Gatekeeper Magazine: Issue 02 'Indispensable'

ISSUE.02

Spring / Summer 2021

Gatekeeper.

Kengwu Yerlikaya / Greg Rook / YAMI-ICHI / All Mouth Gallery Stella Botes / Tom Wilmott / Migrate Art / Jade French Jonathan Barnbrook / Anastasia Fjodorova / The New Art Gallery Walsall

Indispensable

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Gatekeeper.

Spring / Summer 2021 Front: Adbusters: First Things First Billboard, 2001, designed by Jonathan Barnbrook.

Back: Anish Kapoor, Scorched Earth, 2020

www.gatekeepermagazine.com @gatekeeperzine contact@gatekeepermagazine.com

Copyright of all editorial content and images are held by the contributors and/or Gatekeeper Magazine. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without permission of the publisher.

Gatekeeper Magazine cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to unsolicited material. The views expressed in Gatekeeper are not necessarily those of the publishers, editors or artists. © Gatekeeper 2021

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Issue two is split into chapters, each chapter analysing roles that are seen as indispensable to the art market. We have collated an eclectic mixture of contributors who provide a critical and provoking insight into the art world.

5 Arts Education

Public Gallery

Arts Charity

Art Collector

Artist/Designer

Commercial Gallery

Network

Art Critic/Writer

The Electric

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C or at Art Advisor

6 INTERNATIONAL ART MARKET CORPORATION New York London Paris Rome Geneva Shanghai Berlin

Gatekeeper of the International Contemporary Art Market

34-35 New Bond St, London, W1A 2AA

FINE ART AUCTIONS AND PRIVATE SALES

Indispensable

Editors’ Letter

7 Creative Director & Editors Lucy Alves & Natascha Ng Art Director & Graphic Designer C-Jaye Newton Creative Social Media & Marketing Coordinator Katarina Lalic Copy Editor Emily Wignall Social Media Assistant Emma Ireland

Thinking back to starting Gatekeeper during a global pandemic, if you told us that almost a year on we would be working hard to produce another issue amidst the same pandemic, we would have laughed for sure.

So much has happened during the time between starting Gatekeeper to now producing our second issue. We have grown an amazing community on Instagram with so many supportive followers, readers and contributors.

We have this thanks to you: our reader. However, we also had the opportunity to expand our team and the generosity given by our colleagues has further supported the start of Gatekeeper. This expansion has allowed space for Gatekeeper to not only tackle issues for emerging artists through print but also through a digital voice.

Looking at the art world over the last crazy year, with galleries closing their doors once again in December, things felt and looked bleak for the art industry. In the last 6 months between issues, we definitely agreed on one thing - the importance of the arts and its necessity to everyone’s livelihoods. You interact with art daily, witnessing the graphic design on a margarine tub as you butter your toast, or as you put on your coat to leave the house. You take for granted the impact creativity and the arts have on your day-to-day life. We’ve had so many milestones this year, with the digital art market sales booming and the ‘Art is Essential’ campaign encouraging others, in particular the government, to support the arts. Now with educational cuts and students spending their tuition fees on bedroom studios, art needs a boost.

We realised by focusing on the indispensable nature of the art world, we could shine light onto some unique, refreshing and encouraging initiatives, creatives and collectives. Introducing issue 02: where each chapter explores a particular role that makes up the art market.

We speak to individuals/groups of creatives who encapsulate the essence of each role and explore where the role should progress, understanding it to be much more than the dictionary definition.

Twitter: @ArtistUnionE Instagran: @Artistunionengland

Facebook: Artists’ Union England

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Kengwu Yerlikaya

Artist

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Tom Wilmott

Artist

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Jonathan Barnbrook

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Greg Rook

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Anastasia Fjodorova

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Migrate Art

Designer

Art Advisor

Arts Education

Arts Charity

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All Mouth Gallery

Commercial Gallery

Jade French Stella Botes YAMI-ICHI

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The New Art Gallery Walsall

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Curator

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Art Writer/Critic

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Art Collector

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Public Gallery

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12 Yerlikaya, Suppression, 2019 (conceptual sculpture, ready-made)

13 An artist’s work and career are governed by numerous professions that help push their work forward, and are (unfortunately) sometimes used to legitimise those careers. Contemporary artists today are equally intertwined with collectors, curators and galleries.

Kengwu Yerlikaya

“I do not intend to change the viewer’s point of view or mind, but there is still a story I would like to tell. The rest is up to the viewer to decide.”

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In the conceptual sculpture work ‘Suppression’, the glass ceiling is visualised by presenting a referee chair without stairs.

The high seat with no means to reach it aims to symbolise inaccessibility. We are all taught that through hard work and effort we will one day succeed, but no one ever explains how. So we end up below, staring up, hoping to receive a helping hand. Alongside the sculptural work is the receipt of the purchased objects (chair, cushion, sensor light) in a frame. The price of the work is stated as the sum of the objects, symbolically excluding Kengwu’s labour.

And so we pose the question: does this present artists’ labour as invaluable, indispensable or unappreciated?

Born and raised in Taipei city, Kengwu Yerlikaya (b. 1993) was a film student at Taipei National University of the Arts before starting a BA in Fine Arts at Chelsea College of Arts (UK). A former film actor, Kengwu immerses himself in the identity reflected by his surroundings.

He is now working as a Mandarin teacher whilst undertaking a Law Conversion Course at BPP University.

Recently, his practice has moved towards reflecting socially-engaged issues such as human rights, social injustice, and global movements. He takes a particular focus on society’s drive to favour economics over equality. In his work, there are elements of both absence and proximity due to his candour as a person and as an artist.

His work, often a depiction of an event, reproduces others’ life experiences. Kengwu intends to arouse empathy.

Kengwu explored the theme ‘indispensable’ through his piece, Suppression (2019). When discussing what element is indispensable to the art world, Kengwu felt that artists should be a definite answer. ‘It is the artist who transforms human creativity and new perspective into the physical world,’ noted Kengwu.

