is the 6th Room Share from Blink, different curator in each of the rooms in the house, a format that really works, like I already said this is an excellent show. There’s some gorgeous paintings in here, some beautiful pieces, but, and here comes the moan, who the hell has painted what?! And this applies to both shows – there’s no sign of even the simplest of labels, now and then there is a vague QR code thing, apparently the codes aren’t working (giving out the same information for more than one room), don’t ask me, I hate the things. There is a vague hand drawn map by the door of Blink’s show, but that’s impossible with all the people trying to squeeze in and the lack of light and the elbows in your face as you’re trying to make sense and ready the tine hand written squall in gloom. How hard is it to just put an artist’s name (if nothing else) on a small label? Someone tries to argue with me that to do that is hard work after you’ve spent all the time hanging the show and I should try doing it before I complain at others, I point out I have (and quite a few times), he still insists that labelling work is too much like hard work – tough, putting on shows is hard work, nothing is easy, tell us who’s painted what for flip sake! yes, I know I’m a mouthy git, and yes, I have a head full of really good paintings and pieces with no really idea who has painted what, there’s a couple of paintings I really really need a name for! There’s some absolutely gorgeous small pieces downstairs in the middle room of Blink, there’s another over there in the gloom of the corner that’s you’d hardly notice unless you were really looking, a small landscape, beautiful. Actually there great work here there and everywhere in here on the two floors of the Blink side of things and one or two rather impressive pieces on the other side of Safehouse as well. I’ve heard arguments that labels aren’t cool, that it isn’t the way to do things now according to the art school 101 manual, I tell you what, there will be a quiet conservative unobtrusive label underneath every single piece at Frieze next month! Part of a group show is surely informing people so said people who have made an effort to come to the show can go and find out more the artists who have impressed?

So yes, really strong show, really well hung, each of the six Blink rooms really well curated, coverall a really strong body of work, an excellent exhibition, well worth going back in the daylight without the (excited) crowds. Really good show, two really good shows, the lighting in the space is awful but that’s part of the (almost DIY punk rock) delight of Safehouse, you kind of know the the lighting will be bad, that the crowd on an opening night will kick up the brick dust and you’re contact lens won’t like it, you know all that and you still love the place. Ah hell, there’s a bag load of photos down there, I’ll do some research later on when today’s painting light has gone, do some poking around on bloody social media, see if I can put some names to some paintings and pieces, those names really are needed.

Blink/Room Share Six is an excellent group show, well worth your time, some strong work in here, some artists that require lots more exploring, do check back later see if any of the photos down there have names on, right now we know who is taking part of the show, we just don’t know who has done what. Better still, go see it yourself, you only have this weekend, it is rather recommended.  (sw) 

Blink: 5 Rooms, 5 Curators, 37 Artists…
Downstairs Front Room – The Hallett Room – Noemi Conan, Beverley Doyne, Emma Franks, Dido Hallett, Anna Sebastian, Sarah Pickstone, Dave and Tony
Downstairs Middle Room – The Johnson Room – At Home With The Copelands, Issy Eberlin, Tom Farthing, Luke Hannam, Lee Johnson, Henrietta Roeder, Jonathan Schofield, Zebedee Jones
Downstairs Back Room – The Angel Room – Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth – Min Angel, Ruth Calland, Lara Davies, Andrew Ekins, Juliette Ezaoui, Vanessa Mitter, Monica Perez Vega, Paige Perkins, Lottie Stoddart
Upstairs Mezanine Floor – The Soni Room – Hanging By A Thread – Karolina Albricht, Paul Kindersley, Lindsay Mapes, Martha Lowres, Ella Soni, Lucy Soni, Mita Vaghela
Upstairs Front Room – The Bedlow Room – Bijan Amini-Alavijeh, Helen Barff, Eleanor Bedlow, Johanna Bolton, Janet Currier, Amanda Knight, Tim Spooner

The Blink social media feed

Peckham Safehouse 1 and 2 are both found at 137 Copeland Road, Peckham, London SE15 3SN. The Blink show runs just on Saturday and Sunday 14th and15th September, the space is open midday until 6pm each day (no idea about the RCA student show next door or how long that is on for)

So, as always, click on an image to see the whole thing of to run the slide show, yes it was dark, yes it was crowded, taking photos wasn’t easy. Hopefully we’ll have some names on the pieces later…