Reopening of historic church art space

Artist Richard Wilson says it's the best space in which he’s ever exhibited. And having ensured its long term future with a £870,000 renovation, Dilston Grove will undoubtedly prove a rewarding site for other contemporary artists to realise their large-scale projects.

The Grade II listed Dilston Grove is the former Clare College Mission Church on the south-west corner of Southwark Park. Built by the original Wembley Stadium architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton in 1911, it’s the earliest example in England of a poured concrete construction. It was described as the finest modern church in south London at the time of its opening.

In the Sixties and Seventies the run-down church served as a site for artists, with Richard Wentworth using it as his studio. It has served as a gallery since 1999, when it was rescued from dereliction by CGP London. Their renovation of the building ensures that the church’s interior retains its raw quality, losing little of its original features.

Richard Wilson, who created 20:50, the huge container of darkly reflective sump oil that can be seen on permanent display at the Saatchi Gallery, created a site-specific installation for the gallery back in 2000. He used a huge generator to power a video featuring a drummer playing beside the park’s nearby derelict outdoor swimming pool. Another memorable site-specific work came from artist duo Ackroyed & Harvey, who grew grass from seed on the church's interior walls (pictured right).

Dilston Grove’s current exhibition, Mémoire by Sammy Baloji, is the first solo exhibition in the UK of work by the award-winning Congolese photographer and film-maker. Shot in collaboration with performance artist Faustin Linyekula, the experimental film addresses colonial violence, the shattered dreams of independence and the post-colonial fallout that exists within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The space provides an atmospheric setting for this beautifully shot work.

• Mémoire by Sammy Baloji is at Dilston Grove until 4 July