FRONT ROOM – 10 Years of BSMT

The show runs from September 4th to September 28th, 2025.

Join us for the private view of ‘Front Room’ on September 4th, 6–10pm, for an evening of art, music and celebration!

FRONT ROOM, our anniversary exhibition, is both a celebration and reflection: revisiting the roots of the basement gallery, acknowledging the tenacity that has carried it forward and celebrating the community and creativity that has shaped our journey as we look towards the future of this ever-changing space.

It will feature works by:616, Aches, Ador, Dave Buonaguidi, Donk, Dscreet, Duncan Weston, Errol, Gokcen, Jonesy, Louis Michel, Malarko, Naive John, Neoh, Nick Grindrod, Nuno, Perspicere, Rosie Woods, RYCA, RUN, Russell Herron, SAD, Skeleton Cardboard, SNIK, SODA, Sonny Sundancer, Sophie Mess, Stefan Stanjevic.

This September marks ten years since the unlikely beginning of BSMT Gallery. What started in a disused Dalston basement has grown into one of London’s most recognised independent spaces for Urban and Contemporary art.

Back in 2015, Lara and Greg - strangers then, now partners in both life and work - met through chance, a shared love of art and a passion for the new wave of Urban artists painting London’s streets at the time. With no direct gallery experience, no audience and no plan beyond fierce determination and naive optimism they transformed an empty basement into a gallery. The early days were chaotic, raw, and relentless- exhibitions ran while they lived in the basement, their ‘front room’ thrown open to the public. It was intimate and wholly unpolished but it was alive. One show at a time, BSMT carved out its place, persevering through challenges that would have seen off a less stubborn endeavour.

A decade on, the journey has been anything but straightforward. The gallery has opened and closed countless times in response to life’s unpredictability: the birth of their child, the turbulence of the pandemic, the upheavals of moving spaces and economic changes. BSMT has been in constant evolution, each setback has only deepened the resolve to continue, each milestone a reminder of how far this little family-run space has come.

Yet with each challenge came evolution. By year five BSMT had relocated above ground to Kingsland Road, cementing itself as a fixture in Dalston’s cultural landscape.

Now, in disbelief and in gratitude, BSMT stands ten years on cementing itself as a fixture in London’s cultural landscape, still rooted in Dalston and still propelled by the same energy that lit up that first basement.