NEW OBJECTIVE ISSUE 01/2015

NEW OBJECTIVETHE MAGAZINE FOR THE YOUNG LONDON ART COLLECTOR

EUGENIO RE REBAUDENGO

FOLD GALLERY

ZAVIER ELLIS

MIR

OSLAV

POM

ICHA

L

FREY

A DOUG

LAS-

MORR

IS

ALZBETA JARESOVA

ROB TUFNELL

ALEX GENE MORRISONPURE EVILKURT BEERS

TIM

ELL

IS

LAUNCH EDITION01/2015

ICA

Isabelle CornaroMixed Feelings, 2014

Screen print in three varnished layers on satin paperEdition of 20, unique variations, signed and numbered

70 x 50 cm£500 (ICA Members £375)

Gosha RubchinskiyUntitled (from Crimea/Kids series), 2013

C-type printEdition of 50, accompanied by a certificate

42 x 28.7 cm£110 (ICA Members £85)

Artist Editions

The ICA works in close collaboration with some of today’s most exciting artists to commission and produce beautiful and affordable limited editions and artworks. Each is part of an innovative series will with all proceeds supporting the ICA programme. Some of our recent collaborations have included Juergen Teller, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Neïl Beloufa, Parker Ito, David Ostrowski, Richard Sides, Cory Arcangel, Paulo Nazareth, Christian Flamm, Pawel Althamer to name a few.ICA Members receive a 25% discount.

For more information contact Ruta:[email protected], +44 (0)20 7766 1425ica.org.uk/shop/editions

Institute of Contemporary ArtsThe Mall, London SW1Y 5AH+44 (0)20 7930 3647, www.ica.org.uk

Editors note

London is currently THE global centre for art investment. But despite so much going on at all levels of the London market, and many of us looking to learn more about investment and culture, there is little information not designed for an academic collecting audience. I had the idea to create a new magazine that would inform, in a frank and stimulating way, how to identify, locate and acquire collecting opportunities in London based on emerging and mid career artists. The contemporary art world is confusing at the best of times, with pre-tension and hype dominating. New Objective magazine is our answer to that - an accessible quarterly magazine for the young contemporary art collector.

In this first issue, I have covered everything from street art to “flipping”, as well as advice from leading figures in the art world on how to take one’s first steps as a collector or build on your current collection. I’ve covered a broad range of art genres and interviewed the current hot artists who have been swiftly bought into high profile collections. In future editions I will expand on this and report new developments.

If there is one single piece of advice to take away from the first issue, it is that art that is tipped to rise in value, is art that you respond to emotionally, that you love it, and that you want it. Because if you want it, someone else will most likely want to take it from you and that is where you have made a key investment. I hope you enjoy absorbing the images and words, and that the magazine proves a useful resource to find out what art you love and to build a relationship with some fantastic London based galleries.

Genie Oldenburg, Editor

Follow us on twitter @newobjectivemagwww.newobjectivemagazine.com

Cover image

“Mismatched couple”, Part 1 of 2, Miroslav Pomichal, 2013

Published by New Objective Magazine LTD. All rights reserved.

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Located in the heart of Mayfair...3-7 Davies St, London W1K 3LD

FEATURES

5-9EUGENIO RE REBAUDENGOA take on the London art scene and collecting wisdom from prolific Lon-don based young collector and found-er of ARTUNER

10-14MIROSLAV POMICHALOur cover star and 2014 Bloomberg New Comtemporary / Saatchi New Sensation taking on the London art scene.

15-19BEERS CONTEMPORARYA conversation with Kurt Beers about his gallery, the London art world and his recently published book ‘100 Artist of Tomorrow’ with Thames & Hudson.

20-23FREYA DOUGLAS-MORRISEntrancing art from the 2014 Catlin guide and ‘100 Artist of Tomorrow’ published painter.

24-27ALZBETA JARESOVAStunning drawings from the Jerwood prize 2014 exhibitied artist.

28-33CHARLIE SMITHVisionary gallery owner Zavier Ellis talk about the “New Wave”, established young artist and the London art scene he plays a substantial role in.

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34-36ALEX GENE MORRISONPsychedelic horror and bold graphics from the widely exhibited London based artist.

37-39FOLD GALLERYAn interview with the reputable and exciting Clerkenwell based gallery.( 2015 - update, now based in Fitzrovia)

40-43TIM ELLISBold contemporary sculptures and banners from the 2014 MAC International shortlisted artist.

44 -48PURE EVILAn introduction to the London street art market from the renowned street artist, gallerist, and collector Pure Evil known as Charles Edwards.

49 -51ROB TUFNELLCulture vs. Investment. A definative opinion from the experienced galler-ist about investing in emerging art.

52 -59PECKHAMSouth London’s hottest art districtexplored and detailed by arts writer Joe Turnbull with gallery listings and insider information.

Bringing youcloser to Tate

Explore behind the scenes at Tate, enjoy an exciting events programme and engage with art and artists by becoming a Tate Patron from £83 a month.

Call 0207 887 8740Email [email protected] tate.org.uk/join-support/patrons

EUGENIO RE REBAUDENGOEugenio Re Rebaudengo, a prolific London based collector, is the founder of ARTUNER a digital platform that provides expertly curated exhibitions of both established and emerging artists online. Eugenio is also a Director of his family’s Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin. The Foundation’s aim to support and promote international contemporary artists while encouraging a greater understanding of contemporary art. I spoke with Eugenio to get his take on the London market and collecting wisdom...

What does collecting art mean to you?Collecting art means a lot to me, as you could guess. Its been an important part of my family life since 1990 and once I realized that I wasn’t going to be a professional football player I turned my passion for art and collecting into my profession – both as a collector and as founder of ARTUNER.

What inspired you to build your own personal collection?It was much more the model of my mother and the conversations and eventually friendships that I made with

several curators and artists that led me to collect art.

What is your view on the London art scene, is it an exciting place todiscover emerging and mid- career artists?London is without a doubt one of the most fascinating capitals in the art world. Built on a very solid foundation with many important institutions and a track record of birthing amazing artists, it has now become an international ,multicultural hub that attracts artists from all different kinds of backgrounds and practices. Yet it has not lost its...

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familiar vibe. With new galleries and project spaces opening each day it’s a great place to be based in.

Are there any artists you have dis-covered in London that you wish to share? I was very excited to collaborate with Sebastian Lloyd Rees on a showdur-ing the Artissima art fair 2014 in Turin. I met Sebastian nearly a year ago and became increasingly interested in his practice, which deals with the appro-priation and recontextualisation of ur-ban surroundings. Max Ruf is a painter I’m particularly fond of and I’m excit-ed to be working with Peppi Botropp and Jesse Wine who are both artists to watch in the coming months.

What would you advise other young professionals interested in collect-ing art?I find it always quite difficult to share advice on collecting as ultimately everyone has different interests and different reasons why she/he iscollecting art. This is why I started ARTUNER, a collecting platform that also advises based on my personal preferences. In more general terms I always found it important to trust one person in particular – there are more opinions and advices in this business than there are artist, so listening to all of them can often become confusing and counterproductive. Choose a person whom you trust and follow their advice.

Image courtesy of the artist Gabriel de Santis and ARTUNER

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Is the current the London art marketvery trend orientated, and if so how would you recommend making informed decisions? That a market is trend orientated is a truism. In any segment the market follows trends and it would be strange if it did not. Informed decisions stem from knowledge - the more you know, the more you do you homework, the better you understand how the market works and the more you can anticipate the direction in which it is going. But the beauty of collecting art is that you can also make anachronistic, irrational decisions, purely based on a feeling or an instinct – those often prove to be the best.

