Collect at the Saatchi Gallery

19 May 2009 in Crafts Blog, Visual Arts & Crafts

Saatchi Gallery

Saatchi Gallery

I always look forward to visiting Collect – ‘the international art fair for contemporary objects’- in London. For the past 5 years it has been held at the V&A and at the beginning of the year, around the end of January.

There were many positives to this timing and location, not least the fact that when you got tired of looking at contemporary work or just needed a change of scene you could go and wander around the wonderful and inspiring galleries of the V&A and put all you had seen in context – a real pleasure when you have travelled all the way from the Highlands!

But times and needs change and this year the Crafts Council made the decision to relocate Collect to the Saatchi Gallery and to hold the event in mid May. I understand there were several reasons for this, not least the raised profile the event would achieve by taking over the wonderful space at the gallery and to capitalise on the its reputation for showing contemporary international work.

From a practical point of view, May seemed an easier time to visit as I have memories of delayed trains, snow and gales from previous visits – although it was a very inspiring way to set you up for a new year!

So it was with some reservations that I headed to Chelsea on a lovely sunny May morning. It is always takes a while to get your bearings when visiting a show like this and I found the layout and map slightly confusing, however I persevered and wandered through the three floors – my end aim was to find the Craftscotland stand and some friendly faces! As luck would have it they were in the top floor so that meant many flights of stairs and a very hot location for the girls manning the stand. However, I did think that each stand had much more space than before and once you had done your initial recky it was fairly easy to find stands – and the stair climbing keeps you fit! It did not feel as busy as usual but this may well have been due to the layout – I will be interested to see the how the attendance figures and sales compare to previous years.

As well as the 11 Scottish makers represented by Craftscotland, there were 7 shown at the Scottish Gallery and a further 5 with Contemporary Applied Arts, Bishopsland, Electrum and the Lesley Graze Gallery – I am sure this must be a record!

On the Craftscotland stand, I was particularly pleased to see Beth Legg’s new work inspired by her exchange residency in Nova Scotia (organised through the Highland Council). It was also good to see how makers work had developed over the years and how well regarded our makers are. Geoffrey Mann’s work was shortlisted for the Art Fund which was a first for Craftscotland. Tina did a wonderful job organising the stand and I was particularly impressed by the ingenious cabinets she commissioned for displaying jewellery!

However, one of the best parts about Collect is seeing how our work sits on the international stage and also allowing you the opportunity to get an overview of global crafts in one space. A couple of my favourite galleries were missing this year – Australian Contemporary and Ruthin Craft Centre- but there were some new faces like the Craft Council of Ireland National Craft Gallery. There is work from all over the world with Scandinavia having a particularly strong presence especially with showing jewellery.

One thing I always do is to ask myself which work I would love to take home with me and usually it comes down to wood or textiles. This year, I fell for some exquisite bowls created by Christian Burchard turned in Pacific madrone burl, a wood that apparently changes as it dries, finding its own form. Interestingly, Burchard studied Fine Art followed by furniture making then wood turning and was born in Germany but has lived in the USA since 1978. He is represented by Sarah Myerscough Fine Art who specialise in museum quality turned and craved wood by international renowned artists. This includes a favourite from previous years – Philip Moulthrop whose work was also at SOFA.

I then passed the stand showing Danish ceramics – the Cultural Connections CC Gallery- and fell for a beautiful Mediterranean blue coiled bowl by Alev Siesbye. As both pieces were in the thousands of pounds range unfortunately I left empty handed! And I always want a Sara Brennan tapestry!

The show was shorted in length this year too and ran for three days. I was there on the first day so it was difficult to gauge how many sales would be made. Certainly, Craftscotland had several red dots in place already and hopefully the buyers will continue the trend that I noticed at SOFA of purchasing art instead of shares.
So my final thoughts: mixed on the venue as it was confusing and I felt that stands on the top and first floor would not get the same attention as you are confused when you come in and exhausted by the top floor- and I do like going to the V&A and never managed it this time!

A note on the catalogue – this year it is a real coffee table book, bound with fabric, colour co-ordinated pages and stunning images. Something to treasure and worth the £20 to purchase!

The work on show was inspirational and it is so good to see the best contemporary work, to see the different aesthetic for each country and to realise that craft of the highest level is being created by people with a real passion for what they do despite all the obstacles in their way and the constant struggle to have craft recognised as a serious contender in the art world. A show like this reaffirms that Craft really can take its rightful place.

Pamela Conacher
19/5/09

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