Desperate Artist Seeking: A New Type of Art Gallery and Movement
Editor’s Note
When our arts columnist Martina Mangialardi approached The Editor about interviewing two young art professionals who had started their own collective in London which changes location with every exhibit but not its underlying purpose, what came to mind, was Don Thompson’s book entitled “ The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art ”.
Thompson starts his book by mentioning two events which would summarise the perception of the art market in the coming decades of the 21st century. The first was the resale of Damien Hirst’s stuffed shark by Charles Saatchi in New York and the second was Saatchi’s staging of the USA Today exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts here in London in 2006.
The former brought to the forefront the relevance of branding to contemporary art (even though Joseph Duveen was doing it a hundred years earlier but in a more discreet and selective manner) while the latter brought out the relevance of publicity, hype, and a good curator/promoter to new artists.
The USA Today exhibition demonstrated how a piece of art from an artist can become relevant not so much for its message but because of its sensationalism or because someone with a trademark like Saatchi chose it to be shown amongst other works he picked. That does not mean he picked wrongly.
The message behind or relevance of a piece of art however, is irrelevant when no one sees it. There are many artists with different political messages or commentaries on society and the world around them. But there are also many an unread script, unread manuscript, unseen painting or record that has been discarded by a BBC 6 producer or presenter and hence never heard by the public.
The founders of Desperate Artist Seeking realised this and decided to give a voice to both the artists and their messages and not wait for the next Charles Saatchi to do it for them.
Interview by Martina Mangialardi
I am guessing that this is just one of the many subjects that the two girls who I had the pleasure to meet discussed while tipsy at a party in December 2017. Unlike most drunk ideas however, this one, was a very good one that they would not regret. Their idea was to create a platform where artists, students of art, and art lovers could gather to network and exhibit their works. No one was to hear the word ‘no’, instead everyone would be given an interview or in actuality, be given a chance. Let’s just get together and create a place they thought, where everyone, would feel comfortable expressing their work, ideas, and past experiences. And as a result art history graduate Alexandra Anholt along with sculptor and SLADE graduate student Haydn Albrow proceeded to establish and co-found Desperate Artist Seeking.
Last August I attended Mixer, Desperate Artist Seeking’s first networking event where they kindly agreed to be interviewed for our new digital publication. The event and night itself was the follow-up to two successful exhibitions of young emerging artists held since Desperate Artist Seeking conceived its meandering but curated path.
MM Thank you for finding the time to talk to me during your event. After attending your last exhibition in Peckham, I thought a lot about your work and what your organisation does and I think it’s brilliant. Would you like to tell us a bit more about how you came up with the idea and how this whole project started?
ALEXANDRA: It all started because Haydn and I were tipsy and chatting at a party. She is a sculptor who at the time was doing her undergraduate degree while trying to get exhibited and I was studying art history and trying to find work experience in the art world and both of us were struggling miserably, so we said: “you know what? Let’s just do it ourselves!”
This is how we had this lightning bolt idea. We know so many people like us who are struggling to get into the art sector because it is so elitist. Everybody knows each other and if you do not have any connections it can be difficult to get noticed. So we thought about creating a collective where everybody can get together and hold regular exhibitions giving everyone the opportunity to be exhibited whilst simultaneously creating some good networking opportunities so that people like Haydn and I who studied art or are interested in art, can get together and meet and network on their own without needing special connections. The name Desperate Artist Seeking is because of lonely heart ads. We call it the lonely-hearts club as a pun on lonely heart clubs.
Our Instagram page is supposed to be an inspiration but also an opportunity for others who are struggling in the art world. We often post open calls for upcoming exhibitions and try to post as much artwork that our wonderful Desperate Artist Seeking friends have created. It’s important to note that we do not only refer to desperation as a financial struggle, but the struggle against the elitism within the art world. That is why were are so passionate about it. We have done three events now and it’s been really fun! Exhibitions have been really exciting to organise and it’s been a great learning experience.
MM And how do you choose the artists to exhibit?
ALEXANDRA: We had a few artists who applied to us through Instagram. The idea is to not be exclusive at all. If we receive ten applications, we’ll choose who goes well with the particular exhibition while always ensuring that we pick the other people for the next one. Anyone who applies will never get a ‘no’ from us. It is always just about what goes well with the rest, the timing and making the show good; it is important to showcase everyone’s work to the absolute best we can.
MM And how about the nationalities of the artists? Are they all Brits & UK based?