Many potential young collectors are on the fence when purchasing art, seeing financial investment as the primary goal. Do you believe this should be the deciding factor or can so much more be accomplished by obtaining art for cultures sake?It depends on the reasons you are interested in art and how sustainableyou want your participation to be in this system. I wholeheartedly don’t recommend seeing the financial invest-ment as a primary goal.If possible col-lecting should also be a philanthropic endeavor, to support not only those few artists who already reach six-figure sums at an auction but also those who are at the beginning of their career. It’s clear then that everonewho commits to invest considerable amounts of mon-ey, hopes that the art being purchased appreciates over time – which implies also an increase in its value.

Images courtesy of the artist Gabriel de Santis and ARTUNER

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As a young patron and committeemember of the Tate and Whitechap-el Gallery, do you think it is impor-tant for young collectors to immerse themselves in the world of art and educate themselves before making any decisions?Joining a Young Patrons program is something I highly recommend. Not only is it a great way to keep up to date with gallery shows but also with institutional shows. These programs allow a great amount of networking with people that are in the same age range. Education should always be at the forefront for whoever participates in the world of art – whether you are collecting, curating or writing about art. Ultimately we need the tools to understand what message an artwork retains in order to see what it is ads to society. This is the reason why I linked such a strong educational aspect to my

online platform ARTUNER as I hopethat those looking and eventually purchasing the art on my website have these tools at their disposal.

What lead you to create ARTUNER?ARTUNER was born while completingmy Masters in Management from LSE. For a group project in a class on busi-ness enterprises we had to set up a business model and this was the first time I started thinking about how digi-tal technologies could disrupt the more traditional way of seeing and selling art. At the same time the project be-came a way to inform friends of mine who wanted to have my own personal advice on which artists to follow. At the end of my studies ARTUNER (which at the time went by a different name) got the award for the best business plan and one year later it went online.

Image courtesy of the artist Gabriel de Santis and ARTUNER

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ARTUNER provides a stunning onlinegallery experience with the ability to purchase. Many gallery owners would argue it is important to see the work ‘in the flesh’ and even meet the artist. Are you able to arrange this, or from experience is this not a prerequisite?Undoubtedly the experience of seeingsomething in real life is singular and important. As we are a very personal, small team behind ARTUNER we have strong personal relations with our col-lector base, arranging visits to the stu-dio of the artist or location where the work is currently held if so requested.

Any future plans for Artuner and the Eugenio Re Rebaudengo collection?During Frieze week 2014 ARTUNER, with the exhibition by the Italian artist Gabriele de Santis, made a significant step towards becoming a more hybrid gallery showing art both on online and at physical sites thanks to pop up shows. Our second physical exhibition was in Turin November 2014, coincid-ing with the art fair Artissima. It was a presentation of new works by Sebastian Lloyd Rees, Max Ruf and Adriano Costa under the title: Bunkering in Paradise: The Rest of Us Just Live in It. After this there was an online exhibition curated by Kirsty Ogg, featuring a selection of artists who participated in Bloomberg New Contemporaries throughout the past seven years. As you can see our program is very packed so its best if you actively stay in tune with our website.

The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin also has a really

exciting schedule of exhibitions: The show Beware Wet Paint, on view at the ICA London late 2014, is now open together with a historical painting show by Isa Genzken (1989-1991).

@theartunerwww.artuner.com

Image courtesy of the artist Gabriel de Santis and ARTUNER

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MIROSLAV POMICHAL‘Blue Nude’, oil on canvas, 2013

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‘Composition 12’, Watercolour on paper, 2014

‘Riders’, Watercolour on paper, 2013 ‘Composition 8’, Watercolour on paper, 2014

It is rare to find such daring, bold and stimulating work as Miroslav Pom-ichal's and I was delighted to place one of his ‘Mismatched Couple’ paintings on the cover. His talent for painting powerful organic figures, ex-pressing the human form, reflects a very mastered and technical approach to painting that is not usally seen at graduate level. Miroslav’s work ap-pears to evolve from his History of Artbackground, each piece with a significant story to tell and very much a considered journey. It will be exct-ing to see how he developes future ideas, and i’m sure anyone following the London art scene will be hearing a lot more about Miroslav in the com-ing years.

Miroslav

14‘The Bathers’, oil on canvas, 2014

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

MIROSLAV POMICHALBratislava, Slovakia, 1984MFA Fine Art, Wimbledon College of Art, London UK, 2012-14 PGDip Law, BPP Law School,London, UK, 2006-2007BA History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK, 2002-2005.

Career highlights:Since graduating Wimbledon College of Art nearly a year ago, Pomichal’s career has soared. He was includedin Saatchi New Sensations 2014, Bloomberg New Contemporaries2014 and has recently been placed as one of the youngest artists in the prestigeous Ingram colllection.

Media:Paint, wood, canvas.

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‘Bathers’, oil on canvas, 2013

Artist Statement:“I revisit the language of early Modernism to interrogate the past, primitivism, civilisation and mytholo-gy. My practice makes reference to the work and ideas of early 20th century avant-garde artists, their visual and ver-bal rhetoric of destructive purification, and their exhilaration in irrevocable, vi-olent shifts in the social, political and

aesthetic status quos. I suggest the early Modernist art canon to be of questionable morality; the rampant individualist face of totalitarian mass ideologies; and a distant well from which spring both the pleasures and My work engages with traditional methods such as painting, wood carv-ing and poetry, but also digital print, to forge an artistic language whose forms are seemingly extreamly traditional, but also ambiguous and problematic. I draw upon ideologies of power, and their interweaving with the idea of the heroic physical body. I employ a per-verse and sometimes monumental grammar of the defunct language of post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expres-sionism and Cubism, with its reference to both myths of the Modernist can-on and the folk art from which it drew many of its forms”

Atrributes:Folk Art, Modernism, Cublism, Medieval armour.

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‘Composition 3’, Watercolour on paper, 2014

Man and Dragon, Carved wood and paint, 2013

I interviewed Kurt Beers, Director of Beers Contemporary in East London and editor of the book “100 Artists of Tomorrow” recently published by Thames and Hudson about his stance on the London’s emerging talent, collecting and the art scene.

Can you briefly tell us about your background and experience? I ama Canadian national but have been based in London since 2008 when I moved to pursue a Masters

Degree in Communication from City University in London (UK). Originally my background was in politics and communication, even serving as a political staffer to two Canadian Prime Ministers and a brief sting serving with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. However life leads us on a strange pathand eventually my passion for art led me to open Contemporary (with a previous business partner) in Canada, relocating the gallery to London.

KURT BEERS

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Why did you set up in East London, and has the market expanded since you moved and how?The exciting thing about London is how the cultural vibe tends to ebb and flow between the East/West border.I’ve seen a lot of change since the gallery relocated to its current EC1 postcode. In the past few years Vyner Street rose from being the from being the off-kilter but insider favorite to its current, relative obscurity. Fitzovia has had its heyday but even that has seen a lot of galleries struggle with the high overheads. There are huge, pristine spaces there that nobody’s ever heard of, with no art-fair attendance and I imagine that following a geographical trend must be difficult. We’ve always forged our own identity and I think thats why we have been successful. Stuart Shave Modern Art has often led the pack (and its carbon-copies have followed-suit from Vyner to Fitzrovia) but now Shave has moved to EC1, only a block or so away from where we are, and I think we are going to see a resur-gence once again in East London. With the re-gentrification of Old Street its an area ripe for cultural renaissance. As a local, I can see the changehappening on a ground level. The market here is growing; there’s more money coming into the area. Its seen as less ‘deviant’ from a West London crowd. Fitzrovia is a different scene, but no area in Lon-don carries a buzz quite like Shored-itch. These arepositive, productive changes. East Londoners are benefit-ting from this area, which is full of si-multaneous paradox. Choice is never a negative thing.

