Zavier Ellis is first and foremost the director of the Charlie Smith Gallery (just down the road from Murdock Shoreditch) and co-founder of The Future Can Wait – a grand art show for emerging artists. He’s also a Murdock Man.
Zavier kindly stopped by for a chat after his haircut and beard trim to discuss his working instincts, current involvement with Murdock London and plans for the near future.
As an artist yourself, what turned your attention to the curating side of the industry?
I did come at it from being an artist when I was younger, but I decided at that age that I didn’t only want to be an artist. I’m talking about 17, 18, 19, when you’re making those career and study decisions. I was already decided I didn’t just want to be an artist, but also I was really interested in organising things. Even at that age. I curated my first show when I was 18, literally with me and a bunch of friends. I decided that I didn’t want to go and do Fine Art then; I wanted to go and study History of Art. So I did my degree in History of Art and then later on an MA in Fine Art. I just had something in me that I was very interested in the organisation side of things.
Do you enjoy not being solely focused on creating pieces, but rather being able to use your creativity through other means by discussing art in galleries & lectures etc.?
I do very much so. In terms of the lectures themselves – I’m big on education. I think it’s essential and it’s the way that I’ve learnt to do whatever I might do. I think it’s very, very important so I’m happy to lend my hand to that. I think personality wise it’s important to me to have a vent, so I can switch from being a curator and gallerist to being an artist. It enables me to keep things fresh. Also, they really feed into each other and doing an MA in Fine Art was the best thing that I could have done to become a better gallerist and curator. A great part of what I do is having the relationship and interaction with the artists. I have close personal relationships with the artists that I work with, so that’s something that’s very important to me and a benefit from curating and gallery running.
Do you feel that galleries such as yours fill a certain void of chance/opportunity for young people to display their art?
Yes they do, definitely. I’m interested in talent spotting so I like to go and spot artists, give them an opportunity and then hopefully they can go on to make some sort of career from it. The artist’s that I represent are beyond this stage in their career, but I go to all the BA and MA shows in London every year. In actual fact I’m curating a show in January called Young Gods which is by a selection of painters who have just recently graduated. I’m very interested. I don’t know if it relates to the education side of things.
Current Exhibition – The ID, the Ego and the Superego
Your gallery features ‘work that challenges, seduces, confronts and consoles’ – what criteria do you look for in new art that accomplishes these traits?
It’s a very instinctive response. Technique is important to me, but technique isn’t enough by itself. This is when these big human, emotive, psychological, philosophical subjects come to me and interest me. In a way I’m programmed to respond to that sort of work, so it’s important that my programme is quite cohesive and you’ll see that running through a lot of it. I think if you looked at the historical academic definition of romanticism, then that’s pretty much what we deal with. I think most people would be afraid to use the word and a lot of people would mistake the word, but that’s what I look for and that’s what I respond to.
Do you distinctly look into graduating artists to exhibit, or are there alternative methods that young artists can grab your attention with?
They have to be the right artists. In a way it’s a little bit ironic that even though we’re looking for artists, we’re telling people not to send material through to the gallery. It’s only really because we get so much of it though. First of all an artist really needs to research what we do. If they actually give me a call and say “look, can I show my work to you?” then I will try my best to look at an email of images. If I’m just getting unsolicited material then I just don’t have the time. Really though, I would say the best way is to apply for prize shows. Having launched a prize show myself called Anthology two years ago, I know that I’m forced – along with my committee who are high end critics and collectors – to look at several hundred applicants’ pieces out of respect to them. That has without doubt opened up opportunities for artists that might not even make it into the prize show. I also know that some of our committee members have wanted to curate or collect certain pieces. If I hadn’t put them in Anthology then I might have alternatively put them in The Future Can Wait and other shows. My prize show is called Anthology, so I will ultimately look if someone’s applied to it.
Tell us a little bit about ‘The Future Can Wait’ and what’s been achieved through the initiative so far.
That started out as a project between me and Simon Rumley, who’s an independent film maker, curator and collector. We basically wanted to put on the biggest show in London – the biggest curated show for emerging artists during Frieze Week. So far we’ve focused on London-educated and based artists but within that it’s still very international. There are so many international artists who come and study in London. The idea was to do something big and spectacular alongside Frieze Art Fair as a satellite event. We were invited to go into collaboration with Saatchi’s New Sensations two years ago, and we’ve had this incredible 22,000 square foot space in Bloomsbury Square since. They show just recent graduates and we show emerging to mid-career artists. The focus is on spectacular, high quality art. It’s hopefully the best survey show for London-centric artists.
Sam Jackson – The Dirty Boy, The Future Can Wait 2012
How do you think stores such as Murdock that are embracing young artists can benefit from displaying contemporary pieces? Do both shops and artists benefit from each other?
I would hope that they benefit from each other. With Murdock in particular it’s a case of branding. I’ve done shows at restaurants and bars before and they haven’t really achieved much. With Murdock, I looked at the branding and I thought actually, this is something that I feel could be a good parallel. We’re yet to find out what it does for the artists, but I’m pleased that it’s adding to the premises for one thing. I’m happy to get a haircut and beard trim every now and again too, and without a doubt the paintings are getting exposure. What that leads to we don’t know, but we can only try.
Your current exhibition – The ID, the Ego and the Superego runs through until November 17. What’s in store for you in the close run up to Christmas and the approaching New Year?
With the run up to Christmas I’m doing a one person show for Dominic Shepherd. He’d be a good Murdock Man actually, he’s bearded! Dominic is a painter who draws folk art containing myth and magic and ritual and the hallucinogenic. It’s really interesting work. We’ve got Sam and Luke Jackson at Murdock right now and after Christmas I’m curating this Young Gods show. I will put a selection in my gallery, but also the main focus will be a show for Winsor and Newton. That’s next on the agenda.
Zavier post-treatment at Murdock Covent Garden