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Sometimes an invite drops through the letterbox/inbox that can’t be turned down, even if it is the first school night after a heavy four day weekend. Such an invite was the opening of 71a Leonard Street, the new space inhabited by The Church of London.

TCOLondon is the creative agency behind Little White Lies and Huck magazine. Last Wednesday heralded the opening of their basement space with the exhibition ‘What We’re Doing; What We’ve Done’. The exhibition is a look back at the last seven years and consisted of pretty much the most beautiful prints I have ever seen encased in a space which is both sparse and arresting at the same time. The exhibition space is 100 square metres and hides a screening room with surround sound, a workshop and a lovely place just to hang out.

Tcl02The exhibition space itself is a large white room with plenty of scope to mould it how you see fit. The Church of London had hung prints from LWLies and Huck magazine along with some choice decal type quotes from previous interviewees such as Ryan Gosling and Adam Yauch. Outside the space is a perfectly formed area ripe for having a post work beer or a productive afternoon freelancing. The tables with old school gas taps for bunsen burners were a big hit with everyone, especially us as we sat watching the world go by. Upstairs is the 71a shop specialising in magazines curated by magCulture along with some other random, fun stuff.

As the night drew to a close and it was time to go home Liz from TCOLondon got chatting to us and explained their hopes for the space. Ultimately they want it to be a mix of screenings, exhibitions, lectures and a general cool place to hang out. With the state of the art sound and screening system in place the team are open to any ideas for events and I can confirm are very lovely, open and most importantly enthusiastic.

As we filed out we picked up our 71a tote to bring around town. The exhibition is open from the 11th to the 19th June between 11am and 4pm. I recommend you get yourself down there to marvel at the gorgeous prints and see a poignant quote from Adam Yauch, along with a beautiful photograph.

If that’s not enough and you want more join their mailing list to keep up to date with goings on. You won’t regret it.

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