You recently edited the book 100 Painters of  Tomorrow published by Thames and Hudson with a forward by Gregory Muir, director of the ICA, what triggered the idea?I heard a lot of frustration on the ground-level from artists that I work with - painters - that there appeared to be a glaring lack of opportunities for them to partake in. Many of these residencies, open-calls, awards, and bursaries today go to photographers, performance or audio-visual artists, but painters seem to be so-often over-looked. Its funny, as the most prevalent and enduring of media, it is also sore-ly neglected in certain spheres. The book was initiated after some discus-sions with painters about how to rec-ognize emerging talent specifically in this field. Shine the light back on the painters, if you will.

100 Painters of Tomorrow edited by Kurt Beers is published by Thames & Hudson, RRP:£35.00 www.100paintersoftomorrow.com

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What are the qualities of the “paint-er of tomorrow” and would you rec-ommend the book for a young col-lector wanting to understand the emerging art market? I don’t think that there is any one definitive trend or quality. The book reflects this multifaceted and varie-gated approach. But I do think that there has been a trend in the recent past toward quite dispassionate, re-moved artwork, andI see this trend shifting back. Each of the jurors in the book were looking for something dif-ferent, but for me, I was looking for art that was unforgivingly passionate. This doesn’t mean it has to be busy, but it just had to have that profound depth of thought and technique. My votes were always cast toward artists that took my breath away, and how can anyone quantify or qualify that charac-

teristic? Its either there, or its not. And yes, I do think this book is an invaluable tool for collectors learning how to navigate the field of emerging painting. In many respects, emerging art is a much wilder terrain; established artists already have legions of fans, and as viewers or collectors, we have an appreciation and access to this wid-er knowledge base. I think its much scarier, and also much more exciting, to invest in emerging painting because as a collector you have to trust your instincts. If something speaks to you, act on that impulse. In a regard, the book was set up to be the authori-ty on emerging painting. The jurors, publisher, and I wanted an airtight pro-cess. I fervently believe that we will see a lot of these artists go on to do great things.

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Courtesy of Beers Contemporary, Installation view of ‘Storytelling, Andrew Salgado, 2014

What do you look for in emerging artists to exhibit and to win the Beers Contemporary award? is there a magic formula for telling who may develop the attributes needed to succeed?Truthfully, I like to be surprised. As a jury, we are never looking for one par-ticular thing. The award was created to acknowledge artists in four primary fields. Too many awards these days give one massive prize to a single winner, and I think that is shortsighted. There are a lot of deserving artists, so this year will be the 3rd year for the award, we will grant eight monetary awards in total. I don’t think there’s any mag-ic formula, but when you have a few sets of eyes adjudicating work, there’s a greater likelihood that an artist doing something truly unique will be vetted to the top. For an artist to succeed today, he or she has to be determined. You can see conviction in the work. I think, conversely, you can also see when someone is going through the motions, copying a peer, or just doing something that they feel is ‘on trend’. I’m wary of anything that feels to gim-micky, or too ‘of the moment’ because the zeitgeist changes, and truly talent-ed artists are making work that stands with its head above the crowd. I never go in with a preconceived notion, but its always a wonderful feeling when an artist or artwork has the ability to sur-prise and show you something you still feel like you’ve never quite seen.

Do you think more should be more done to support emerging artists and attract people to invest in up and coming talent?

Too many collectors and galleries wade in the upper tiers of the art world. I’m constantly frustrated by a number of these blue-chip galleries who just re-hash the same artists, the same shows. Sure, I’m sure an exhibition with Hirst and Noble&Webster would be fun to see, but at that point neither the gallery nor the collector are trying. I applaud galleries that take risks. Victoria Miro recently took on a young Venezuelan artist Secundino Hernandez and that is a brave, wise move, and it paid off for her. I think its easy for collectors to drop big bucks on big names. It shows a col-lector with true vision and his or her own personality and perspective when they can pick from a pool of emerging or mid-career artists to acquire work that they beleve in, which may or may not be a greater economic risk (for lack of a better term) than they are used to.

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Do you find there is a gap in the mar-ket for collectors investing in the work of emerging artists and do you proactively use your selection pro-cess and expertise as a way to gain the trust of collectors?This question makes gaining the trust of collectors sound like a method of manipulation. I think the gallerist-collector relationship is one of trust and honesty. A lot like the gallerist-artist relationship. I won’t say anything with regard to how others treat their collec-tors, but as a gallery Director, I believe that transparency and decency is the only way to conduct a business. I’m an ex-police officer, and I think this ethos of fairness is the only way to conduct business. Sadly, I’m one of a dying breed that conducts business by way of a handshake. If I believe in an artist, I can say, without reservation, that yes,

I believe a collector should believe in that artist as well.

If a first time buyer/ enthusiast visited Beers Contemporary, how would you recommend they start their collection?Buy what you love. Full stop. Don’t buy for investment purposes. Cer-tainly doing research on the artist in question is logical, but that should be a given. But always, and only buy an artwork if you love it. If it becomes worth something, then you’ve only succeeded further.

Beers Contemporary1 Baldwin St, London EC1V [email protected]

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Courtesy of Beers Contemporary, Installation view of Cut-Copy-Paste, Frank Day, 2014

FREYA DOUGLAS-MORRIS‘Gathered’, oil on linen, 2014

PAINTING

FREYA DOUGLAS-MORRIS London UK, 1980Royal College of Art Fine Painting MA 2011-2013 Brighton University Fine Art BA 1999-2002

Career highlights:Morris points to her Royal College of Art MA Graduation being a turning point in her work and is already build-ing building a prestigious exhibition and residency profile, with two resi-dencies in Italy this year, 2014, one a solo exhibition ‘Studiolo 11, One Place or Another’ at Spazio Cabinet, Milan and another at riss(e) gallery with the Transition Gallery in Varese. Currently she’s achieving high visibility having been published in, and promoting the Kurt Beers publication “100 Painters of Tomorrow” in New York and has works in the Saatchi Collection. Freya was included in Bloomberg New Contem-poraries 2012, Saatchi New Sensations 2013 and featured in The Catlin Guide 2014, which introduces 40 most prom-ising new graduates in the UK.

‘Furling’, oil on linen, 2014

‘Four Seasons’, oil on linen, 2013

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‘Sandmen’, oil on board, 201424

Material:Mixed media, oils on linen/canvas, water based paint on paper, collage and ceramics.

Artists description of work:“The paintings I make often refer to ide-as of travel, of crossing thresholds into another environment. I am interested in the experience of being elsewhere, where things can be both familiar and foreign. I like to gather and collect im-agery and ideas, for there to be a reoc-currence and sharing of motifs within the work. I keep the paintings quite flu-id and painterly, so the process of mak-ing is left apparent. Memory, editing, pattern and design all play a part, as does the illusion of a narrative.”

Magic Realism, Abstract Narrative, Surrealist.