Yet this perception is not a reality. Until the artist finds a way to break through the glass ceiling to join the commercial market or academia, they are commonly underrated. Sometimes they are not valued at all.

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16 Yerlikaya, Suppression, 2019 (conceptual sculpture, ready-made)

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“My story is not special. I am negligible. I am not a fighter, but it doesn’t mean that I need to be voiceless. This world is saturated with people deliberately silenced and preferably unheard.”

Kengwu Yerlikaya

18 Wilmott, Don’t chase your demons they will find you XIV, 2020

19 The commercial pressures on working artists can cause a shift in their outlook. They are no longer creating to fulfil their creative desires, their creativity is now measured in sales.

Tom Wilmott A creative urge is undefinable. The best analogy I have is hunger. It’s like a physical need: the longer it goes unsatisfied, the worse it gets. It is deeply satisfying when I get to make work, but that only lasts a certain time before the craving returns. And so I have to make something again.

For some people, the notion of being commercially successful is a very powerful and useful driver. For me, and I think for many other artists, the commercialisation of my practice changed the perception of making. I started thinking about numbers and sales, which snapped the enjoyment out of the making process. It no longer fulfilled my hunger. For the most part, the reason that I paint is to improve my life, to bring moments of pleasure and enjoyment. It became clear that, if I was going to actually enjoy making work, the commercial concerns were likely to ruin that.

Painting is a passion, not a job. I am aware that just the opportunity to make work is a privilege and I am in a tiny minority of people that are fortunate to be able to indulge themselves in this way. I live in a developed, prosperous, peaceful country. I have a good day job directly related to my interests, a home, and the support of a loving family. On top of all this, I am able to find time and space to make paintings. Cast in this light, there was no way I could justify seeking further personal benefit from something I am already very lucky to have at all. Just because my paintings could provide financial benefit doesn’t mean they ought to.

20 People have often said “you’re underselling yourself”, but it makes no difference. If I put 25 quid on these things, or 250 quid or two and a half thousand pounds, they don’t exist in the market, therefore, they’re not subject to its arbitrary rules. My Painting Pro Bono is now the sole method of the distribution of my work: selling my paintings for donations of £25 to my selected charities (The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation and Youngminds).

Of course, this is not to say that good commercial galleries cannot offer artists resources that, in most cases, would otherwise be unavailable to them and help them realise work they might not have been able to. Despite clear issues with accessibility, the market as a whole does keep contemporary art widely visible and in the public consciousness. By keeping it ‘socially desirable’ within certain rarefied circles (whatever one may think of that), the market helps to make owning art aspirational and so perhaps widens the group of people who seek to become collectors at different levels. Obviously this is a good thing for artists of all levels too.

I suppose in the end, if you choose to be involved in the commercial art world and try to make your way within it in any form, be it as an artist, or another capacity (or, as is often the case, both), it may help to approach with what I would call positive scepticism. Be wary of taking things at face value, question everything, and be confident that, with the right ideas, even the longest standing “traditions” can be changed and improved if they need to. But always remember that it’s full of fascinating art, exciting events and interesting people.

I do believe that now can actually be a great time to be getting into the art world.

Wilmott, Ladders of life we scale merrily, move mysteriously around X ( detail 1), 2021

So, I started giving away paintings for free. It was quite satisfying as it’s nice to give gifts and put a bit of good out into the world. After a while I came across Victor Seaward, who would sell little sculptures in return for a £25 donation to charity. I thought it was a brilliant idea.

So I said to him, “look, do you mind if i do this myself?”.

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22 Having seen the significant change that has already occurred over the past 16+ years, I am genuinely excited to see what happens next. I think there are some really promising and very positive things happening right now and I’m very happy to be in the position that I am, both personally and professionally.

23 Wilmott, Don’t chase your demons, they will find you III, 2020 Next spread: Wilmott, Ladders of life we scale merrily, move mysteriously around X (angle), 2021

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Meet Jonathan Barnbrook, Graphic Designer.

Pengiun: A Clockwork Orange Restored Eddition, Designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, 2014. Photographs: © Barnbrook

27 NN - What has your experience of the art market been and has it affected your work?

JB - The system is such that generally there has to be a number of other things in place before people even look at your work. The art world is quite a narrow world. Although there are attempts to be inclusive, it still is generally white and middle class. It’s the pursuit of the rich: you have to go to the right college, and then you have to meet the right people and the right gallery. If you do the right deals, if you’re happy being in a situation with the elite of society (who are the only people who can afford to work) once you get to a certain level, then you succeed.

NN - How can creatives avoid commercial values directing their practice?

JB - Ultimately, you are at the centre of mass production, but what you should do is acknowledge that and then find yourself within the system. The question isn’t black and white, we are producing stuff for consumption, some of that production is useful and some of it isn’t.

Even though I’ve been working for 30 years, I’m still twisting and turning morally. How do you frame your morals within the project? How far can you extend a brief? Does it extend to making the world a better place?

In college, when you’re given a brief to design a poster, you’re not told to think about the ramifications of your poster or whether your actions would benefit society. The only way to do it is to go back to the truth and constantly remind people what the truth is.

28 NN - How can creatives avoid changing their practice, whether that's due to commercial values or self-centred censorship?

JB - The line between commercial and noncommercial has become completely blurred. But that doesn’t mean to say you can’t still make choices that you’re uncomfortable with. The first thing is to realise that being a graphic designer and being creative is political. You make choices and they are actually political choices. If you take on a job, that’s a political choice. So, when people say I don’t do politics in my design, they are wrong. You’re a designer, therefore it’s a political choice. You’re interacting in society and you’re promoting something which encourages consumption.

But each person is free to choose what those priorities are. All of your choices about being a designer are informed by the way you would act as a citizen. It’s a very simple way to think, but it’s generally the best way. Don’t do work that you wouldn’t do in your real life.

When you open yourself up to doing work once, you attract more of a similar style of work. People have to know what you’re about to know what to commission from you or how to collaborate with you.

