When I went down to London in February to attend Margin I decided I was going to make a bit of a pilgrimage to Concrete Hermit, and since they were located pretty near to The Park and To Be Confirmed shows that I was going to attend I decided I’d be stupid not visit them after writing about Concrete Hermit so much in the past.
In hindsight, the gallery is actually quite easy to find, but because I had a lame printout from Google Maps to guide me it took about 30 minutes walking and stopping several people (most of whom seemed as lost as me) to find them when they’re only about 10 minutes brisk walk from Liverpool Street Station. Located on a fairly quiet street not far from the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane, a street that is famous for curry, art, clothes and graffiti, pretty much in that order. The Concrete Hermit gallery has the appearance of a regular shop, except with a lot less stuff in it. This is a conscious decision that has been made to separate the exhibition space from the sales area, which I think helps them to maintain the ambiance of a gallery in the front of the space when you walk in, you aren’t immediately confronted with items that you can buy, I think that’s important and helps you understand what the CH team want their gallery to be like.
Of course, you can buy things in the gallery as well. Almost everything that is available in their online shop is available in the gallery, and if it isn’t out I suspect that they’d be able to get it for you since, if I remember correctly, their storage space is either located in the basement of the gallery or somewhere very nearby. It was good to get hands on with their t-shirt offerings after recommending them so many time, and I wasn’t disappointed with the quality of their high-end tee offerings, soft tees and soft, vibrant prints are to be found in abundance on their racks, so I’m happy to keep recommending them. Whilst I don’t think it is possible to buy the original works that are on show in the exhibition space, it is usually possible to buy a print or poster from the same artist, and also a t-shirt which has been designed by the artist exclusively for their exhibition at the gallery.
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