Development plans:Douglas-Morris is producing a print edition with a studio based in London and plans to pursue more works on ceramics. Beyond that, her future ap-proach to her work in terms of image-ry, scale, and development in subject matter will evolve from works in pro-gress andinternational travel.

www.freyadouglas-morris.com

‘Sundial’, oil on linen, stretched over board, 2014‘In the Afternoon’, oil on linen, 2013

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ALZBETA JARESOVA26Untitled, oil and charcoal on canvas, 2014

PAINTING

ALZBETA JARESOVAPrague, Czech Republic, 1987.Camberwell College of Arts, UAL, London MA Fine Art 2011-2012 Concordia University, Montreal, Canada BFA Painting and Drawing, 2006-2009 University of Hertfordshire, BA Fine Art, 2008-2009

Career highlights:Jaresova swiftly gained pivotal recognition winning the Windsor & Newton Griffin Prize in 2013. Her work has also been featured in several pub-lications including the annual ‘Catlin Guide’ 2013 curated by Justin Ham-mond, showcasing top graduating tal-ent from across the UK and ‘100 Lon-don Artist Vol.1’ by Zavier Ellis and Edward Lucie-Smith. ‘She was also in The Future Can Wait’ exhibition curat-ed by Zavier Ellis in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery’s ‘New Sensations’ in 2013. Most recently her work was se-lected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2014.

Artists description of work: Jaresova expresses importance that her drawing and sculpture maintains detachment from the viewer.

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Position I , graphite on paper, 2012

“I have a preoccupation with geomet-ric environments existing within a fig-ure- space relationship and the inti-macy that arises between them. Void of any reference to time and space, I aim to draw attention to ournostalgic relationship with our surroundings and their ability to become an obstacle in our existence. My work expands over the media of painting, drawing and sculpture, through which I explore the connection between history and mem-ory.

The architectural element of my work functions as a mnemonic device, a per-vading instrument for remembrance, which investigates the metaphysical process of how fragmented memo-ry can envelop and disorientate one’s reality. In my work constructed spac-es and furnishings are predefined for self-reflection, while at the same time exerting a power over thought and gesture. The structural forms point to

architecture as a significant record of history and social development and speak directly of our public awareness and aptitude towards political and so-cial devices, interpretively drawing a transient place between private and public spaces. The figure in my work takes on a diagrammatic role within its environment, indicating the structure’s function to the viewer. The three-di-mensional element takes on the form of small-scale models, which together with their two-dimensional counter-parts form an architectural proposal.

As I explore the concept of this hypo-thetical environment, I play withnotions of utopia vs. dystopia and reflect upon the relationship between architecture and political ideology.The inclusion of both two and three dimensional el-ements introduces an added layer of reading to the work and creates a push and pull dialog between the two”

Position XV, graphite on paper, 2013

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Position IX, oil and charcoal on canvas, 2013

@alzbettywww.jaresova.com

Based above The Reliance pub on Old Street, CHARLIE SMITH LONDON is where gallery owner and curator Zavier Ellis runs his art empire. A leading man on the London art scene, his finely tuned vision is not only con-fined to the gallery but continues on to various other high profile curatorial projects. I met Zavier to find out what lies behind his reputation and have him share his approach to selecting London based talent.

ZAVIER ELLIS

Portrait by Lana Vanzetta

“CHARLIE SMITH LONDON was an evolution”

Zavier opened CHARLIE SMITH LONDON in 2009, “an evolution” from his previous gallery and curatorial ven-tures. Originally a working artist, he followed what could be considered a practical approach to his education, studying History of Art at the University of Manchester. Curating his first show at 18 with a group of art obsessed school friends he went on to organ-ise club nights with live performance, graffiti and break dancing, any way to-encompass art through all the senses throughout his studies. Zavier opened his first gallery at 24, while completing his MA in fine art, and curated several shows on the side. During his masters

he was able to define his technical ap-preciation for art, but this did not pro-vide him with the much needed stim-ulation that is now CHARLIE SMITH LONDON. This is a man who makes things happen, and so he went about building his empire.

“I’m interested by those big human subjects, I want to be moved, I want to be challenged, I want my audience to feel the same way”

With an enquiring mind that could only challenge preconceptions in the art world, Zavier went about setting the visual criteria in order to find work that would excite him. Becoming a collec-tor enabled him to mix with different groups of artists, providing the...

Courtesy of CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, Installation view of ‘Apiculture’, John Stark

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opportunity to learn and see more than he had previously. When he re-flected on his collection, he discovered he had developed a highly evolved in-stinct that dealt with the most impor-tant human subjects: Life, Death, Sex, Beauty, Horror and the state of the hu-man mind. He found himself leaning towards modern day folk art, handling these subjects through religion and the occult. Despite this vision still beingat the very center of Zavier’s tastes, he is now moving towards more political works as an opportunity to play on these deep topics.

“My maxim is like minded gallerist or curator finding like minded artists finding like minded collectors”

When Zavier opened the physical space CHARLIE SMITH LONDON he was aware of where he wanted to go with the gallery. It was not only

important for him to find incredible artists, but also to represent those who had a personality that understood the interests and ambitions of the gallery. Zavier currently has twelve core artists with whom he has a close working relationship and they take the spotlight in his projects. He describes this struc-ture as “concentric circles; the gallery is core, surrounded by the artists I’m working with continuously, then the artists I work with occasionally”.

“You’ll find my program is far more cohesive than a lot of people. As a collector I walk past most things, it must be 95% or more of work that I walk past that doesn’t do anything for me... on those rare occasions when I see something that does, its very exciting, first of all, I get hit; I look further, its an instinctive re-sponse, but then I start thinking and questioning; why is this hitting me? I go back to it, I ask is it still hitting me? Sometimes I’m completely overwhelmed and know it straight away. Sometimes it’s a slightly longer process”.

On the more commercial side, Zavierdiscovers and develops emerging artists to add to his inner and outer circles. We discuss the word “emerg-ing”, a broad term, that can be difficult when dealing with a young artist, established from a short career. He gives Sam Jackson as an example of an artist he works with who is about to go into a museum exhibition with LucianFreud, Francis Bacon and George Shaw. This artist is currently into world-class collections, and has shown widely

Sam Jackson ‘Born to Fast’, 2014, Oil on board

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since graduating in 2007.

“New Wave, the established young artist”

We both agree there is a space between “Emerging” and “Mid-Career” that needs a label. “Beyond Emerging?” No, They are established young artists. He calls it the “New Wave” or the “Post YBA New Wave”. Zavier works with the well known art critic Edward Lucie-Smith who points out a major problem with The current YBA (Young British Artists, group mem-bers including Tracey Emin and Dam-ien Hurst) who were the “established young artists” of their time. They are now coming up to their 50s, anything from young. “So what happens after

that? Who will will replace them as the new YBA?”.

Zavier uses his instinct to pick out his emerging artists, in 2007 he launched THE FUTURE CAN WAIT with Simon Rumley, a Film Director, Curator and Collector. Their idea was to create the biggest curated event for emerg-ing artists, looking at the art fair for-mat they decided to run it as a satellite event to Frieze. Although city centric with London based or educated artists, over recent years it has included guest international artists. Four years ago Rebecca Wilson from the Saatchi Gal-lery approached Zavier to collaborate alongside their own emerging art show “New Sensations”.

Courtesy of CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, Installation view of a Young Gods show

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This is now the largest annually curated,independently funded exhibition for emerging to mid career artists in the UK.

Young Gods is another of Zavier’s emerging art ventures, what can only be described as a talent spotting survey of hot new and recent graduates in London. Every year he reviews the London BA and MA Graduate shows, including Goldsmiths, City & Guilds, Wimbledon and Chelsea. This year he selected video, installation, painting & photography to show at the Winsor & Newton Griffin Gallery in Shepherds Bush and CHARLIE SMITH LONDON this January.

“People need to be switched on, that can be learned.”

