In May, a report by A-N The Artists Information Company, titled Structurally F–cked, found artists in the public sector were paid a median of £2.60 an hour. Uncapped rents are driving creatives home to their parents, cuts to art education deepen and galleries grapple with spiralling costs.
And yet, the kids - while not alright, per se - are hungry as ever to be involved. A new wave of disruptors are rising; found in Peckham studios and the bars of the Serpentine and National Gallery’s no-holds-barred summer parties alike.
Here are the curators, painters, journalists and gallerists refreshing London as a cultural epicentre.
Isaac Benigson: artist and socialite
Isaac Benigson is impossible to miss, wearing John Pearse suits, “Seventies dandy style”, in corners of gallery private views on Chiltern Street. Born in London to South African parents, the aspiring curator graduated from Central Saint Martins this year and shows his own charmingly rudimentary portraits which gained acclaim when one made it to the RCA’s Summer Exhibition in 2019: “It was the best selling postcard of the year, which I thought was hilarious,” he says. “There’s a great focus on contemporary art in London, but I prefer things that are older and people are less interested in — like Dennis Severs’ House in Spitalfields.”
Top tip: “Work collaboratively with older people. Organise group projects and have conversations about art with people from various different generations.”
Alaia de Santis: artist
Bolshy, beautiful and back in London after a year and a half in New York, Alaia de Santis has piqued interest with her collages and paintings. “The art scene here is very different to New York, there are so many more young people who are artists,” says the Camberwell College of Art graduate. “And not even just in central — there’s Clerkenwell, Haggertson, Peckham, which are all becoming bigger art communities.” Money’s tough. “When you work with galleries, they take 50 per cent commission which is really sad,” she says. “It’s industry standard, but I don’t think it should be.”
Top tip: “Keep at it, even if you think it’s shit. You just get better.”
Phoebe and Arthur Saatchi Yates: gallerists
They are the ultimate art couple; helped by the fact Phoebe Saatchi Yates is the only child of prolific advertiser and art mogul Charles Saatchi. The opening of their Saatchi Yates gallery made waves in 2020, and this year they relocated to a 10,000 square foot space in St James. “London is booming in a way none of us expected,” says Phoebe. The key to their success in their breadth, demonstrated by the current show Bathers, which runs until August 10: “It’s got everything from Cézanne to Hockney to a 1614 painting by Denijs Van Alsloot,” she says. “London’s a port of a city,” Arthur says. “You have people looking for everything.”
Top tip: “ If you’re an artist, gallerist or collector — go for broke!”
Danny Fox: artist
The cult of Danny Fox is a recognised phenomenon amongst the art cognoscenti. The artist, who now enjoys a solitary practice in Cornwall, where he was born, emanates a coastal aesthetic in appearance and on canvas. When he smiles, he reveals a silver tooth cap. “I first moved to the city when I was 17 and made it by living in squats in south London,” he says. “Having not gone to art school, I always felt I was outside any art scene. But in the end you make your own scene — and then it becomes the scene.” He has lived in LA, Hastings and Cardiff. “Maybe I’ll move back to London,” he says. “The pro is that you’re at the centre of the universe, I think. It’s the greatest city in the world.”
Top tip: “Just do the work. You’ve got to work as if you’ve got a major museum exhibition coming up even though no one’s heard of you.”
Sean Burns: writer, editor and artist
Hybridity has become essential to stay afloat in London, so Sean Burns does a bit of everything: he’s the assistant editor at Frieze Magazine, a freelance writer and an artist. “It’s a difficult space to make a living in art, especially for writers,” he says. “The weakness with London is how expensive it is — it’s a struggle for people from working class backgrounds. There’s no rent control, which is criminal.” For this reason, the Birmingham born talent makes a point of lifting the next generation up. “Work starts quickly accumulating after you have those initial bylines, so I view my role at Frieze as a supportive one.”
Top tip: “Think of writing as craft. It’s a long-time thing, hone it. And invite editors to coffee — there’s a lot to be said for a well-worded email.”
George Rouy: artist
The It-boy of the rising artists, George Rouy has fast built a fanbase for his large scale, figurative body paintings. “I’m in Kent at the moment - I moved out two years ago because I got sick of being moved around studios,” he says. The Camberwell graduate, who has a cheeky smile and two silver caps on his canines, currently has a show at Peckham’s Hannah Barry Gallery until September 9. “Artists are becoming younger, and what’s great about London is there’s an appetite for art,” he says, “But it needs a rent cap now. It’s not sustainable.”
