Still Life with a TV Set

Art that talks back to you - that's the general vibe at Still Life with a TV Set, a gallery just outside Hoddesdon that takes the mundane stuff of everyday life and makes you actually look at it properly. The space itself is intimate, the kind of place where you won't feel herded around by crowds, and the work on show tends to lean into that tension between high art and the ordinary world we walk through without thinking.

It's the sort of venue that appeals most to people who like their art a bit conceptual, who don't mind being challenged rather than just soothed. Serious art students will find it worthwhile. Families with young kids might find it a bit of a head-scratcher - there's not much here to occupy a restless five-year-old. But if you're staying at The Wild Retreat at Redricks Lake or Toad Abode and you want a proper cultural pause, it's well worth the short drive in.

I'd allow an hour, maybe ninety minutes if you're the type to sit with a piece for a while. The admission details aren't entirely clear from what's publicly available, so ring ahead or check their Instagram before you go - galleries like this sometimes shift their opening hours depending on the season or what they're showing. It's the kind of stop that rounds out a park holiday nicely, breaking up the leisure activities with something that actually engages the brain.