With the enthusiasm he puts into discovering emerging talent, we talk about young collectors and the impor-tance they play in the careers of these

artists. I asked Zavier how he would ad-vise someone interested in collecting if they came to CHARLIE SMITH LON-DON. “New collectors must master an instinct, and this can be learnt by developing a strong editing facilty, to be able to walk past what isn’t of inter-est”. He tells me it is important to go for work you love but to equally bare in mind how is the career of the artist going. What showshave they been in? Museums? Good galleries? What has he done, what can he do? However he reminds me that Saatchi for example only cares about whether he loves the work or not and not always about what the artist has done. It’s this “instinct” that will help you select the best work, but research is still important.

Zavier advises the best way to master this “instinct” is at an art fair where you can easily visit a hundred galleries at once in order to gain an idea as to where you taste lies.

Courtesy of CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, Installation view of ‘THE FUTURE CAN WAIT’ 201334

Art fairs work differently to galleries as they provide an opportunity for an op-portunity for galleries to present their work to an audience between 10-30 thousand people. This is where gal-lery ownersexpect to meet collectors for first time and develop a relation-ship. They will invite you to follow their gallery through a program of solo and group shows, providing a more rigor-ous presentation of their artist’s work. This is the best way to deepen your knowledge and potentially meet the artist. Unlike a number of other gallerydirectors, Zavier is very interested in collectors meeting the artist “I have collectors who adore my artists, friendships develop”.

“After that is the possibility of an investment”

A final resource for any young collec-tor is the recently published iArtBook, “100 London Artists”, a strong collaborative project between art critic Edward Lucie-Smith and Zavier El-lis. The ibook is spilt into two volumes, the first covering painters and the sec-ond sculptors, makers of installations, video & performance. The ibook is the perfect format to present art in a new context, reflecting the current digital drive in publishing. We discuss how the flexibility of the format provides the ultimate tool for artists, especially those whose work cannot be represented on a flat page. With an ibook you can play a video, look around a sculpture, zoom into the fine detail on a painting. Zavier is all about finding new possibil-ities, and the ibook book sums up his insatiable desire to be on the art indus-

try’s frontline.

Despite CHARLIE SMITH LONDON being a leading gallery amongst many in London, his strict vision in the cura-tion, selection and concept provides a reliable exciting outlet to find those “impressive” artists in London woth collecting. I highly recommend drop-ping by.

CHARLIE SMITH LONDON2nd Floor,336 Old Street, LondonEC1V [email protected]

Painting by Zavier Ellis, Zealotry, 2014 at the Cock ‘n’ Bull gallery.

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PAINTING ALEX GENE MORRISONBirmingham UK 1975Formerly co- founder and resident at The Rockwell Project Complex, DalstonCity and Guilds London School of Art. BA (Hons) Fine Art. 1997 – 2000Royal College of Art, MA Painting,2000 – 2002.

Career highlights:Alex Gene Morrison has a formidable exhibition history, exhibiting internationally and currently available through the CHARLIE SMITH LONDON Gallery.

Material:Paint, Video Animation.

Artists description of work:Morrison is quick to agree his work falls under the classification of Psychedelia. He describes being in his studio can become meditative/trance like. “When I am actually painting it’s a ‘moment to moment’ dialogue between me and the work and all other concerns evap-orate. There is no singular concrete concept, the process and ideas are constantly evolving. There are a wide range of influences contained within the work. From 20th century art move-ments such as Suprematism, Voticism, Abstract Expressionism and Neo Geo

ALEX GENE MORRISON

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AGM Skull’, lino cut on hand painted paper, 2014

‘Psychic Vampire’, oil on canvas, 2014

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through to horror and sci-fi movies, sub cultural design, cave art & doom met-al. Some of my recurring core interests include - evolution, archetypes, deep time, mortality, ritual/shamanism etc but thinking about those things very much within the context of contempo-rary life - pop-culture ndvirtual reality”

Attributes:Anthropological, Horror, Sci-fi , 20th century Avant-Garde, Suprematism, Vorticism, Abstract Expressionism Neo-Geo, Psychedelic, Metaphysical, Primeval.

www.alexgenemorrison.com

‘Green Lightning, Grey Edge’, oil & acrylic on canvas, 2014

‘Sinister’, oil & acrylic on canvas, 2014

‘Shockwave Fluro Yellow’, acrylic on canvas, 2014

The Fold Gallery based in (Fitzrovia from March 2015) Clerkenwell, is a must visit hidden gem in London for those looking for a reliable source for exciting emerging artists. Owned by Kim Savage, an ex Saatchi curator, and managed by Philippa Ramsden Fold started as a project space in 2008 to fill a gap in the market of well curated group shows for emerging artists. The goal was to focus on the presentation of the work, in order to provide the best possible viewing experience. This has lead lead to the gallery establishing a strong reputationfor accessible shows, promoting new art and challenging ar-tistic conven tions. FOLD still specializ-

es in producing group shows, giving an opportunity for UK based and international artists, from emerging to mid-career practices, to be brought together within context. With the addition of a number of solo pres-entations, this gallery aims to give the young collector the best opportunity to gain an understanding of the inten-tions of the artist, whilst viewing a care-fully curated and organised show. As a gallery which provides a rare quali-ty and imaginativeexperience, I inter-viewed Gallery Director, Kim on his ap-proach to the London art market?

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FOLD GALLERYCourtesy of FOLD Gallery

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What makes a “FOLD” artist? The right combination of a strong aesthetic, interest in the material(s) they work with and an ambition to push the viewers ideas on conventions. Also it’s quite important we get along with each other. They gallery-artist relation-ship can be a tricky one and it’s impor-tant that we have a strong foundation right from the start.

How do you support and represent your artists?We support them by taking their work to art fairs, placing their work in signif-icant collections and introducing new clients to their work. We promote any external exhibitions they participate in and are active in the process of trying to push their work to museum and gal-lery shows within the UK and abroad.

Do you think more should be more done to bring emerging artist into the public sphere?It seems the art world leaves the ‘emerging art’ remit in the hands of young galleries and project spaces. Museums are always a few years be-hind commercial galleries in showing trends and exciting talent. This is often to do with their infrastructures around funding and programming. Commer-cial galleries benefit from less bureau-cracy and can move much faster which is why trends often seem to be estab-lished by independent commercial galleries. The more support the inde-pendent gallery has the more we can support our emerging artists and their careers. Do you find there is a gap in themarket for collectors investing in the

work of emerging artists and do you proactively use your selection process and expertise to enable collectors?Our selection process is down to a belief in our artists, the context and aesthetic of their work and how that fits within the gallery agenda. Collectors tend to trust the gallery and its decisions because the gallery’s pro-gramme and its artists appeal to them viscerally. Like most of us, they are ex-cited to see new work and be intro-duced to new artistic practices; the ‘ex-pertise’ is in retaining the focus of the gallery whilst keeping each new show fresh and progressive.

Do you believe in emerging art as an investment or is it more important to gain culturally from the work?Ultimately you have to live with your purchase. You should always buy what you like and what you want to hang on your wall. The personal investment is more important than the possibility of making a return. Trust your taste. Investing in art is making a cultural investment - whether you intend to or not.

As you will be showing at the London Art Fair, Janaury 2015, many people have noted art fairs are taking away interest from gallery it-self.Do you think the gallery experience is better?It’s always better to view art in the gallery environment. Art fairs are transient and have a com-mercial energy, which is not always the best place for really reflecting on art. This said, fairs are important for expos-ing galleries and their artists to a wider

Courtesy of FOLD Gallery, Installation view of ‘As Wide As A Door Is Open’ 201440

audience.They are also good for the visitor to discover artists or galleries they wouldn’t ordinarily encounter. Once you get used to the ‘shopping mall’ approach to viewing art, then you can get quite a lot from them. I don’t think fairs take anything in terms of sales from a gallery, they are a big financial investment to participate in, but they are important for meeting new clients and often open up more sales opportunities.

