Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
“The whole point of doing it in Tottenham was to try and engage a community who haven’t got contemporary art on their doorstep,” says Justin Hammond, who curates the gallery as well as helping to put out the biannual magazine. He’s also, handily, a Tottenham fan, and enjoys the bonus of getting an official space in the stadium car park. “We wanted it to be the opposite of a Mayfair gallery, which can sometimes be a bit intimidating.”
The current exhibition runs until 21 November and is called Balls. The source material is the same for each work but the resulting pieces vary enormously. One is cast in concrete, while another is sculpted in ceramic; others look like death masks and one is covered in fantastically lifelike nipples. Of the artists involved, some were existing football fans whereas others would never have considered creating an artwork with the sport at its core.
And what of the football fans who would have never previously considered walking into a gallery? Are those who are more comfortable with, say, Gareth Bale using the San Siro as his canvas, or Lucas Moura showing his artistry in Amsterdam, open to engaging with what they find within? “Football can be a gateway to art,” says Hammond. “When someone enters the gallery, they understand what’s going on. But if people want to dig a bit deeper, there are all these incredible back stories. And they don’t feel embarrassed asking because they’re comfortable in that environment.”
And have any Spurs types been in? “Yeah, Ledley King,” says Hammond. “He actually kicked one of the exhibits – he apologised and said he couldn’t help himself. Telling off a Spurs legend is weird.”
Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
“The whole point of doing it in Tottenham was to try and engage a community who haven’t got contemporary art on their doorstep,” says Justin Hammond, who curates the gallery as well as helping to put out the biannual magazine. He’s also, handily, a Tottenham fan, and enjoys the bonus of getting an official space in the stadium car park. “We wanted it to be the opposite of a Mayfair gallery, which can sometimes be a bit intimidating.”
The current exhibition runs until 21 November and is called Balls. The source material is the same for each work but the resulting pieces vary enormously. One is cast in concrete, while another is sculpted in ceramic; others look like death masks and one is covered in fantastically lifelike nipples. Of the artists involved, some were existing football fans whereas others would never have considered creating an artwork with the sport at its core.
And what of the football fans who would have never previously considered walking into a gallery? Are those who are more comfortable with, say, Gareth Bale using the San Siro as his canvas, or Lucas Moura showing his artistry in Amsterdam, open to engaging with what they find within? “Football can be a gateway to art,” says Hammond. “When someone enters the gallery, they understand what’s going on. But if people want to dig a bit deeper, there are all these incredible back stories. And they don’t feel embarrassed asking because they’re comfortable in that environment.”
And have any Spurs types been in? “Yeah, Ledley King,” says Hammond. “He actually kicked one of the exhibits – he apologised and said he couldn’t help himself. Telling off a Spurs legend is weird.”
Walking from Seven Sisters tube station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the ground rears up on the horizon long before you reach it. It starts as a silvery sliver that seems to be sitting across the entire end of High Road; then the street dips and you lose sight of it behind shops and trees. When it appears again it’s bigger, bulkier – a marvel of majesty and modernity.
Get closer still and Haringey’s answer to the Colosseum is all that the eye can see. Except it isn’t – because there, right next to the club shop, is the quiet grandeur of the Grade II-listed Warmington House. Built in 1828, the Georgian townhouse is an historical anomaly in the shadow of such gargantuan newfangledness. But that only makes it all the more striking, which is an appropriate adjective when you step inside: there are footballs everywhere.
Not, however, ones that can be kicked. For this is the inaugural exhibition at the brand new OOF Gallery, an independent contemporary space opened by the team behind art-meets-football magazine OOF. They’ve been curating exhibitions around London for three years; now they have a permanent home.
