Gay Camberwell

by Layla


First, the art. On Friday night a group of us took ourselves to not one but two local private views in a Camberwell gallery hopping extravaganza. First up was the excellent GX Gallery, who had a new show of the top students' work from the local art colleges. Cue a diverse and interesting array of art, to be enjoyed over a free glass of wine in the rather lovely setting of the GX Gallery. I must confess I had underestimated this gallery. Of course there is the nice framing/card shop on the ground floor, and I was aware of the sleek gallery round the side, all sliding glass doors and stark white walls and black tiles. It's a small area. I had failed to realise there is a staircase to a large and intriguing lower level which sports exposed brick, quirky original features, and some unusual art display options. The private view was absolutely packed full of the artists and their friends in arty, fashionable garb and the air was ringing with 'darling's... In fact we even ran into an artist friend from the days of lesbian exhibition club. And coveted a cool sign saying 'Camberwell Green'. Alas that wasn't for sale...

After that, it was a saunter down Coldharbour Lane to the Red Gate Gallery, always a favourite, mainly due to their very sweet little bar, and pretty fairylight-adorned cobblestone lane to access the gallery. The lane is shared by a theatrical props company and on Friday they were working flat out on an array of Notting Hill Carnival costumes, so we squeezed past the bright glitter and silks to the show. We're rarely overwhelmed with the art here, but it is more experimental and quirky than the GX, with a highly diverse programme that changes every week, and a very sweet and enthusiastic gallery owner. And, on Friday, free quiche, which was extra pleasing...

But we at Gay Camberwell are not all about the art. As blog readers will know, Roz and I have been dreaming of playing ping pong ever since Ping London erected a table in Camberwell Green. We bought bats and balls specially. But due to its extreme popularity, despite passing it about a hundred times, day and night, we can never manage to find the table unoccupied. Today, cycling home from the Brixton Ritzy, we spotted it was free. We zoomed home for our bats and balls and started playing with glee. We were not alone for more than about three points. A man started watching. Then another. Then a little boy. We started to feel self conscious, but then we got into it - everyone was loving the ping pong, giving us advice, keeping the score, running after the ball after an overvigorous shot. One guy told us our ball was too light and let us borrow his. Then I played someone. Then more people played. And there we were, a wide range of races and backgrounds, all playing ping pong together. When we left someone else had produced bats and people were settling in for the evening. Roz and I were so impressed that we have written to the Council to ask them to install a table permanently.

The art in Camberwell is clearly here to stay. Let's hope we can say the same of the ping pong...