If a first time collector visited FOLD, how would you recommend they start their collection?Well of course I believe that they’re already on the right track by starting their collection with FOLD Gallery. I would advise the key is research as much as possible, spend a while look-ing at the website to familiarise your-self with the programme. Use internet searches / social media to find out

what buzz there is behind the artists that appeal to you. We often use Face-book and Twitter to promote external activities of our artists. Also many of our artists have a lot of extra informa-tion about them on the web in addition to what’s on our site. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s all about discover-ing as much as you can. Also trust your taste, you are the one who will be liv-ing with your purchase.

FOLD Gallery15 Clerkenwell Close, LondonEC1R [email protected]

Location update - from March 2015 FOLD Gallery158 New Cavendish StreetLondon, W1W 6YW

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Courtesy of FOLD Gallery, Installation view of ‘Finding Comfort In An Unknown Future’ ,Tim Ellis, 2014

TIM ELLIS

42‘United In Different Guises CXCIX’, 2011

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PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

TIM ELLISChester, UK 1981Post Graduate Diploma Fine Art, The Royal Academy Schools, London.2006-09 BA (Hons) Fine Art, John Moores, Liverpool. 2000-03

Career highlights:Ellis sold his entire final exhibition at the Royal Academy to the Saatchi Gallery and points to this as a pivotal moment as it was shown a year later as part of Newspeak – British Art Now at the Saatchi Gallery in 2010. Ellis is highly awarded, having won the The Jerwood Drawing Prize 2005 and John Moores Painting Prize 26. Works are held in The Saatchi Collection, The Glenfiddich Collection, Swiss Life and various public and private collections in Europe, Asia and USA. Ellis’s works are currently available through the Fold Gallery. In 2014 he was shortlisted for MAC International.

Material:Acrylic paint, vinyl, enamel, plaster, wood, cotton canvas, brass, copper, cork and lead.

‘Spinning Plates’, 2014

Close section of ‘The Drifters’, 2014

Artists description of work:“I center my work on the idea that a Being has a primeval desire to want to belong to something greater than oneself. This ‘wanting to belong’ manifests itself in both the pruductionand consumption of art and craft objects. ‘Whether in isolation or as a collection art and craft objects are dependent on a creator, mediator and audience, as a consequence they inherit their aspirations, values and ‘intentions’. I examine the process where by art and craft objects from one culture come into close contact with another. This coming together leads to an exchange in value and shift in meaning. I conduct in-depth research into cultural products, how they are made, used and displayed. Sometimes using found objects and other times abstracting from pre-existing designs, these are transformed to form totemic sculptures and paintings. The materialdecisions and finishing given to the objects and paintings suggest a utility, beyond that of their original function.

Whether displayed singularly or grouped in an installation the strate-gies I employ in staging the works al-low them to appear as ready-mades. The harmonious interaction between surface, object and display only serve to heighten the illusion. The inten-tion is to seamlessly weave together historical fact and invention allowing an engagement with notions of sym-bolism, artifact and artifice. My paint-ings are part of an ongoing series that share the same title ‘United in Different Guises’ and are numbered accordingly. The title refers to a proposed shared

function. This function sits somewhere between a communicative role and the symbolic. The source imagery used is a mixture of signage and design, which is reconstructed to form gendered symbols. Their scale and material qual-ity mimic the appearance of flags and banners. By folding, scuffing and grad-ually aging the paintings, a suggested utility appears. What is left is an object that questions notions of symbolism and authenticity, allowing the work to function beyond the traditional realms of painting.

Attributes:Symbolism, Found Object, Arts and Crafts.

www.timellis.org‘The ZigZag Wanderer’, 2014

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‘United In Different Guises CXCIX’, 2011

PURE EVIL

London’s street art scene is booming, not only attracting world famous talent, but provide emerging street artists the chance of an international following. I met Pure Evil, AKA Charles Uzzell Edwards, a street artist, collector, and gallerist for his view of the market and what makes the Pure Evil Gallery and The Department Store two of the London’s leading street art galleries.

46Photo by Philippe Bonan

Born in Wales to an already artistic family, his alleged ancestry clocks up a list of infamous figures including Sir Thomas More; visionary and author of 16th Century Utopia. Pure Evil discov-ered street art as his “statement” in the early nineties Rave, skateboarding, snowboarding and BMX scene in Cali-fornia. Absorbing and sharing a space in Psycho City, Los Angeles with graf-fitti legends APEX and CHOR BOO-GIE, he speaks of inspiration derived from exposure to the singular beauty of REMINISCE’s wild horses she paint-ed running through the streets of San Francisco and works by Barry McGee.

Following a period of trans- Atlantic existance abruptly ended by a mix of US foreign policy protest and immi-

gration rules, he was forced to return to the UK. Back in London, Pure Evil worked with Banksy’s print empire and his SANTAS GHETTO venture before traveling back home to Wales to re-think his next step. He decided to reim-agine the “print of all prints” -Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Bastards. Pure Evil had heard about how John Lennon wished for acontroversial version of the album cover to include Hitler in the line up. His rework of this idea was market-ed independently, selling for £666 with a line up Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, Ramirez, more serial killers and Hitler. They took off in sales and with follow up solo shows of Pure Evil’s art, financed the creation of the Pure Evil Gallery.

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Courtesy of Pure Evil Gallery

Investing significant funds into open-ing up the entire 2 floor space at 108 Leonard St, Shoreditch, the Pure Evil Gallery is situated on the verge of the city: and exhibits originals and prints of Pure Evil’s work. The Department Store, situated at 96/98 Leonard Street is dedicated street artists he discovers, emerging to famous. His standard for selection is specifically street art that gives a sense of euphoria and is not just “cool” or well produced. He gives an example of ROA’s work, known for his giant line paintings depicting wild, urban animals and birds. “The first time you see his work it gets you super ex-cited, you get a buzz from it”.

I ask Pure Evil how easy it is to get large scale street art into the gallery environ-ment. For this an artist is required to transition their artwork on to canvas. He points out this can make or break a successful street artist. Far too often what he describes as “rectangle fe-ver” can hit, the scale limiting even the most talented street artists. “Some art-ists change what they do, others stick to theirs guns and the odd one realizes they don’t care about galleries”. This is how street art becomes a commodi-ty, and not just the painting outside on the street.

We talk about the flux of interest in street art and how it affects running the gallery “What’s going on now is that you have such an industry within street art, you email an artist you discover and they already have a gallery hooked up and maybe five other shows in the next year; others just want to focus on their street art which I totally get; I don’t

have to sweat too much about the financial side of things so can say hey Chanoir lets do something on Friday or

‘Carlo Ponti’s Nightmare 4’ by Pure Evil

‘Bunny Playmate Blue’ by Pure Evil

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Courtesy of Pure Evil Gallery

hey Stinkfish how about doing two canvases and we’ll put them up in the gallery. The idea with The Department Store is that if an artist does show up on Eurostar and he’s doing great; I can get him in that week, do an instant show; the model of it all has changed; instead of saying I’ve got a space for you in the future, work towards that; you never know how their work is going to change; if they’re doing great work on the street in the morning, you give them a call and say come along, bring some canvases; or we’ll have some canvases here for you to work on”

