NEW YORKERS descended on Clerkenwell when a new gallery opened on Saturday.

Laura Jacobs has launched Studio Amwell – a new gallery and studio space where she will create and display art – in Amwell Street.

During lockdown, Ms Jacobs started a weekly Zoom session with other artists, all of whom are based in New York. The group took paintings by the Masters and created their own versions of them, which are now displayed in Studio Amwell for its first exhibition, Under The Influence.

“Quite a lot of people from the local area came [to the opening] on Saturday – so you’ve got local people coming, people from New York coming, people outside London, people from all sorts of different places. It feels like you’re in a community of like-minded people, and that community doesn’t necessarily have to be from one place.”