So, on Saturday we visited lots of galleries in the East End and had some introductions to gallerist where possible. This was a really interesting experience and we got a lot of first hand information about how artists are selected for the spaces. The general summery seemed to bit that mainly people are either introduce to a gallery by an existing represented artist or are “pick up” at a group show, open show or art fair.
The biggest message so far has been it is so important to get stuff out there, get involved, get talking and get seen.
I am still wondering about how viable this is as a regional artist??
Today we had two visiting lecturers: Rosalind Davis of Zeitgeist Arts Projects and Sarah Rowles of Q-Art.
Both were talking about peer networking and artist led organisations, there was some really valuable insights and practical tips. The importance of social networking was brought home (something I need to re-evaluate) all part of this network, network, network message that is coming across so clearly.
Something that Sarah talked about particularly captured me: she was reflecting on how outside of London there are very few places with a structured art scene, which means graduates can sometimes feel a bit lost BUT she said that she saw this as a really exciting thing, because people can re-invent the art culture in that city, there is space to change, move and expand.
http://www.zeitgeistartsprojects.com/
In the afternoon we had four presentations of our fellow residentees, Julia Miranda, Araba Ocran, Paul Stanley and Jane Oldfield.
Julia’s work I found very beautiful and I am very interested in her process. She works with automatic marks often on found surfaces, and here confidence in her own vision and aesthetic makes for very seductive pieces.
The sculptural pieces that Araba showed spoke of carefully considered production, paring away until she distilled the core of what she wanted to communicate, for me her work has an iconic quality.
I was deeply impressed by Paul’s articulation of the ideas around his work, which obviously comes from a solid theoretical framework. I feel I could learn a lot from this, giving more consideration to to the wider context of ideas my work deals with.
The variety of Jane’s work was both inspiring and comforting to me. I often feel that my work is quite scattered because of the variety of media that I cover but I could see clearly in her work that a theme can unite a body of work as strongly as a material.
http://www.juliamiranda.co.uk/
http://2009.atcamberwell.com/courses/bahons-sculpture/students/araba-ocran
http://www.janeoldfield.co.uk/
