A & K Wilson Gallery Interview

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WriteWords talks to Drew Wilson of A & K Wilson Gallery in Hertfordshire

Tell us about your gallery/exhibition space- who are you currently showing and why?

We are based in an old coal merchant’s office at Harpenden Station, I think it looks like a ginger bread house; it is small, with two windows that are passed by loads of commuters every day.
I used to hanker after more space but now I have come to feel that it’s about just right. We can normally show 30 odd paintings in an exhibition which I think is really about as much as people can take in before they get boon-swoggled.

We are currently showing’ Impressions of Summers Present’ which is recent work by the Welsh artist Steven Jones, he paints in a contemporary impressionist style his children playing on the beaches of Anglesey. He beautifully captures the play of light on water and the joy of a summer’s day on holiday.
I am showing him because I like him and think his work is life affirming.

Next month is ‘Impressions of Summers Past’ which will be 19th and early 20th century Impressionist paintings by mainly French artists but with the inclusion of the notable British artists William Lee-Hankey, Samuel Lamorna Birch and Dorothea sharp.
I am showing these paintings as hopefully they display some of the attributes of the Impressionists from the 1860’s, loose brush strokes, plein air painting, emphasis on the ephemeral effects of light and colour. Also it should nicely compliment Stevens’s work of the previous month.

How do you choose artists/exhibitions?

Strangely two of our newest artists chose us. The internet allows artists to seek out galleries that they like the look of an approach them. We picked up Ian Mastin, an Australian still life artist from Queensland and Joseph Daily a landscape and portraitist from Pennsylvania USA in this way. We give the ‘A&K Wilson Gallery Award’ at the New English Arts Club, The Royal Society of British Artists and The Royal Society of Painters in Oils at their annual exhibitions so we see lots of new work that way.
But happenstance and tenuous ‘friends of friends’ style connections also play their part so it’s hard to say. Looking at Open Studios brochures also helps.
My friend Guy Portelli RBA FRBS has also been very kind in suggesting sculptors that we can work with.

What has been the strangest exhibition you’ve curated?

Well the actual exhibition wasn’t strange but the setting up was a little surreal. We held an exhibition in Shepherd Market in Mayfair and Billy Conolly was filming down the road and popped in while we were in the throws of hanging. Despite the fact we were up to our eyeballs in bubble wrap and white paint he stayed for a good while and kept us all entertained! (which was nice!)

We also arranged an exhibition with a local junior school whereby we showed pictures with as much variation in subject matter as possible (still life, landscape, abstract, portraits) in as many different media as possible, (oil, pencil, watercolour, pastels, etchings). We set up first thing in the morning in the Gym and over the course of the day every class in the school came in to look. The infants just had to say which pictures they liked the best, but the juniors had to also say why. Some of the reasons given and perceptions of what they were looking at were amazing. A really worth while exhibition.

Which artists/pieces do you admire and why?

Hisrorically speaking:
Ivon Hitchens for making the broad brush application of swathes of paint look so effortless and spontaneous. When in fact every mark is in just the right place.
Albrecht Durer for his incredible observation.
John Emms for his paintings of dogs.
Socialist Realist Painters from the former USSR, for creating some of the most beautiful, truthful and heroic work under the most atrocious conditions.
George Stubbs for ‘Whistlejacket’, maybe my fav pic of all time?
Mark Rothko for his Seagram murals at Tate Modern

As for living artists:
Mark Wallinger for ‘Ecce Homo’ in Trafalger Square
Johannes Von Stumm for his glass/stone/metal sculpture
Fred Cumin for his tonal mud coloured landscapes.

As for artists who are friends:
Paul Darley for just painting what he knows as best as he can, every day, always striving to improve, with a beautiful colour palette, and all without pretension or pose.
Frank Taylor for his willingness to experiment with new media, and for always being good value at our private views.
Guy Portelli for introducing me to sculpture as an art form and for his beautiful positive attitude.

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