Pure Evil likes to see himself as find-ing the next big names, emerging art-ists that get people excited.However he does not want to place himself as a gallery that limits the artists career,

and considers it bad ethics to do so: “If other galleries poach the artists that you’re working with, that’s fine, we’re all about getting our work out there; working with an artist; I can have an ex-perience where I met and fell in love with an artist’s work, did a project with them, they asked me if I wanted to do a show with them, l said yes; and a cou-ple of weeks later I find they’re doing a show with someone else; from their point of view, why cant they work with other galleries; from my point of view, I would prefer to make it more special to work with an artist who is not working with another gallery in the same city. But if you have just arrived in town and want to get your work out there; I say work with me and we’ll take it some-where”

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Courtesy of Pure Evil Gallery

After so much attention being placed on the street art scene, it seems every-one is looking to discover the next-Banksy. I ask Pure Evil about collectors coming into the galleries, and his re-sponse at being such a frontrunner on the scene. “We’re on the verge of the city, where the city sector meetsthe ar-tistic sector. You see discarded ties ly-ing on Curtain Road. People will leave work; their highly paid jobs; and as they get to Shoreditch they’ll take their ties off and throw them away and say I’m going to look at street art, I’m going to break away from The City People come from Farringdon in their lunch hour to look at street art and bring their boss-es down; there’s been a seismic shift in people actively collecting; people come in and ask who they should col-lect; what artist is going to make me a lot of money in investment terms; whose going to do a Banksy; they’re mainly buying it because of invest-ment; but also because they like it.”

He points out to me that the chances are if you fall in love with a painting, so will someone else. If you’re going to see it, the texture and the opulence of the painting, someone else will and want to have it too. Hence creating market liquidity, something it appears street art in London is thriving on.

The Department Store96/98 Leonard Street, London,EC2A 4XS

Pure Evil Gallery108 Leonard Street, London,EC2A [email protected]

‘Les Fleurs du Mal’ by Pure Evil

‘Frank Sinatra’s Nightmare Vertigo 2’ by Pure Evil

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Courtesy of Pure Evil Gallery

ROB TUFNELLA listed Edwardian pavilion designed by architect Lutyens, perhaps best known for the Cenotaph, is home to Rob Tufnell’s gallery, which opened in 2009. This is a fitting setting for a gal-lery where you will not find short-lived trend orientated work, but one for last-ing, intellectual pieces that will remain significant over time. Rob’s cultivated and succinct shows display works main-ly from significant artists which can be placed in museums and private collec-tions . However due to his expertise he works occasionally with the estates of artists and other significant cultural figures. These include David Burton, a pavement artist who died in 1945, the poet Christopher Logue and the artist, photographer and textile designer, Humphrey Spender.

Rob studied painting at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Ox-ford in the early 1990s and spent time living and working in Nairobi, London and Glasgow before joining the Cura-torial Training Programme at De Appel in Amsterdam. After this he worked as a curator at Turner Contemporary, Mar-gate, in the public and private sectors including The Modern Institute, Glas-gow and Stuart Shave/Modern art, London. Rob is also a director of the Sunday Art Fair, a Berlin based project that moved to London to offer an alter-native for so-called ‘younger’ galleries to the Frieze Art Fair. As someone with notable experience working with mu-seum standard art, Rob Tufnell was the perfect source to discuss the INVEST-MENT VS. CULTURE argument.

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Courtesy of Rob Tufnell

The idea that art can be a smart way to make a quick investment plays on the mind of many young collectors who post-recession have become aware of art as a commodity. Rob is strongly against looking at art purely for invest-ment and feels anyone following this process looses out on art mostvaluable asset, culture. I interviewed him to find out how the notion of ‘flipping’ is so detrimental to the art world.

Do you feel enough support is given to emerging artists in London and to attract collectors?As a general rule I believe govermentalinterference is unhelpful. That said I do think that there should be more publicly funded, collecting institutions and that the sales tax on art is far too

high. Should more individuals support emerging artists over those who are established? Yes, of course, as they will find it more rewarding in every respect, but it is their choice.

Speculative investor v.s. genuine collector, what separates the two?Genuine collectors buy art because they love it. Speculative investors are in effect complicit in building pyramid investment schemes that jeopardise artist’s careers. They are ultimately responsible for the production of dull, derivative art.

What is behind the driving force for new collectors to view art primarily as a financial investment?They see it as a straight forward

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Courtesy of Rob Tufnell, Installation view ‘Artery 1971 – 1984’, 2012

investment in a small and easily ma-nipulated industry with little regulation and, therefore, one with the potential for great financial returns. I understand why people invest in art but I don’t think it is sustainable and it has a nega-tive effect on the quality of the art that is produced.

How does this affect/manipulate the art market?Names become more important than the art they produce. Auctions are ma-nipulated and prices soar, regardless of institutional or critical attention. Young-er artists then ape the works they think will sell. Money becomes a primary motivator.

How might this affect the career of the emerging artist, does this isolate new talent? Equally established art-ists too?Mediocrity and gimmicks are rewarded, quality is neglected by the market. Ca-reers are shorter and so even talented artists therefore over-produce, deliv-ering poor quality artworks. Everyone, established or emerging, is vulnerable to a single bad auction

What do you feel the collector squanders by taking this approach?Once they get a reputation for ‘flip-ping’ (ie realising their investment) they wont be offered the best works by the best artists. Many such investors are banned from even entering certain gal-lery premises. Bad news spreads fast.

Does your opinion reflect in your own gallery and if a first time collec-tor came to the gallery how would

you recommend they start their col-lection on these lines?Yes of course. The work I show is challenging – asking questions rather than providing pat answers. Which is as it should be. They offer a good opor-tunity to invest in culture which I can demonstrate by providing evidence of independent critical acclaim and biog-raphies demonstrative of institutional attention. However, I think people should start collections by acquiring things that they care about. That way, spurious fluctuations in financial value become completely irrelevant.

Rob Tufnell83 Page Street, LondonSW1P 4HAwww.robtufnell.com

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Courtesy of Rob Tufnell, Installation view Henning Bohl, ‘Kaddath Fatal’, 2012

PECKHAM

Hannah Barry Gallery frontage, courtesy of the Gallery

Written by Joe Turnbull

Explore one of London’s hottest art districts

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The old bastions of creative output in the East End have in many ways be-come victims of their own success in re-cent times, with exorbitant rents push-ing out artists and squeezing smaller galleries. One of the beneficiaries of this process over the last decade has been Peckham, with its plethora of striking former industrial buildings, diverse community and previously un-tapped potential. The result has been a blossoming of studios, artist-led spaces and galleries, predominantly huddled around the nucleus of Peck-ham Rye station, which today boasts a concentration of galleries to rival areas in the East.

Locals, like Arcadia Missa gallery’sRozsa Farkas will tell you that a vi-brant arts community has always exist-ed Peckham “this isn’t new, just more people know about it. I grew up in Peckham, there was never a shortage of art.” You can certainly see her point when you consider that somewhere like South London Gallery, has been around since the late 19th century. It’s still one of the most recognisable and prestigious galleries across London, never mind Peckham. Despite the in-stitution’s age, South London Gallery has remained at the bleeding edge, attracting international talent, with a bold bold programme which continues to take risks. In 2010 the gallery un-veiled a charming new cafe, gardens and a dwelling which provides residen-cies for emerging artists. This opening seemed to coincide serendipitously with the influx of new galleries a little further south-east.

Peckham’s proximity to the likes of Camberwell College of Arts and Goldmith’s University has long ensured it access to a deep well of bright new creative talent, and it seems important to take the recent proliferation of crea-tive spaces in this broader context; the infrastructure has long been there and Peckham’s creative heart should

DWYL, Sculpture, Courtesy Maja Cule & Arcadia Missa, 2014

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Thinner Barrel, Editon, Courtesy Maja Cule & Arcadia Missa, 2014

not be overlooked in favour of more recent adornments like the trendy bars and upmarket restaurants.

