La Maison de Artistes - Kensington , London

It can be a bit difficult at times describing a club in London. Many of them share the same features, sometimes to the point of uniformity. Punchy speakers, cutting edge lasers, avant-garde artwork, veteran mixologists, beautiful crowds – these aspects have become uncomfortably ubiquitous of late. However, once in a while, there comes a club that’s a bit of a mutant, with a DNA all its own. One such club is La Maison Des Artistes, a strange little gem nestled in the heart of South Kensington, with a freewheeling attitude and a bohemian spirit that charms as much as it seduces. Taking to heart the maxim that variety is the spice of life, La Maison De Artistes offers a weekly programme of artists and events, pop-up dining clubs, a French bistro, and, most strikingly, a shop selling vintage clothing and a tattoo parlour. The venue itself is spread over two floors with a design scheme that recalls the heyday of the Swinging 60s. The colour palette is bold to the point of garishness - mismatched wallpaper is illuminated by neon lighting, aquamarine walls play off red leather banquettes, and no two surfaces seem to share the same hue or texture. The ground floor houses a fin-de-siecle Champagne bar with cocktail trolleys and small tables. Descending to the basement level one reaches the club, which brings to mind the pimped-out Technicolor pad of a 1970s psychonaut. George Harrison, for instance, or perhaps Syd Barrett. The space features its own stage for performances, a throwback distressed piano, a film projector for screenings, a bright and shiny bar, geometric shaped tables and its very own tattoo parlour, tucked away in a corner. It’s the ideal setting to let your hair down and get a little cray cray. With a packed schedule of guest evenings running the gamut from pop-up performance art to film clubs to live music to blisteringly hot sets of house, techno and nu-disco, there’s never a dull moment in La Maison.