ALEXANDRA: We had artists submit from Canada, Spain and Italy. We also work with an artist from Tbilisi in Georgia called Bubu and he sent over his work for our last show. We formed these incredible relationships with the artists we met through Instagram and they send over their art and its just so trustworthy of them! It’s so exciting and rewarding. We also discovered that by having this international community, that it’s not only London that has the problem of “exclusivity” when it comes to the art world. It is also in Canada, in Georgia, it’s everywhere! It seems to be just something about the art world. It is very restricted and not very cooperative.
MM Are the works usually for sale?
ALEXANDRA: The works are always for sale (laughing)! We have sold a couple of really great ones so far but we are looking for more buyers if anyone wants to come along and snap up some great art by talented artists.
MM We understand that you mainly use Instagram to select the artists. Is it your main source for networking events too?
ALEXANDRA: Yes, Instagram is certainly our main platform source. We do try to use Twitter and Facebook although we feel that those are a little bit slow for our age group. We would definitely like to appeal to all age groups and social media platforms, so we would always appreciate any tweeting related advice.
We find a lot of artists on Instagram and generally speaking the art market is very much influenced by Instagram nowadays.
MM Where will we find you next?
ALEXANDRA: We have a lot of plans upcoming, still to be determined. Our main networking projects coming up will be with somebody who does mindfulness activities dedicated to artists. Think yoga classes promoting creativity. We have been discussing recently about collaborating with a friend who organises life drawing sessions in a feminist context. We want to cooperate more with art groups and other people who are doing similar things to us.
MM Are there other groups in London that you know of doing what you guys do?
ALEXANDRA: I don’t think there are any in London that I am aware of, that focus on combating the exclusivism in the art world but I have a lot of friends who are running their own thing despite all of the problems that they are experiencing. It is very promising to see so many young people starting their own projects and who are not frightened by the fact that it might be difficult. They might be willing to lose money now because ultimately, they think it is worth it. Art is so important and promoting cultural activity in our society is crucial.
MM Talking about cultural activity… do you mainly focus on figurative art or do you also deal with music, filming, acting, and so on?
ALEXANDRA: Well, part of the event today is that we wanted people from all the different cultural platforms to get together. Tonight we have met musicians, graphic designers, producers, people who work in film and media. And we want them to meet each other. Maybe they can start their own project together! It’s not so much about desperate artists commiserating, it’s about people meeting and finding opportunities within our networking event.
MM Any outstanding networking results so far?
ALEXANDRA: I think tonight is the first example of more of the type of events that we want to hold where we bring together people from different platforms so we need to get the word out. Everyone is welcome! Tonight has been a great turnout and it’s been so wonderful to see people with such varied backgrounds.
MM Haydn, we have heard from Alexandra. From your perspective as an artist however, what would you say was your main reason for establishing Desperate Artist Seeking and what is your favourite part of it?
HAYDN: Ally is an art history graduate and has worked in the art world since graduation. She is more focussed on curating an exhibition, and the process of drafting press releases and organising the exhibition while I have always been interested in curating but also in putting my own art out there.
I think that the idea of having my own platform has always been interesting for me. One of the things Ally and I always spoke about was that we found that there is usually a theme in exhibitions and you find that artists have to edit and compromise the meaning of their works to fit into the theme in order to ever get exhibited. We absolutely do not want that: it is not fair. So many works and ideas are crushed because they need to fit into this tiny box if they want to show their art.
We then decided to create something where there isn’t a theme, where artists do not have to pay for being exhibited and all you need to do is apply.
We don’t want artists to feel like they have to comprise their works to be exhibited… this is when I realised that Desperate Artist Seeking was a really great idea.
MM Do you exhibit your works as well?
HAYDN: Yes, in the last two exhibitions I have shown my works. I do not have to, but, I guess that it is good for me as well! It is nice to also feel a part of it. Ally is really dealing with the press releases, the editing and so on, while this is how I participate: I co-run it but I am also involved in it as an artist.
MM What is the next project?
HAYDN: We have a few ideas we want to do. Like I said, we do not really want to have themes but we really like the idea of putting together an outside theme exhibition that involves for example music and lighting. Does music affect the way we look at art? And same with the lighting. Perhaps the changing colour or perspective of the light makes you see a detail of the work that you could not see before. This is what we mean by outside theme. Something where everyone’s work can fit in and you just change the perspective of it through the music or lighting and perhaps the adoption of an unconventional space.
MM And how do you pick the locations of your events?
HAYDN: I think it is always important that they are accessible to people. I guess a lot of it, is about affordability because we are self-funded. We need to make sure that we can afford it.
Another way we pick location is if people suggest places to us and then it works out. It’s always nice to go to events and meet someone and listen to their suggestions. After all, it is what we are about!
To know more about Desperate Artist Seeking:
https://www.desperateartists.org
Alexandra Anhalt and Haydn Albrow of Desperate Artist Seeking