In many ways Hannah Barry gallerytyp-ifies the new wave of galleries in Peck-ham: fresh, exciting, housed in a previ-ously industrial setting, and quite hard to find. It’s nestled unassumingly on the corner as you turn left out of Peck-ham Rye station in a former meat-freez-ing facility, with no obvious signage. There’s a cavernous ground floor gal-lery which played host to Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq’s solo exhibition Clear Black Smoke late 2014. The exhibition was sparsely populated with cool, ge-ometric sculptures, fragile despite their almost kinetic quality. Upstairs, there’s a smaller but by no means diminutive

second gallery. Barry first ventured into the art scene of Peckham in 2006 work-ing with a group of artists in a derelict space that was waiting to be converted into flats. A year later she set up Bold Tendencies, which has become an an-nual project encompassing sculpture and performing arts. Bold Tendencies takes place in the disused multi-sto-rey car park which has Frank’s Bar on its roof, with its panoramic views of London’s sprawling vistas which are up there with the best the city has to offer.

Having spent five years in situ by the iconic Bussey Building, Hannah Barry moved to its current site in 2013. “To come and spend an afternoon in Peckham if you’ve never been here is very exciting,” says Barry,

Courtesy of Hannah Barry gallery, Installation view of ‘Clear Black Smoke’, Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq, 2014

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Courtesy of Bosse & Baum, Installation view of ‘Glissando’, Candida Powell-Williams, 2014 57

“to come and spend another day af-ter you’ve been here the first time and make your own route is still very excit-ing”. And then, hopefully, you come a third time and bring others who you can introduce to the same great time you had...I think Peckham allows peo-ple to do that and that’s what’s special and unique about it”.

Just around the corner, down a wind-ing lane that takes you past the Bussey Building – home to the CLF Art Cafe, two yoga businesses and a handful of artists studios – sits Bosse & Baum.

Again, the only signage is a tiny bronze plaque. Bosse and Baum opened the doors on its new gallery space in Oc-tober 2014 with Candida Powell-Wil-liams enchanting solo exhibition Glis-sando as the inaugrul show. Glissando filled the impressive ex-warehouse space with vibrant, playful sculptures, which conflate the mythologies of fly-ing characters from Wonderwoman to Elimer, an 11th century monk who made himself wings, via the first dog into space. Powell-Williams carried it off with a childlike abandon which in-duced an infectious giddiness.

A hop, skip and jump round to Copeland Road and you find yourself at Rod Barton, occupying the type of space at the foot of a new block of flats usuallyreserved for a mini supermar-ket. Its big shop windows make it both more conspicuous and inviting than the other galleries in the area. In Septem-ber I had the pleasure of seeing Alex Ito’s Tales from a Sardine Run, a scath-ing critique of corporate aesthetics and the self-immolation by consumers in pursuit of falsely-constructed forms of beauty and success. Its centrepiece was an at once beguiling and hideous-ly sanitised white plastic dolphin, with a piece of jewellery absurdly dangling from its rostrum. Back towards the station on Blenheim Grove sits the Sunday Painter, an

altogether more intimate space. It recently exhibited New York-based artist James Viscardi, which reflects the international outlook of many galler-ies in the area. Viscardi’s Whistle and Flute is a facetious commentary on how an artist’s life is increasingly scru-tinised and used to inform opinions of their work. With grotesquely-oversized renditions of his own clothing hanging from frames as if crucified,Viscardi’s work has a pleasing immediacy.

I was in attendance for Arcadia Missa’s private view of Maja Cule’s ‘Facing the Same Direction which drew a throng-ing arty crowd that spilled out onto onto the yard of the industrial estate which is home to the gallery. There was an electric atmosphere which made for a very sociable event.

Courtesy of Rod Barton, Installation view of My Tarp Has Sprung a Leak, Kenneth Alme, 2014

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Farkas says Peckham offers collectors access to “emerging artists and their works, created from within a much big-ger and engaged collective movement. Small galleries that are self-organised from the grassroots, often developed from long-term friendships with artists, and open to patronage and support from collectors that are looking for in-volvement with young scenes beyond just the acquisition of works.

There is a lot of discourse for such a small number of spaces too - post-crisis new ways of living and thinking. Oh and also fun." And that sums it up nicely. The scene has a very young and dynamic feel to it, the antithesis to the often stuffy and overbearing feel that characterises many of the more estab-lished galleries located more centrally.

Every one that I spoke to was keen to highlight what an incredible communi-ty there is in Peckham, not just within the arts but beyond that. Hannah Perry, a Royal Academy graduate working in installation, print and video together with 12 other artists leases and manag-es a three-story studio block. They rent out studio space to around 35 artists and musicians. This is just one example of the myriad creative spaces offering opportunities for collaboration,experi-mentation and growth. Perry described the artistic community in Peckham as “stronger than anywhere else I have experienced in London”.

However, as the vicious effects of gentrification have gathered pace in concert with (and in many ways because of) Peckham’s cultural

Courtesy of The Sunday Painter, Installation view of Whistle and Flute, James Viscardi 2014

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renaissance, rents are rising to prohib-itive levels. These things often come full circle, with the low rents that drove artists to the area gone, many will be looking for the next Peckham already. This has happened with countless are-as in London, but it seems to have hap-pened particularly quickly and starkly with Peckham. Every artist I spoke to cited rising rent as a major concern. Perry’s 35-artist studio space is sadly on borrowed time, with the lease com-ing to an end, the building will soon be converted into expensive new flats.

Similarly, local painter Christopher Green, co-founder of the Library of In-dependent Exchange, told me how the rent on his studio in the Bussey Build-ing doubled overnight.

“Peckham has become like all other

areas in London, in the sense that rent prices are increasing and the local council and developers make every efffort to capitalise on creative pur-suits,” he tells me, “as a consequence the environment they create is no longer conducive to true ‘creativity’.” And herein lies the problem. For all the exciting developments in Peckham, soaring property prices are bringing in a different type of influx. Whereas the artists I spoke to said they made an effort to integrate themselves with the existing community in Peckham by supporting local businesses, the fear is that those with money moving into Peckham for its new-found trendy sta-tus are creating their own infrastruc-ture which may be excluding existing residents, who are themselves being squeezed by rising rents.

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Courtesy of Hannah Barry gallery, Installation view of ‘Moons Masks Birds Demons’, Shaun McDowell, 2014

Fortunately, spaces like Peckham Plat-form make a huge effort to engage with the existing community in Peck-ham through an extensive programme of outreach work and using artists who have social engagement at the core of their practice. Peckham Platform’s explicit commitment to community engagement was exemplified by their Peckham Peace Wall project launched in 2012; a permanent outdoor artwork comprised of digitally-reproduced post-it notes with positive messages about the area contributed by locals following the 2011 riots.

It seems vital that the artistic commu-nity in Peckham continues to reach out the wider community in this way so that the diversity of the area – so long one if it’s greatest strengths – con-tinues to reflect and nourish the new offshoots which appear. Artists who have worked in the area for a number of years will also need support in the form of affordable creative spaces, or else the vibrancy and dynamism which has epitomized Peckham in recent years threatens to be swallowed up by the relentless appetite of gentrfication.

Arcadia MissaUnit 6, Bellenden Road Business Centre, Bellenden Road, London, SE15 [email protected]

Hannah Barry4 Holly Grove, LondonSE15 [email protected]

The Sunday Painter12-16 Blenheim Grove, London SE15 [email protected]

Bosse & Baum133 Copeland Road, LondonSE15 [email protected]

Rob Barton41-45 Consort Road, London SE15 3SS@_RodBartonwww.rodbarton.com

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