My biggest advice is to not get distracted. It’s very difficult to know what you want in the first place, and that does take time. But the thing that I’ve seen from so many students is that they do something that is not quite what they want to do; they compromise, and they say, well, I’ll get back into that. But of course, they don’t have the energy or the spare time. So, the best time to be radical is as soon as you graduate.

It’s very rare that you receive a commission from someone who has a full understanding of the philosophy behind your work. So, you have to show them what you want to do.

You also have to approach people. A good bit of stupidity is quite good, and just not thinking too much - just go for what you want to do. It’s always worth it.

29 NN - There’s a very indispensable nature to design, art and creativity when it comes to communication, but, in such a media-saturated society, how do we find new ways to utilise it?

JB - Because we’re fed so much, we forget so quickly.

You just have to keep reminding people, keep staying on your subject. People have asked me if I’ve ever done a poster which has changed everything. And I said, well, no, of course not because I don’t expect someone to look at a poster and go “Oh, I didn’t know about that subject. Now I will change my opinion”.

The recognition of a moral choice or an issue has to be from lots of different sources and through gathering information.

I still believe that, in the end, society has to be changed by people. It’s not changed by politicians.

Protest is still central to change in society. What you can hope to do in your activist work is be a part of many voices to make one big voice. I think that’s all you can hope for.

Next four images: Fragile Self record and book, designed by Barnbrook studio members Anıl Aykan and Jonathan Barnbrook, 2019. Photographs: © Barnbrook

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Barnbrook, Adbusters: First Things First Billboard, 2001 Barnbrook was one of the original signatories of the revised First things First manifesto that was reissued by Adbusters in 2000 and signed by 33 leading visual communicators. The original was written by Ken Garland in 1964. The manifesto called for meaningful design and questioned the role of designers in society.

36 Jonathan Barnbrook designed Issue 37 of Adbusters: Design Anarchy‚ 2001, and completed several other associated works discussing the themes of the manifesto including this billboard.

This was put up in Las Vegas to coincide with the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts conference). The billboard states : “Designers, stay away from corporations that want you to lie for them” - A quote by Tibor Kalman.

37 Barnbrook, Adbusters: Design Anarchy, 2001 Photographs: © Barnbrook

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Working as an Artist and Advisor - We Have a Chat with Greg Rook

I am, first and foremost, an artist, so I don’t feel like a normal art advisor. I feel more like a poacher turned gamekeeper – though the longer I sell other people’s work, the more that difference blurs.

Just over four years ago, a couple of collectors who had previously bought my work asked me to help them build their collections. As a result, I began working as an art advisor and the business has grown over time. I now send work to about 30-40 collectors, who vary from buying 1 or 2 paintings to others who have bought closer to 200 pieces. I specialise in working with individual collectors, but my focus is both on the collector and the artist.

It definitely feels like it must be different because I am an artist, and these works I am selling are often made by friends and colleagues whose work I love. And there do seem to be so many disreputable galleries selling work and making incredible claims of their artists in order to prey on wealthy customers. I’m not talking about the galleries that you see in the credible art fairs (there is a level of weeding done) but more the chain galleries that you find on high streets and third-tier art fairs. What they present is really poor or derivative work and it is so aggrieving when there is great, more affordable work out there, which isn’t getting seen.

I want to present artists who I admire and who are making interesting and thoughtful work. They are not just potentially valuable as an investment, but are also creating critical, intelligent work. With advice, the collectors can create a progressive, thoughtful and valuable collection.

Coren, Up All Night (If You Weren’t Afraid of Flying, We Could Leave the Ground), 2016

How do advisors differ from art dealers?

39 Collectors help fuel the consumerist nature of the art market. They have the power to position an artist’s work as “valuable”, igniting wider interest.

Donachie, Days and nights, 2017

40 What is your journey as an art advisor, matching the artist to the art collector?

I usually start by showing people what I like and what I value. For about 4 years I was sending out monthly emails of artwork to collectors that I thought was interesting.

More recently I have started to send particular works to particular collectors as I better understand individuals’ tastes, but it’s all about works I am currently interested in.

However, if a collector specifically wants something, I run through the work that I like, and if I cannot find anything suitable, I will research and continue to research. I am always researching, looking online or trying to get to a gallery, much to the annoyance of my family!

How do you think Covid-19 has changed your research and portfolio of artworks?

Unfortunately, I can no longer go to physical shows, which is frustrating. I have done a couple of studio visits between lockdowns and I still have collectors come and visit studios I am able to access. I will daily get emails sent from galleries/art fairs which will provide previews of upcoming exhibitions and shows.

41 Instagram is very good, such as Artist Support Pledge.

I sold a few myself and earned enough to buy another work from the pledge. Actually, the pledge was a really interesting opportunity for new collectors. I have a wider email list of about 1,000 people and I sent them links to the pledge-involved Instagram accounts which I found interesting. I also asked collectors to give me £1-2k with which to buy work from Artists Support Pledge. It was great to be able to help promote an alternative model.

I know many artists who have done very well out of it, selling up to 500 pieces, and it has really saved people during current circumstances.

You speak about how these artists are your colleagues. How do you think this helps them to sell and market their work to collectors, either through you or other platforms?

As time goes on, increasingly, the people I deal with are no longer my immediate contemporaries. I am now working with artists who are just starting in their careers and are recommended to me by friends of friends. They often don’t know I am an artist, but I have had artists who I have asked to work with tell me that they have only agreed because they know my background. I also get good referrals from other artists, which is a great connection to have as there is a level of trust built in. And I think this sense of trust also transfers to the collectors, who understand that I am intellectually and emotionally ‘plugged in’ in a way that other advisors are not.

Do you think there is scope to be more inclusive and progressive in this bridge between artist and collector?

