4th Anniversary Exhibition - Our Best Yet?

Our anniversary falls on the same night as the Teddington Christmas lights are switched on, and this, our 4th birthday, was one of the busiest and liveliest we have had to date.   We were concerned that our invitations had gone out with the wrong date (4 of us proof read the invitations and the wrong one was sent to print!) and that turn-out would be limited, but, happily,  that wasn't the case.    It may well be due to the Teddington Society's organisation this year and greater involvement from Traders in the area thanks to Teddington Business Community, both of whom are very active in promoting local small businesses.  Strength to their arm.  If you want to watch their video of Lights Up here's the link - the gallery is shown 26 seconds into the video for about 1 second! Don't blink!.

We've had several excellent exhibitions in the period since we last posted a blog - we have a passionate new Saturday curator, Steve, who started with us in September of last year.  He replaced Paul Smith, one of our regular artists who curated on Saturdays for 18 months.  Giving up every Saturday, particularly when you have a young family is quite a commitment.  Since the birth of his second child and giving up working every Saturday, he is painting again and we look forward to showing his work in the gallery.  Have a look at his work here.

This current exhibition has some fantastic works and has sold exceptionally well since opening.  It isn't surprising considering the line-up.  You can see the current artists for Outlands on our Website. 

Outlands is an exhibition that tries to look at the different ways artists view the world around them.  Bozena Kaluga's work, for example, is quite extraordinary, using woven fabrics to create imagery.  Some of my favourite pieces are the jewel like framed works with stories woven in between two pieces of glass.  She uses thread to create images that, close up, look like delicate pieces of fabric, and from a distance the story is clear and yours to interpret.  Bozena is already very established and collectable in her native Poland and this is one of the first opportunities to see and collect her work in the UK.

Kaluga's work has resonance with that of John Harrison who uses layers of foam board, to create portraits of the famous. His portraits of the Beatles are fascinatingly abstract when viewed closely, and, again, the image emerges once you step away and is unmistakeable - my favourite being Ringo Star.  Harrison is an emerging artist and his technique is relatively unique.

Works that also tell a story and are selling well are those of Orsi Cowell-Lehoczky.  The glazed paintings are about a dog that the family had, who was much loved but became jealous of the arrival of a new baby.  One of the paintings depicts his departure - he was re-homed with another family with older children - and the painting of his running into the woods is a happy ending for all concerned, missed as he is.  Two of these paintings have already sold and we are hoping to get more from Orsi.  My favourite is the small nude shown here.  This has sold to one of our favourite collectors and long may it be enjoyed.

In early February we are intending to have a reshuffle and invite new artists to show some pieces with us.  This will be needed considering how quickly artwork is leaving the walls.  We'll e-mail those on our mailing list and if you would like to be added please let us know.

We get asked how we find our artists.  Some are recommended, some are artists that we've shown before and new artists approach us all of the time.  We receive a mountain of e-mails each month and go through them when we're nearing the end of an exhibition.  The best way to approach us is by e-mail - with images and prices of available work.  With a great deal of artwork it is essential to see it in the flesh - it can look very different on a pc.  Our next exhibition is programmed for the end of March/early April.

If you haven't visited the gallery yet, it's worth popping in.  We're friendly, informal, there is always something for everyone, we make a lovely cup of coffee and we let you be so you can view the artwork in peace!  Have a look at the world through an artist's eyes.

As Van Gogh said  "I dream my painting and I paint my dream."

Rough Guide to Curating an Excellent Gallery

Fragile Landscape is up and running and doing rather well.  We've had good sales and good visitors - almost always a pleasure to talk to.  They're starting to come from far afield to visit - Reigate, Midlands, Windsor and even Kensington! It's wonderful.  

The exhibition is rather short - I guess its Rule no. 6 (or 7? or is 8?) - 6 weeks is too short; no sooner have you finished hanging the show and got the hang of speaking fluently about each artist and artwork than you have to change again.  As it stands I'm now running a little late in issuing the invitations - partly because of late input, partly because of "too much to do".  This brings me onto the issue of inforamtion about how to run a gallery - not a "shope" type but a gallery that means to be a patron in the very best sense.  To serve art, artists and the community around it.  When I knew I was going to do this I looked for easily accessible inforamtion but there is a dearth of relevant literature about the art of curating. Of course, there are degree courses - none that can be done in a fortnight.  So this blog is becoming something of a Rough Guide to Curating an Excellent Gallery.   

It is worth noting that I haven't stuck hard and fast to all my rules so far and some are becoming more rubberised than others.  But I do think that Rule no. 7 (8 or 9?) is that you must spend time doing the jobs you intend to employ others to do later on.   It is the only way in a new venture to know exactly what to look for in CV terms.  At the moment these are the staff I need (and that's just for the gallery - don't mention the other business);

1. Saturday and weekday sales assistant.  Someone knowledgeable about art, not patronising, charming with people, easy to talk to (people seem afraid of being condescended to in a galelry) and who is good with technology - credit card payments, computer invoices etc.  They also need to be fit enough to prepare artworks for collection or delivery and getting up ladders to get them.  During the week this person may end up twiddling their thumbs a little so other duties should be added to the job description.
2. Graphic designer - for posters, invitations, adverts and the website as well as the labels for each change of exhibition.   
3. Curator - someone who spends the time looking for artists (its tricky this one as I always want to have last say on this even if someone else is doing it), contacting them, sending through agreements, arranging to see the artwork, agreeing which pieces, discussing wall prices and programming the path of the next exhibition.  This will include co-ordinating with the graphic designer to provide timely images for the literature and website.
4. As we're launching the arts programme there needs to be a co-ordinator and publicit.  This is pretty full on and whist it may be possible for one candidate to fit all of the above requirements, it may be that this is a second person's job.
5. Not mentioning cleaner - preferably daily.
6. Not mentioning janitor for preparing for each class and locking up afterwards (so local) and then clearing up the next day.

A few interesting people have been in the gallery offering their services but each lacks something which is a shame as I like several of them and each could do part of the job. 

I'm also trying to get together the brief for the sculpture competition - more anon.  This requires more admin time and I will need to prepare a draft brief for discussion with Carol Cordrey of The Richmond Magazine.

All very exciting.  Just requires time.