Bloxham Galleries

John Bloxham has been an art dealer and gallery owner on St John's Hill for 30 years;

firstly in 1978 with his friend Nick Underwood-Thompson at number 223 and now his own eponymous gallery at number 129. John, not an artist himself, used to dedicate his focus to mainly watercolours from the 18th and 19th century. But now his exhibitions are dedicated to the most innovative and enlightening, living UK and International artists such as the brilliant Martin Fuller and Willi Kissmer. It was one of Bloxham's mentors that caused the shift: "Carel Weight taught at Royal College - David Hockney, Peter Blake - he lived down the road and he became a great friend." It was Carel that encouraged John to show contemporary art and soon he found it much more fun than dealing with dead artists...!

The John Bloxham Gallery is open to all, children and even dogs wont be excluded, everyone is welcome to pop in and browse. This place really is a long way from from the stuffy, West-End galleries and John feels he has only gained by staying local, rather than joining the marble-floored exhibitors up town. Running a relaxed gallery and showing fantastic artists such as the a young Battersea-based Mexican, Magdalena Velazquez, John Bloxham has quite rightly cultivated a strong network of loyal supporters. To select what to exhibit, the owner asks himself if he would hang new art at his own Earlsfield home, before giving it space on the gallery wall. His exhibitions are not limited only to his own gallery - a few weeks ago he invited me to a showing in north London Nightclub of a photographer of musical icons from the 70's and 80's, indeed 'Joe Bangay ' is still a 'Rock and Roll photographer in his 80's!

This no-pressure art dealer may not be an artist himself, but has certainly supported the development of many great talents over the years. One of the best-known faces on the Hill, John deserves his reputation as a corner-stone of the local creative community. Most often to be found in the gallery, on hand to speak to anyone interested in art, he actively encourages discussion on the subject and no opinions are dismissed. Works on show range through all the disciplines. and you are invited to view during opening times, by appointment or whenever there is anyone in.I would like to thank John for supporting the StJohnsHill.co.uk project and invite all readers to visit his dedicated page www.johnbloxham.com to see more details of upcoming shows.