I do. Firstly, new money laundering requirements mean that we have to be transparent in letting everyone know who is buying and who is selling. Secondly, when I introduce the artist to the collector, even if it be by email, you see really fruitful and rewarding conversations develop between both parties. There is a real generosity, and an educational element for the collector. This educational element is really important. Eventually, you want the collector to get to the point where they don’t need you to suggest what they buy as they’ve educated themselves to the point where they can make good choices independently.

There is a new art club called Atelier, which is an interesting concept involving a subscription service. You pay a certain amount a month, and they bring a new piece of art to you every month or so, replacing the previous work. They have some really nice works within their collection such as Loie Holliwell, Joana Galego and Marilyn Hallam. The longer they continue the more interesting and developed the collection will become.

The great thing about Atelier is that with every piece of work you get through the service, you get lots of information about the piece. So, not only does the artist’s work get seen by a variety of people as it rotates around the members, but they also get a chance to explain what their work is about and explain who they are as an artist.

42 Donachie, Come now, be content, 2016

43 Coren, Up All Night (If You Weren’t Afraid of Flying, We Could Leave the Ground), 2016

44 How indispensable do you believe art advisors are to the current commercial art market?

I think it really helps collectors to have guidance. It would be very difficult if you wanted to start collecting art but knew nothing about it. If you go to a gallery, they are probably going to tell you to buy art only by the artists that they represent. You would need time, but time is something the majority of collectors do not have as they are busy earning the money they have to spend on art.

So, I do think the role of an art advisor is really important for those people.

There is no reason to expect anyone to know enough about the art world. It is so easy to be duped by works of arts and galleries. You want to think you are looking at something interesting but, in reality, it is a poor rehashing of someone else’s work. The level of knowledge that is required takes time to accrue. Therefore, a good art advisor, or should I say, a conscientious, honest one, is invaluable.

I think it is becoming more and more apparent how important artist-run initiatives and organisations are: because they have the knowledge and experience, it’s not all about money and business, there is this different mindset which creatives are known for.

Commercial galleries have known this for a long time - the best way to find new artists is to get recommendations from current artists whose opinions they value.

The top galleries will often find their new artist from a recommendation of existing artists. When I first started, I was so excited - I had 50 artists who I loved, and who I would buy if I could. As time goes on I look further afield and artist-run initiatives and studio groups are always interesting.

When I place a work from a particular artist, I often discuss with them who they think might be interesting for me to look at next. I have had 60-70 artist-based recommendations this year which I work my way through.

Maybe only 10% I actually connect with, but I really value the connections.

Is there any advice you would give to artists who are trying to put their work out there and get into the market?

Essentially you need somewhere for people to find you; and somewhere you can direct people to view your work.

Instagram is a great start: an art dedicated account where you present your work, photographed really clearly. It is almost like a portfolio. You’ve got to build your platform and it needs to be good, but you also need to help people to see what you have built.

Artquest, artist’s newsletter and all the open submission competitions, residencies, and grants: I would go through all of those thoroughly and work out all that you are eligible for, research past years’ winners and judges and go from there. The hit rate might be 1/10 if you are lucky, but it is worth doing. Even if you don’t get selected, all

Rook, Collecting Contemporary Art,, 2020

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COLLECTING CONTEMPORARY ART

of the people involved will have seen your work and will remember you next time they see it.

The more we can do to help the more thoughtful and intelligent artists to sell their work, the more we enable them to be in their studios, making work and developing their careers. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you buy a particular work from an artist, you are supporting their career and enabling them to continue to make work, therefore, potentially increasing the value of the original work you bought from them. It is essentially the old idea of patronage, and we can all be involved – even if it is only with small purchases.

In 2020 I published a book as a celebration of the work that I have placed in collections over the last few years.

The hardback is available to buy online and a free ebook is available.

It is a beautiful collection of work - a testament to the taste of the collectors with whom I work. I was also delighted and honoured that many of the artists included took the time to write a few words about the work featured. There are really beautiful short texts from Ansel Krut, Hannah Murgatroyd and Playpaint to name a few.

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Anastasia Fjodorova “Creativity is seen as useful so long as it can be used as an economic generator promoting growth within the knowledge economy and the creative industries...There seems to be a general and unproblematic acceptance that an art school is a business.”

Art Education as a Capitalist Tool

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The increased privatisation and systemisation of academic institutions by neoliberal ideological frameworks has demanded universities operate according to market logic. Students are consumers of a service, and higher education institutions are the service providers. The service is education; the product is a degree qualification. When the profit motive is the driving factor, market success is looked to as the benchmark, “if the content attracts students, and therefore income, it is justified”. If not, it is cut; effectively censored out.

The university, like much of the public realm, has effectively become a commodity, “a highquality product,” or a provider of services, rather than a community with a “sense of belonging, responsibility, well-being and trust”. Within educational settings at all levels, the emphasis is on the “cost-effectiveness and competitiveness of the wider institution”. Not only is the degree itself (understood as a piece of paper verifying a set of discrete skills) viewed as a commodity, but students themselves are viewed as a commodity by the institutions that recruit them.

48 Numerous shifts have occurred within higher education in the UK since the 1980s, during which time academia was subject to the continual withdrawal of government subsidies. Higher education moved towards operating within a business framework, in particular with the introduction of tuition fees in the 1990s and the replacement of grants with loans. Quickly, students became consumers and are now expected to take on the burden of massive personal debt. As universities become providers in a competitive global marketplace, higher-level art education is heading towards corporate conformity and exclusivity.

Consequently we see a formal art education that is increasingly conforming to the realities of the art world rather than enabling a critical distance from it. This is therefore, limiting (or attempting to limit) the possibility for students to question or refuse its values.

Once tuition fees were introduced, universities were obliged to provide details of employability potential for the degree courses they offered, equating quality with future earning capacity. In such a Darwinian mentality, courses that deliver employability will thrive, while those that do not will either disappear or be funded through private means. This has the potential to result in a situation where only those students able to afford the cost and risk of an arts degree, associated with a lesser guarantee of future employment, will be able to pursue one. Arguably, the arts and creative industries already verge on exclusivity through the prevalence of financial barriers to entry. Therefore, impositions on which courses are or are not offered can hardly be considered as a true choice.