Top tip: “Take your time, and fire everything into the studio. When the work’s ready, it will be seen.”
Josh Woolford: artist
Three single braids wrap around Josh Woolford’s head, and a thick tattooed line runs from under his chin, down his throat. He speaks softly. “I decided to be an artist when I was living in Berlin, in 2017. I was working in bars and going out a lot, and needed something to focus on,” he says. The Milton Keynes-born painter, sculptor and performer graduated from the Royal College of Art last year, where he helped found a black student association. “It is definitely more difficult for people of colour,” he says. He is currently artist in residence at Tate, investigating the gallery’s ties to the slavery.
Top tip: “Art is clearly not an industry you go into to become rich and famous. Be authentic and do something you actually believe in.”
Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt: gallerists
They are the hustling co-founders of Hanover Sqaure’s Unit London gallery, and celebrating their tenth anniversay this year. “For the first six years we were operating pop-up models by finding vacant spaces around the city,” Kennedy says. “London’s great for that, if you want a space but have no money - there’s always empty shops.” Their mission is to tackle elitism in the art empire: “It’s fundamentally snobby,” he says. “Social media was the vehicle to develop and help young artists - we wouldn’t be here without it.” Last year they entered the Web3 space, and sell NFTs. “As soon as I found out about blockchain, I saw it could offer this radical transparency in the industry,” Kennedy says.
Top tip: “Don’t wait until you have enough money to open a gallery. Go and do pop ups.
Alexander James: artist
Floppy haired and a favourite on Instagram thanks to his large scale, abstract works, James is on the ascent. “Even when things pick up, you have to be laser focussed,” he says. “As an artist, you should never be in your comfort zone in the studio. That means experimenting, even when you’re not showing it.” He was raised between Hertfordshire and north London, studied at Camberwell and currently has pieces on show at the Marlborough Gallery, Mayfair. “As long as I’m not standing still, I’m happy,” he says.
Top tip: “Go to openings at galleries you would like to see your work in — and always turn up with a little smile.”
Nnamdi Obiekwe and Zina Vieille: gallerists
The business partners behind VO Curations — Nnamdi Obiekwe and Zina Vieille — are a nourishing force for London’s young talent. “We provide affordable studio spaces to hundreds of artists and commission them to present their first major exhibitions in the UK,” says Vieille. They woo property developers and repurpose office buildings into studios. “All our artists are under-represented, and usually touch on diasporic identities, or disseminate postcolonial frameworks and ideologies,” she says.
Top tip: “Stay light on your feet. For a while the industry has been dictated by labels, but there’s a hybridity today.”
India Rose James: gallerist
The platinum blonde Soho heiress, India Rose James, has amped up her support of new artists with a refurbished, four floor gallery townhouse — with photo studio, where the above shot was taken — for her Soho Revue gallery. “We specialise in young emerging artists; either still in art school or graduates,” she says. “Young artists are hot at the moment, so there’s the worry of collectors buying up their work and wanting to flip it.” She finds them at degree shows and Instagram, and appreciates the privilege that comes with being the fifth richest person under 35 in the UK, worth £758 million. “I was in a lucky position to be able to start, it’s very difficult. I do feel for people who are trying to find a space.”
Top tip: “The starting point is to get to know people in the industry: go to private views and meet them.”
Aindrea Emelife: curator
The fiery, fashion forward Nigerian-British curator Aindrea Emelife is putting a stamp on London this summer. “I was lucky to get a bursary to a private school in London that offered art history studies; if that hadn’t happened I wonder how my life would be currently,” she says. Having studied at the Courtauld Institute — “which was all Renaissance and straight white men” — she has become the new curator of the Museum of West African Art in Nigeria, and her exhibition Black Venus, which looks at the history of the black woman and was first shown in New York last year, is coming to Somerset House on July 20. “Bringing it to London is really emotionally important.” Naomi Campbell has been a mentor and wrote the exhibition foreword. “To have her support is incredible.”
Top tip: “Establish great relationships with artists, the community is the most important thing.”
Robin Hunter Blake: photographer
He dresses like F Scott Fitzgerald, arriving to photograph this group in velvet loafers and a taupe suit. Blake shoots on film and dashes around a studio with an excitable ease. “I was once told by a photographer I admire greatly that we are ‘thieves of time’ — that has remained my photographic philosophy,” he says. He grew up near Barcelona before studying at the London College of Communication. “I have worked a variety of jobs in order to stay in London. It’s about pushing beyond your threshold.”
Top tip: “Don’t be afraid to fail as this is the only way you will learn for yourself.”
