It’s always a pleasure visiting Croydon Art Space, the gallery that’s tucked behind a bright blue shop front on Lower Addiscombe Road, just five minutes walk north of East Croydon Station.

On Wednesday I popped in on the penultimate week of the current group show ‘Modern-Day Art’ to meet the gallery owner and curator Paul Hall for a tour.

The gallery’s three rooms show eclectic work from 23 artists, ranging from emerging local talent to members of the Croydon Art Society, The London Group and Blackheath Art Society. Paul has curated Room 1 to be almost exclusively the work of Croydon-based artists, in room 2 he mixes local artists with ones from across London, whilst he dedicates Room 3 solely to one artist.

As luck would have it, while Paul was showing me around, Georgie, the artist exhibiting in Room 3, called in to say hello. Georgie, until recently worked from her gallery and studio space half a mile along Lower Addiscombe Road, hidden above her parents’ dry cleaners. I visited the space last May and was blown away by the immersive nature of her work, which explored themes of war and destruction and in particular focussed on her Greek Cypriot heritage and the horrific Cyprus conflict of 1974. Sadly Georgie’s gallery and studio has since been sold, and she went through the painstaking process of painting over all of her work (which covered the walls there), before she vacated the space. Room 3 of this exhibition includes a film of her removing this work. There are also several of her paintings, some which I had experienced previously in her gallery – it’s interesting how they seem to shift their meaning now they sit in a different space. My favourite work in Room 3 however, is ‘The painting of 500 metres’ which I had also seen in her gallery. Before, it meandered along one entire wall of a room. Here in Croydon Art Space, it is packed tightly into an alcove, all undulating curls and patterns, and I marvelled at it anew.

With 23 very different artists exhibiting, I’m not able to mention them all here. But I just have to pick out a few of my favourite works from Rooms 1 and 2.

In Room 1, I very much enjoyed Elizabeth Knapp’s Fluid Flower series (‘Fluid Flower: Black, Gold & Green’ shown below left). Elizabeth is a Thornton Heath-based artist who works in resin and is inspired by nature but giving it a surreal twist.

Hannah Luxton’s ‘With Twilight as my Guide’(below right) felt both calming and intriguing. Hannah is an established artist who exhibits widely across the UK and in Europe. Her work explores Romanticism and Animism and the natural world.

In Room 2, David Weekes ‘Love it or Hate it’ Marmite painting (below left) made me smile, as well as making my tummy rumble! (Well, my visit was just before lunch). 22 years ago David quit his job in finance to study art. He now works from a studio in South East London and creates work through observation in a variety of subjects. Last year he took part in the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV programme.

I loved the colours in David Wolverson’s Crystal Palace subway painting (below right). And it obviously takes a designer to spot a designer, as David (who initially trained Bookbinding and Calligraphy) ran design studios in the Midlands, Yorkshire, and Germany before going freelance.

Daisy McCullan’s flower painting ‘Glimmers (I Couldn’t Wait to See You)’ felt magical – plus what a great title! (detail, below left). Daisy, who is both an artist and curator, explores nature and place in her art, with the works often becoming emotional documents, depicting unseen feeling as much as recording the world that we can see.

And last but not least, Kate Bowdery’s series of blue organic works were fascinating, feeling serene and other-worldly (detail of one, below right). Katie’s practice is driven by unanswerable questions, often concerning perception, belief systems, and the rituals of everyday life.

Have I whet your appetite to go and find your favourites? Whether you’re drawn to Glimmers, marmite, ‘The painting of 500 metres’ or something completely different, it’s a show that rewards a closer look. You have until next Thursday to book a visit…

Croydon Art Space is located at 41 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon CR0 6PQ. The gallery is open Tuesdays 10am to 2pm, Thursdays 3pm to 7pm and Saturdays 10am to 2pm. Book a free ticket on Eventbrite in advance here. 

The current exhibition runs until next Thursday, 30 April 2026.

Find out more about the gallery on their website and follow them on Instagram. 

Thanks as always to Paul for the tour.

Images by the Croydonist

Posted by Julia