Creativity is seen as useful so long as it can be used as an economic generator promoting growth within the knowledge economy and the creative industries. In this sense, the concept of fostering creativity through education is not seen as problematic, and is in fact supported, as long as it can be seen to be useful. However, this raises questions about what kind of conceptualisation of creativity is acceptable within a neoliberal ideology. Under neoliberal capitalism, for which the idea of individual responsibility is central, creativity and the image of a creative are embraced. However, only a certain kind of creativity, what Bishop describes as “the individualisation associated with creativity,” is useful to capitalism.[18]

Using the concept of creative industries to justify the importance of arts-related subjects is in direct contradiction to the concept and practice of being an artist. In legitimising the arts, this reduces the practice of art-making into a product or an object of use. This therefore, takes away its own validity and minimises the process itself.

There seems to be a general and unproblematic acceptance that an art school is a business. A degree from one increasingly appears to be little more than a stamp of approval, potentially allowing entry onto a career path.

Such an educational model is highly effective at normalizing artistic practice as business practice, so that artistic agency is redefined as the ability to function professionally in a neo-liberal economic model of culture.

An aim of art education for its future artists should be the provision of spaces where resistance to this infiltration of neoliberal ideology can be explored. Cultural institutions must come up with and maintain sustainable economic models in order to continue existing.

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Migrate Art Migrate Art is bringing light to the ongoing struggles faced by the most vulnerable in our world in the most thought-provoking and impactful way.

Can you briefly explain Migrate Art? Sure! Migrate Art is a humanitarian charity that raises money, through contemporary art, for people suffering from forced movement and displacement. In very short terms we believe that art and creativity have the power to change lives. This is, of course, not a new belief. I think most people who work within the arts or have their own personal art practice can verify that. But art can also do more than that. It can help tell an ugly story in a way that makes it more digestible. When you look at an art piece it is, to some extent, your own mind that is telling the story. Some stories are incredibly important to tell but also horrific and hard to face.

I think the two exhibitions and auctions we have done to date showed a different side to stories we have been told about in the news a million times before. With the help of some incredible artists we managed to tell these stories from more direct and personal perspectives.

In 2019, ‘Multi Colour’ told the story of the people in Calais. We told a side to the story of the migration crisis

by using coloured pencils we’d found and collected where the schools had been before the camps were demolished. We showed that this is not ‘one mass or problem’ but individuals, families and kids that are trying to survive. We were lucky enough to have 32 artists supporting us in creating original work using the pencils from the Calais Jungle.

Last year, we created ‘Scorched Earth’: an exhibition and auction focusing on the structural repression that is happening in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was born from a trip to the region we took with The Lotus Flower, one of our charity partners. We were confronted with massive areas of burned agricultural fields that had been burned to the ground by ISIS to keep communities powerless, and to impact the country’s economy.

Through our existence and through these unique projects, we have raised more than £600K for our charity partners.

51 Gormley, Hold, 2020

52 Hatoum, SE, 2020

53 How does Migrate Art interact with the commercial art market?

Migrate Art was founded on the idea that there is a lot of money floating around in the art market that could be used to make a real difference. We have been lucky enough to have collaborated with some of the world’s best artists, including Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, Mona Hatoum and Sean Scully. These are artists whose own commercial markets help our cause and the charities we work with directly.

How are art charities ‘indispensable’ to the art market?

During Covid-19 with prolonged periods of lockdowns worldwide you can see plenty of examples on how art charities have been ‘indispensable’ for the Arts. A lot of arts charities raised money to support the art organisations or even charities like ours. For example, Wolfgang Tillman’s 2020 Solidarity Initiative helped us move forward with our work and create our MaskforMeals Campaign, raising money for Refugee Community Kitchen.

At the same time, I think the commercial art market, just like any other market you see right now, is aspiring to have a bigger impact than simply auction records.

When you get to know the importance of the charities we work with and the many lives they touch, the potential of the commercial art market gains a much stronger importance.

I often divide art charities into two categories of equal importance and sometimes dependant on one another.

First, arts charities that are raising money for the Arts and, second, arts charities that are raising money for social issues and humanitarian causes. At the end of the day these charities work as a joined force to help each other out and it has been very inspiring to be a part of it. looking at the structure of modern society.

What are the values behind Migrate Art’s role in the charity sector?

How do you feel art charities go against the commercial art market?

That is an interesting question, and we have been thinking about values internally a lot lately. We came out of 2020 with better results than we could have ever hoped for, so we have obviously done something right.

I don’t think they necessarily go against the art market.

Sometimes I even think charities benefit from the art market - we certainly have! I do think arts-based charities have some level of disruption to them that I find very attractive, and offer an alternative way of thinking about the value of an art piece. I would very much like to see a future for the art market that values the social impact of an art piece and not just the monetary value.

I think it is very clear that art and creativity are strong values of ours. However, at the very heart of Migrate there is a strong level of collaboration. We have a strong relationship and partnership not only with artists but also other professionals within the art industry that know exactly what they are doing and do it so well. Flight Logistics have been continuously supporting handling our shipping; we’ve partnered with Jackson’s to create limited edition acrylics and oil paint; and Omni Colours have supported us with vinyl for both our exhibitions.

There are so many levels of collaboration in the work we do.

Another value is our economic self-sufficiency. Up until today we have, to some extent, valued our self sufficiency pretty highly in the sense that we haven’t been reliant on donors or grants. Saying that, we are of course honored if someone chooses to be a donor and we have never said no to a donation. However, it is not something we are reliant on or calculating into our budgets. We are still relatively small so that might change in the future.

Art-based charities still have a long way to come. As it is right now, you rarely see Artists hitting personal records for art pieces created for or simply auctioned off to benefit a charity. I personally think that particular fact shows such a weird backwards way to how we value any given art piece. The commercial art market should impact lives in a broader sense and keep challenging the scale of how and how many. The fact that we have a commercial art market that works independently from the financial market should give an opportunity to think in broader terms of value setting. Not an easy task, I know!

