Tales from the Colony Rooms recounts the genesis of the modern and contemporary art scene that was cultivated by the artists who passed through the doors of the Colony Rooms, the infamous private members club for artists and writers in London. The exhibition presents works of art by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, R. B. Kitaj, F. N. Souza, Frank Auerbach, John Deakin, Daniel Farson, Bruce Bernard, Nina Hamnett, Isabel Rawsthorne, Michael Clark, Sir Peter Blake, Eduardo Paolozzi, Patrick Caulfield, Darren Coffield, Daniel Chadwick, Amelia Troubridge, David Bailey, Sarah Lucas, Maggi Hambling, Cecily Brown, Marc Quinn, Matt Collishaw, Keith Coventry, Nick Reynolds, and many more artists.
The exhibition is accompanied by the official release of the book, Tales from the Colony: Soho's Last Bohemia, by Darren Coffield. The book is an oral history, composed of previously unpublished and long-lost interviews with many of the protagonists and artists who were central to the bohemian art scene; giving the reader a real flavour of what it was like to frequent the Colony Rooms.
