Western Morning News (Saturday)
A fresh approach to integrating art into our lives
Collaboration is the key to helping artists to find new audiences, finds Frank Ruhrmund
Involving no less than six national and international art galleries, one of them being Anima Mundi in St Ives, COLAB, as its title suggests, is both a collaboration between the half dozen concerned galleries, and a novel approach to the problem of presenting art works on paper online. The brain child of Lee Cavaliere, co-founder of SKAL, a collaboration, boutique agency which specialises in delivering innovative solutions and by creating alternative platforms and setting up partnerships, offers a fresh approach to the presentation and integration of art into our every day lives. He says: “When it became obvious that the art market had no choice but to move online, we realised reaching new audiences would be challenging for many galleries, particularly smaller ones. Collaboration was the answer, each of the six partner galleries agreed to a contracted three months, to keep the website dynamic, art works are constantly refreshed and artists are highlighted on the site as well through social media. Focusing purely on works on paper has been part of our strategy, it enables us to mail through national and international postal services, and to target new art collectors. Our original idea was to create new printed editions which, of course, for now is on hold, and we’re showing works that we have in stock. Happily, early feedback and sales have been exciting.”
Joseph Clarke, Director of Anima Mundi, says: “We saw this as a great opportunity for our artists to find new audiences. It’s a difficult time for them and we’re really happy be spreading the word in this way.” A renowned supporter of good causes, he is also happy to add that “10% of all proceeds from sales are going to The Sixteen Trust, an arts and education charity which aims to inspire and improve career prospects for young people from deprived areas.”
Among the works on paper being shown online by artists from across the globe are Loss Consols, mixed media on paper, by Samuel Bassett. A Cornish born artist whose family links with St Ives date back to 1695, and who now works in the Porthmeor Studio complex in the town, he is renowned for the “boundless zeal, sharp humour and honest pathos made with creative and experimented freedom” that his work displays. As it has been said, his language of mark-making varies from raw sweeping gestures to draughtsman-like drawn or sgraffitto schematics. His most recent works imbue deep rooted connection to place, sea and landscape, as well as community and heritage.
Also born in Cornwall and one who also works in the Porthmeor Studio complex in St Ives, for the past 15 years or so, Sax Impey has produced works derived almost exclusively from his experiences at sea.
A qualified RYA yachtmaster he has sailed thousands of sea miles around the world, and such extensive seagoing has made a profound impact upon his life and development as an artist.
Reconnecting with nature through this powerful element has had the inescapable effect of calling into question some of life’s existential questions. As his ‘And Comes the Dawn’ charcoal on paper shows, “This epiphanic moment of realisation, of revelation, is at the core of his oeuvre. Reflection, and capturing personal moments and making them universal, his work reaffirms the importance of introspection and confrontation found specifically when surrounded by the natural world.”
To see all that COLAB offers go online to the colabsite.com and click on the artist’s name.