54 Long, Untitled, 2020

55 Kapoor, Scorched Earth, 2020

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57 Shaw, Reflections on the Country Without a Post Office, 2020

58 Harrington, Monument Man - of Rubble and Ruin, 2020

59 Siti, Trials, 2020

*Images courtesy of MigrateArt

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61

All Mouth Gallery All Mouth Gallery was founded by Georg Wilson and Jack Chauncy in 2020, while they both completed their undergraduate degrees in Art History and Art respectively. As the coronavirus pandemic caused galleries worldwide to temporarily close, online platforms became almost the only way to continue seeing art.

All Mouth Gallery was founded by Georg Wilson and Jack Chauncy in 2020, while they both completed their undergraduate degrees in Art History and Art respectively. As the coronavirus pandemic caused galleries worldwide to temporarily close, online platforms became almost the only way to continue seeing art. As practising artists themselves, the Gallery’s founders felt overwhelmed by the constant barrage of online images on platforms like Instagram. Distracting features such as adverts and endless scrolling only intensified the saturation, within which the focused contemplation of one artwork and its innate qualities was near impossible.

to encourage people to stay and look, and hanging methods that draw more attention to the work itself, such as viewing booths or leaving plenty of space around pieces.

In the past, we have held exhibitions in studio and project spaces as well as an empty Debenhams store which had closed down. All Mouth is always willing to adapt and experiment with new, affordable venues as the pandemic changes London’s event landscape. On the commercial side of the gallery, as artists, we know how difficult it is to support yourself, especially in London, so we have maintained a commission of only 35%, well below the industry standard of 50%.

This is how All Mouth’s model was developed, inspired by another world-changing event in the 20th century.

During the Second World War Blitz, the National Gallery moved its collection out of London into storage, but it did not close completely. The Gallery introduced its ‘Picture of the Month’ programme, putting just one picture up each month for the general public to view. Visitors came and looked at that one picture for long periods of time.

By showcasing just one artwork at a time on All Mouth’s online platform, we can provide each artist with the space and focus that their work deserves, separate from the usual crowding that is common to online viewing.

As a young gallery that is only a year old, we are still working out what kind of platform we want to be and how best to support artists as we grow. It is essential as we go forward to maintain a programme of not-forprofit events alongside our commercial activity, in order to help grow a community of mutual support amongst artists at an emerging level.

We are opposed to the intimidating white-cube curation style upheld by so many London Mayfair galleries, instead opting for casual seating in our physical shows

One of the most successful projects we launched this year brought artists together during the national lockdowns to have conversations with each other that would stimulate their work. The first in this project series has been a national postal art swap. We instigated an open call for artists to apply and then matched up pairs of artists across the country who we thought could benefit from sharing their work with each other. Artists from

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65 Previous page Lackie, Checking Out, 2020

Installation shots from December 2020 exhibition in a closed-down Debenhams, 'Curated for Christmas'

66 Cornwall to Scotland were sharing artworks and ideas, establishing a supportive artistic community that refused to fall into the London-centric approaches of many contemporary galleries today. Not-for-profit projects such as these are a unique part of All Mouth’s ethos and we are planning our upcoming programme of events, alongside commercial exhibitions, to further these ideas.

In the future, All Mouth Gallery would like to continue having close conversations with artists to experiment with different modes of hanging and curation in our physical exhibitions; to create accessible and varied viewing experiences that everyone can feel comfortable and at ease with. In both our commercial and non-profit projects, we believe it is essential that as many regions of the UK as possible are represented in our rota of exhibiting artists to avoid the dangerous London-centrism of the UK art world. We are also hoping to secure funding in the future to be able to set up a crit club, where artists can share ideas about each other’s work in a mutually supportive and constructive environment.

We are incredibly excited about the unexpected ways in which our gallery will continue to evolve in the coming years, and we are always open to being approached by artists with portfolios or seeking advice, so please get in touch!

67 All Mouth Gallery’s first ever physical exhibition (October 2020), 'Hung Up', in Hackney project space The Tub.

Image courtesy of Jade French

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Jade French Unusually, my route into curatorship did not begin in a museum, gallery, or artist studio. It began in a self-advocacy organisation supporting learning-disabled people.

Before I began my career in art or research, I worked in disability support services as a Personal Assistant and Carer.

This was over a decade ago, not long after the UK’s 2001 personalisation agenda had been introduced. A key component of this highly influential policy, which revolutionised many aspects of care, was ‘person-centred planning’. Crucially, this idea advocated that people’s care should no longer be decided solely by professionals but, instead, determined by the individuals themselves who should be empowered to assess their own needs and shape their own support. Nearly two decades later, this remains a powerful message. And, while at the time my interests in art and support work seemed worlds apart, my experiences in person-centred planning proved incredibly useful beyond the field of social care as I came to apply these ways of working to curating.

Like social care, the ‘art world’ has also experienced concerns over inclusion, representation and power. Curating plays a key role in how our shared culture is constructed, portrayed, and legitimised. There is no neutral position, and exhibition-makers continue to face choices concerning how they develop narratives. Yet, despite this increasing recognition of curating as active in shaping the way we perceive, think, and act, studies reveal a significant underrepresentation of people from a variety of backgrounds in curatorial work across disability, ethnicity, class, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality and more. As a result, a growing number of galleries and museums have sought to widen participation to include a wider range of people, often conceptualised as ‘communities’, ‘visitors’ or ‘audiences’.

This is where my background in social care support provided me with a different perspective in thinking about ways to curate. I developed a curatorial model called ‘inclusive curating’ alongside learning-disabled curators. It is a five-step process that works to demystify

69 This is where my background in social care support provided me with a different perspective in thinking about ways to curate. I developed a curatorial model called ‘inclusive curating’ alongside learning-disabled curators.

curating by breaking down curatorial tasks and decisions to enable more people to express their exhibition ideas.

