One of the greatest privileges of Fresh: is that it allows us to work together with a truly stellar community of galleries. This week it’s the turn of Mark at Dartmouth’s Coombe Gallery to tell you his story…
Could you tell us how Coombe Gallery first came together?
I come from a long line of artists but was the first one to step away from creating and into curating. My first independent toe in the water came in the 90s when I formed a collective of fellow art historians at Aberdeen University, holding an exhibition of contemporary art from the North East. We chose work from both established artists and recent graduates, displaying it all in the hallowed Great Hall of the university.
I did also have a bit of previous too; in 1983 my parents set up Coombe Farm Studios, a residential art education establishment deep in the Devon Lanes that’s still going strong today. My father began to sell his work from the walls of his studio, and as time went by his wider network of artists and makers began to do the same. We started to organise dedicated exhibitions complete with opening nights, and so it all began.
By 2004 we had built up quite a following, and had begun to attend art fairs further afield. A family friend had been running a gallery in a fantastic location in Dartmouth, and decided that the time had come to sell it. This was too good an opportunity to pass up, and we decided to expand. The town already had a well-established community of galleries that we knew well, and was a real destination for art lovers. We’re still here sixteen years later!
If you had to choose a favourite memory from Coombe Gallery’s story, what would it be?
The time I had to leap in my car and chase down gallery thieves through the local lanes!
Two well-dressed gentlemen dropping in for a browse broke the stillness of a quiet Monday morning. With a full course of painters busily working away at the other end of the studios, all seemed well. After a few minutes I heard, rather than saw, a plate being moved. This wasn’t unusual, as people often handle items, so I thought nothing more of it.
After a while they thanked me for letting them look around and left. Something didn’t feel right, so I went to investigate and sure enough, there was a conspicuous gap where there should have been a David Leach plate. I was furious!
They had driven away slowly down the lanes, as if unsure of where they were going. I knew these byways like the back of my hand and reckoned I could catch them pretty quick. The only problem: at the end of our lane was a T-junction, one half of which led to the main road, and the other to miles and miles of tiny lanes where I might never find them. I gambled on the main road, but realised very quickly that they’d gone the other way.
The only option left to me was to make a massive loop on the main roads before circling back to the lanes where just maybe I could meet them head on. After a fraught thirty-minute drive there they were trundling towards me!
I blocked their route forward with my car and assumed the calm, surreal air of a teacher chastising errant schoolboys. “I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you from the gallery” I said. The driver went to his boot and opened his shoulder bag to reveal a second plate that I hadn’t even noticed they’d taken! They handed everything over, and asked if I was a police officer. “No,” I replied, “but I trust this won’t happen again.” They apologised and said they just really liked the work.
It turned out that they’d been involved in a spate of thefts from local galleries and craft centres. It’s not every day I get involved in a slow-speed car chase with art thieves!
What is your favourite piece of artwork that you personally have collected?
My favourite piece is a small three-footed ceramic bowl by Nick Chapman. It was my very first purchase; it got me into collecting and brought me round to the idea of it being OK to buy art. It was £90 – not a large piece but I was young at the time and had to pay in instalments, so it was a lot of cash to me then! I also once bought a Damien Hirst etching with the money my pregnant wife and I had been saving for central heating, but that’s another story!
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer to aspiring collectors?
It sounds corny but buy what you enjoy, not what somebody says you OUGHT to like. You’re going to have to wake up to it everyday and if you don’t actually like it that much it’s only going to wind you up, especially if you spent a lot of money on it. On the other hand, if you’re buying for investment, try not to love it too much. It’ll only make you sad when you have to sell it!
What do you most look forward to at Fresh: Art Fair?
One of our favourite aspects of Fresh is that it’s family-run. We understand what it’s like to work as a family in the art business, so it really comes across how everybody mucks in together to make it work. It’s a well-organised fair with a personal touch often lacking from the larger corporate events…
Many thanks to Mark for sharing his memories of the journey that Coombe Gallery has taken through the years. While we wait to welcome the gallery to Fresh: Cheltenham (tickets available here), collectors can explore a fabulous array of work at the Fresh: Online Art Fair.
