WHY PUT ON AN EXHIBITION?

ARTHUR AND ANDY'S EXHIBITION 2021

My father and I started the Gallery in 2021 for a couple of main reasons. The first was to create a space artists could take on and host exhibitions of their own work free from restrictions, influence and importantly also free from commission on any work sold. We wanted driven, talented and passionate artists to be rewarded for the hard work of creating, framing and hanging an exhibition, and so wanted to make sure all of the money earned from work sold went back into their pockets. It’s the main reason the gallery has been so successful over the last 4 years, and we’ve been incredibly proud of the number of artists who have made the leap and crafted a collection of work either on their own or in collaboration with fellow artists.

The second reason for opening a gallery space, however, was to exhibit our own work!

We are artists ourselves and understand the difficulties makers and creators face on a day-to-day basis, all of which have gone a huge way in influencing how we have built the gallery and developed the space since opening. 

The first month after opening was dedicated to both Andy and I creating and hosting our own solo exhibitions to meet artists visiting the space, but also to understand the focus and hard work needed to complete a solo exhibition. What were the challenges artists might face? What elements were successful? And what weren’t? (There were many!) All became key questions that we were only able to answer by hosting shows of our own. We learnt so much through actually doing it ourselves first, all of which we have been able to pass on to future exhibitors.

And now I am looking forward to hosting my latest solo exhibition titled “The Artist’s Hand”, an exhibition of entirely new work in an entirely new style, on a tangent from the traditional printmaking and graphic design process of my previous exhibitions.

The whole exhibition is an exploration delving deep into composition, colour and texture, elements that have always been part of my practice but rarely realised to this extent. I’ve been able to call upon a huge number of design principles and creative techniques that I have collected over the last 20 or so years and bind them together into an original signature style that, until now, I felt had been missing from my work.

The reason for the show is to see if it resonates with a wider audience.

I’ve always been a believer that the true point of art is to create things you wish existed, regardless of the reasons why. The joy of art is in the creative journey of idea to realisation. Art is about creating something personal for yourself and then sharing it with others so they, too, might connect with something they see in it.

We get a lot of artists worrying about whether others might like their work, which I think is hugely unimportant when it comes to creating Art. If you are the only person in the whole world who likes it (extremely unlikely!) and you enjoyed creating it, your work should be seen as successful!

Now I understand that this may seem like a hugely pretentious stance to take when so many are trying desperately to make a living from selling their work. We have had lots of artists visit the space and ask us, “What kind of work sells?” And my response has become “If you need to ask that question, it won’t be yours!”

I don’t say this to be mean, but instead I firmly believe if you make work you love to create, others will love it too, and if you put it in front of enough people, you are bound to find someone who wants to buy it. If you make work with the sole reason of hoping it will sell, it will always be lacking that special something that makes ok art, great.

There is a tangible honesty to artwork when it is made without expectation. People say there are no new ideas, but I believe that if you make lots of the artwork you wish existed, diving deep into the work you create, you are bound to stumble upon something uniquely yours if nothing else. Share it with enough of the world and you will soon find an adoring audience who loves what you do. 

Selling work is important for many of us because it often allows us to keep creating. As I’ve said, we started the space to help more artists get their work out in front of the public and to put the money from the sale of their work back into making more.

Yet, we think, there are two other main reasons for exhibiting your work. Getting feedback and reflection from visitors and getting your name out there. Go check out our “10 things we’ve seen successful do” PDF for more on these.

These two will be the main focus of my show. Getting the work out in front of the public and seeing if it resonates with anyone other than myself. It’s an opportunity to invite buyers, collectors and gallery owners down to the space and build my digital and physical artist profile through connecting with more people within our own local art community. 

THE ARTIST'S HAND 2025

There is so much art and imagery online nowadays. 1000s of artists on Instagram and a new digital gallery opening up every other day. We’re being bombarded by images, and it feels overwhelming for artists who feel they need to compete. It’s made the art world feel incredibly small and overfilled with new creators. Yet so much of the quality and refinement of creative work is lost through the screen. The texture and tangibility of physical work has never been more important in a world plagued with the rise of AI. 

Making more work with your own hands, visiting real gallery spaces and meeting fellow artists is the solution. The antithesis to dystopia is community.

The show will be running from the 30th October - 5th November, and I look forward to welcoming you to the space for you to see the work for yourself.

Arthur