Rather than a traditional curatorial model whereby a ‘professional’ curator produces an exhibition, inclusive curating is a process that allows community groups to curate exhibitions with the guidance of a facilitator.

From this perspective, inclusive curating relates to three core questions. What are the curatorial tasks? How do the individuals involved work together? How are decisions made? I recently published a book on this topic, Inclusive Curating in Contemporary Art: A Practical Guide, which shares a case study of an exhibition called ‘Auto Agents’ developed by learning-disabled curators at Bluecoat in Liverpool. It also includes a range of practical resources and key debates to help community organisers and arts professionals put inclusive curatorial models into action.

Curating is often considered an exclusive job for a privileged few. But, by breaking it down and using models like

inclusive curating, curating becomes more accessible to more people and contributes to understanding the ways in which our cultural spaces – including the art market – can become democratised. I hope that inclusive curating contributes not just a practical process but also to broadening how ‘curator’ is defined.

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Stella Botes How Death Breeds Desirability

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I’ll start with a story. A young man, new to painting, picks up a brush. In ten years, he transforms 25 others into speckled, hallucinogenic landscapes. He spends hours, days, pouring over the cartography of art history in the library, page after page of technique and theory and tale. His work rewards him, and his trajectory soars so quickly that soon he is making a living off of his art; a gallery has signed him, curators flirt with him at dinners. He says that painting sustains him but really it’s the money, too; it’s the money from his paintings that pays his bills, keeps his water running, gives him his first taste of beluga caviar. He has his first solo show in the low-hanging gold of late summer.

Two months later he kills himself.

72 22/03 - 28/04/2018, Karma, New York, installation view.

Courtesy of the Matthew Wong Foundation and Karma, New York. Photography credit: Thomas Mueller.

Two months after that he enters the top 10 contemporary artists globally by sales value, and he’s not even at the bottom of that list.

Is the story of Matthew Wong a fairytale or a nightmare?

The market thinks it’s magical. Wong’s auction figures terrifyingly climbed: $10,000, $62,000, $1.2 million, $4.5 million. All within a year.

Suicide creates scarcity, which does wonders for sales.

Such is the nature of certain markets worldwide; the rarer the better and the more expensive. But there is something fragile in the story of Matthew Wong that edges upon deeper questions about how we monetise death and narrativize lives. Art, as has been obvious for some time now, is no longer only about the aesthetics of an object but the gilded frame of its context. A combination of mental illness, masculinity and the immigrant experience creates the context for Wong’s work.

When we buy these paintings - dipped in melancholy, deepest blue and speckles of solitude - we’re not only buying oil on a wooden panel but a story of a life. We’re purchasing values.

These values are youth, talent, and time. It’s not so much a moral lesson in profiting off of an artist’s death that is worth exploring - that’s simply the scarcity equation explained above - but the question of what we value the most, what we consider indispensable.

Let’s look at his paintings. These works are full in the truest sense. They press into the foreground, bumping brush marks to jostle for your attention. Usually, there are trees, silently smoking houses, leaves. Sometimes Wong veers into interior landscapes (these don’t sell so well) but his best work is in the beaches and mountains and woodlands. The landscapes are both built from and suffocated by paint. And there are signs of humanity among the surreal; a figure as small as a brushstroke can elicit an unnerving heaviness of empathy. It is what Phillips’ John McCord describes as the ‘strange generosity’ or Wong’s work, a twisted but touching invitation into the choreography of his mind.

Then to his life. ‘You know, Mom, my mind, I’m fighting with the Devil every single day, every waking moment’ Wong said before his death. Art-historical references are too easily used with Wong’s work, but I can’t help

73 08/11/2019 - 05/01/2020, Karma, New York, installation view.

Courtesy of the Matthew Wong Foundation and Karma, New York. Photography credit: Thomas Mueller.

thinking of Gaugin’s ‘Visitation after the Sermon’ from 1888. The dirt floor is blood-red. A winged man tussles in the corner of the painting. Pious nuns look on with pinched faces of disbelief. It’s the world-fracture that happens when divinity enters your head, a split like the diagonal of Gaugin’s tree splitting the frame. Wong wasn’t religious as such, but was evidently tussling with a more profound version of what are popularly called ‘demons’.

It’s armageddon around every corner, the intrusion of angels in shopping aisles, divine commands at breakfast.

I think it’s what makes Wong’s work so exceptional. These blue worlds, silvered birches and rainbow-ed leaves are empty of earthly chaos.

This isn’t commentary or kitsch, nor controversy, trends, not portraiture, not Koons or Kusama, not Banksy or Hockney or Bas. It’s a self-taught painter in a brief and violent flash, and that brevity and violence has prompted the market to elevate this young man to unnatural heights.

There is an inner emptiness to the name of Matthew Wong. Not that his work wasn’t exquisite or his talent deserving, but because his youth makes our attention unsustainable, and his greatest interaction with the world has been after his death at the marionette-strings

of auction houses and dealers and curators. What will the brevity of our attention leave behind? His works are being secreted away into private homes. They’ll appear at auctions like rare birds and Wong will become only a cipher of a story.

So when a dealer calls to enquire about a Wong, saying ‘I have a client who’s going to have a heart attack if he doesn’t get one—he will pay, like, any price’ what he’s paying for is the life of a lonely painter that died young.

He’s paying for a piece of the turmoil, suitably removed.

Wong might have known this; his last catalogue was published with no mention of his name, he said ‘I want to remove myself from the work’. Perhaps in some small way he knew that his work was not him. Instead, it’s a story of how we value drama more than depth, how what we consider indispensable is actually the humanity of a work, gory as it may look. It’s heart-attack-inducing really.

Stella works for a commercial art gallery in Mayfair and the blockchain art startup Zien. She is also a freelance art writer and critic, and you can find more of her work via her Instagram @gallerina_ldn.

74 YAMI-ICHI auction, Amsterdam(2018)

YAMI-ICHI

Could you share a little bit about YAMI-ICHI Art and what it entails.

