Behind the scenes of curating an exhibition
a peek into my work life
Today’s Substack won’t be about my usual recommendations; what I saw and liked but about what I do when I don’t walk around cities and galleries!
I run Artistellar, a nomadic gallery and advisory for the next generation of art collectors, and my main focus is on championing emerging and early-career women artists. I have been doing this for the past 3-4 years, and even though it’s one of the toughest businesses to be in, the pleasure of putting together a fantastic show is just incredible. For the past few months I’ve been working on two shows. It’s actually one show/ one concept but it has two parts.
I often get two questions: where do I get ideas for shows, and how do I find my artists? I think it either starts with ‘Oh I have a great curatorial idea’ , which means that I have a theme I would like to work on. I create a mood board and a brief, and I look for artists whose work fits the theme or concept. OR I start with putting an artist or artists that I’m really passionate about on my mood board and try to make a connection between them, which usually drives the curatorial concept.
And where I look for artists? My two great sources are art schools and Instagram. Sometimes, other niche exhibitions or galleries, but there is a thin line between coping ( ‘stealing’ ) artists and ‘borrowing’ an artist that fits. I like to have my own voice, unlike some other galleries or curators ( again, an interesting topic for another time). I also have an established roster of artists. It’s not big, but I prioritise quality over quantity. And I’m not just talking about the quality of their work but also about the quality of our relationship, how well we work together.
In this case - meaning my upcoming show- I knew I wanted to exhibit Monika Marchewka, a wonderful artist that I represent, and Johanna Seidel, another amazing artist that I had previously worked with. Moreover, I knew I wanted to do a show around the theme of spirituality/symbols, something slightly mystical. My inspiration was two of my favourite artists in this field is, Hilma Af Klint or Agnes Lawrence Pelton. Both of their styles were very progressive and ahead of their time. Of course, my intention wasn’t to find artists like them ( even though their works could easily have a current date) but I only took the essence of their ideology as an inspiration… and maybe a bit of the colour palette.
It turned out that both artists, Monika and Johanna, were so excited to work together ( it’s always exciting to me when artists feel mutually inspired). They were also excited to work on this theme. The only problem was that I found a gallery space with two exhibition rooms of the same size. While that’s not usually a problem, I felt like, in this case, the space is too big for the show. So I decided to keep Monika and Johann’s show in one room and then use the other room for another show. That way, I would have the opportunity to show some other artists/artists and have two shows simultaneously, which sounds cool. While curating is a creative process I also always try to think strategically. I usually select artists with whom I already have a track record but mix them with a few new names I believe in. One of Artistellar’s main objectives is to bring the freshest emerging talents after all. Fast forward, I found two ‘new’ artists and decided on a second duo show, which is a natural continuation of the same theme, just from a different perspective.
Thanks to my current assistant, Laura ( yes, we are a very small team, but even that is enough to have a great brainstorming session) , we now have everything from the curatorial text to exhibition posters, etc. There still needs to be a lot of logistics done even though the toughest part of shipping is over ( and trust me, it is the worst part of any show. So many things go wrong all the time ).
On the other hand, the most enjoyable part for me ( after coming up with the idea and concept in the first place) is actually deciding what painting goes on which wall. I love creating a storyline and finding little clues within paintings. Then, everything is documented by a photographer, and the door opens to visitors. But that’s not the end; the next ( and important) stage of having a show is ‘sales.’ But that is a topic for another time!
If you are in London next week pop by 7 Kensington Mall to say hi!
The opening night is on Wednesday 6th of November, 6-8pm and the show will run until 15th of November.
A gorgeous little insight! Go team! Can't wait to pop by x