Steam Works

Steam Works is a non-commercial exhibition space in Wandsworth, dedicated to presenting ambitious solo and group exhibitions. Curated by Kirsten Cooke from 2023 to 2025, the programme was developed in collaboration with Mark Nader, director of WIP Space—an artist studio complex housed in a converted Georgian listed building where the gallery is based. Kirsten continues to advise on the programme.

The gallery launched in October 2023 with Welcome to Ratcatcher's Song and Dance Plague Band for Good Dogs by Dale Holmes. From the outset, Steam Works has supported artists at various stages of their careers, fostering intergenerational exchange and placing an emphasis on queering and decolonising the gallery space. The programme also engages with critical questions around capitalism and class. Annual group exhibitions have been shaped in part by Kirsten’s curatorial research project Fluid Ground, which explores exhibition-making through the lens of immersion—particularly via water—as an alternative to dominant modes of spatial control.

Originally operating on an invitation-only basis, Steam Works encouraged public engagement through scheduled openings and gallery hours. The space is now programmed in-house, presenting four exhibitions annually: two solo shows drawn from WIP Space’s Residency artists and two invited practitioners.

Steam Works has traditionally been open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays (12 noon – 6pm), with exhibition openings typically held on Thursday evenings from 6–9pm.