YAMI-ICHI (‘Black market’ in Japanese) is an international art project that replicates a traditional art auction but replaces cash payments with non-monetary trade-offs and exchanges. The project seeks to answer the question: other than monetary cost, how can art be valued?

The initiative challenges the current perception of art as a commodity in a capitalistic art market, encouraging young and emerging artists to re-evaluate how their work can be perceived while connecting them with potential clients or future collaborators. Since the project started in 2017, YAMI-ICHI Art has travelled around the world and hosted five events in different cities including Tokyo, London and Amsterdam. Our most recent auction in May happened online using Zoom for the first time.

Unlike traditional art auctions or art fairs, the event is completely open to the public, free, and welcoming of anyone, regardless of their background or knowledge of art. Most importantly, participating artists are there throughout the programme so you can meet them, see their creative process, and hear their presentations about their work and ambitions. This allows the bidders to think creatively about what kind of offer would be the most valuable for the artists. Once everyone finishes bidding on their favourite piece, the artists choose their favourite offer, and the deal is made! The exciting thing about our event is that the story doesn’t end on the day of the auction, but starts there! It’s been wonderful to hear so many exciting post-auction stories from the artists and the bidders, these have included:

An event typically has three stages:

1. Pre-auction programme 2. Auction 3. Exchanges.

Use of a mountain for the artist’s next installation A guide to snow mountain climbing with a professional Free studio space for a month, per project Swapping of new artworks taking inspiration from the initial artist’s work Rent-free accommodation in Barcelona for 3 weeks (for a London-based artist) Exhibition opportunity in Colombia (at the London auction)

YAMI-ICHI auction, Tokyo, 2017

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YAMI-ICHI auction, Tokyo, 2017

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78 So, how do your non-monetary art auctions create an alternative market for smaller collectors?

How can we work to change perceptions of collectors/ art collecting?

As mentioned above, our event is free and open to anyone, and you don’t need to be ‘rich’ (in monetary value) to win your favourite artwork. Everyone has different abilities, skill sets and offerings. Each artist interprets value in a different sense. At YAMI-ICHI, we want to design an experience where people can freely exchange their own values of art. As a result, people who never saw themselves as ‘art collectors’ can have a chance to win and own their favourite art piece. There are a few projects that aim to open up the art market to wider audiences - Affordable Artfair and the Other Art Fair are good examples. However, the big difference between those fairs and our project is that we don’t put a price tag on the artwork. Instead, we place the control with the artists, to decide what’s the most valuable and meaningful offer for them.

Historically the art collector has been playing an important role in supporting the artists - both financially and through raising their profile in the market. However, it’s also important to note that the act of collecting art was, and still often is, associated with exclusivity, an individual’s wealth and status in society. Each collector has different values and motivations - some people collect art purely because of their love of the work, others collect it as a status symbol or as a good financial investment for their future. Unfortunately, in the current capitalistic art market, the gap between celebrity artists and other emerging artists can be enormous. Through the YAMIICHI project, I hope that we can provide opportunities for emerging artists and help them to engage with audiences who aren’t always necessarily ‘art experts’. Ultimately, the project aims to create an enjoyable, shared, and mutually beneficial environment in which both the artist and the ‘buyer’ communicate and collaborate based purely on a shared love for the subject matter.

79 YAMI-ICHI auction, Tokyo, 2017

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Director of the public gallery, The New Art Gallery (NAG) Walsall, since 2005, Stephen Snoddy spoke to us about the role public galleries play in “gatekeeping”, and how they can help ensure a more inclusive art market.

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The New Art Gallery, Walsall

NAG Walsall was fortunate to be awarded the Art Fund International of £1 million to spend on International Art between 2008-13, a company that they co-own with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Stephen tells us that they are now one of the most active Regional Museums collecting contemporary art.

In September 2020, NAG Walsall signed the Walsall for All Pledge, committing their support to a more integrated Walsall. The Gallery aims ‘to promote cohesion and integration across communities, and equality for all to work, learn and play for a better future.’

Stephen believes that public galleries have a responsibility as public servants to serve their audiences; a duty to communicate their skills, knowledge and expertise to the widest audience. He always has his audiences in mind: how to attract and how to communicate with them. This is always a balance between showing new art, working with local communities, weaving in collection displays to the temporary exhibitions and combining them with a learning programme.

The last 12 months have taught us the importance of communities. NAG Walsall have recognised this and aim to maintain consistent communication with their local public so that they become part of the programme. They have set up a ‘Critical Friends’ group, selecting individuals from across protected characteristic groups and asking key questions such as, ‘what can we do better?’, ‘what are we not doing?’. It is a constructive, positive and critical dialogue that aims to help the gallery deliver new areas of their programmes while also communicating what they do better.

Recognising the events of the past year, NAG Walsall looked to create a capsule exhibition. They wanted to financially support local artists of the West Midlands and create a capsule representative of their communities' experiences over the last 12 months, since 23 March 2020. It is hoped that this period will be remembered and marked by this ‘2020’ closed collection.

Receiving over 200 artist proposals, the range of topics covered Covid19, self-isolation, supermarkets, Hong Kong, food banks, BLM, key workers, NHS, nature, exercise, family, Brexit, Trump, climate change, social distancing, mental health and more. The collection aims to try and cover as much content as possible, with a range of mediums – painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, film and digital forms and from a wide geographical spread across the West Midlands region. Selecting the work through digital means proved a challenge and ultimately the gallery co-opted Critical Friends to help make the final selection.

The ‘2020’ capsule collection aims to exhibit in Spring 2021. An important part of the exhibition will be the narrative provided by the artist to provide the context behind the making and meaning of the artwork.

Public galleries need to represent all the voices of the public they are serving to invite an inclusive audience. The art world and art galleries in particular can be daunting to those who feel they sit outside of the sphere. Therefore, public gallery education programmes and community partnerships are important to break down those social barriers.

NAG Walsall building, courtesy of Stephen Snoddy

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