Our community of exhibitors offers visitors to Fresh: a dazzling survey of some of the finest art being made today, from exciting new talent through to established household names. After years of hard work and relentless commitment to quality, each exhibitor has crafted a distinct and compelling vision. We’d like to dig a little deeper and tell you the galleries’ stories in their own words. This week we’re sitting down with Alison and Emma of The Art Agency on the High Street in lovely Esher, Surrey.
Could you tell us how The Art Agency first came together?
We started as a pop-up, hiring venues for the weekend or even for one-night shows. Our launch show was at The Landmark Art Centre in Teddington, a huge cathedral space that’s used for artist fairs twice a year amongst many other events. We hung over 200 pieces for the launch and somehow also managed to pop out to get our hair blow dried before we opened! We established a small gallery space on Esher High Street in October 2011 before moving to a much larger one in July 2015. Our business is generated fairly evenly now across three sources – the gallery itself, art fairs (we’ve really missed Fresh this year) and online, including social media.
If you had to choose a favourite memory from The Art Agency’s story, what would it be?
Emma remembers when she sold some work to Strictly dancer Erin Boag, and she told me that it just happened to be a fellow Kiwi with that name…a pure coincidence. When I met her though I realised it was the Erin Boag, without sequins and make up!
I’d say it’s hard to come up with a single memory. We work really well together and have enormous fun on our travels. At the very first art fair we attended (AAF Bristol) I had to run things by myself as Emma was on a girls’ tennis weekend. I met some lovely people, including Christine Relton and Tom Marine, whose work I was already a fan of. We now sell their art ourselves!
Overall though I would keep it simple and say that starting a business with a friend and sharing the journey has been the key to our success. Our favourite part of the experience is without doubt the art fairs, where we can catch up with our many gallery and artist friends. I enjoy planning the hang, the private view is always a buzz, and we are obviously pleased as the red dots begin to appear on the wall!
What is your favourite piece of artwork that you personally have collected?
We both have several treasured pieces from our own gallery artists, but we have also bought artwork from other Fresh galleries. At the first Fresh Art Fair in Cheltenham in 2017, Alison had promised herself a Peter Wileman painting from the Lime Tree Gallery once we’d found homes for a few of our own pieces. We were just about there, when suddenly she turned around and saw someone else with ‘her’ painting tucked under their arm. She had to wait until this year at another fair before she found another one which now has pride of place in her hallway. Emma meanwhile had long coveted Craig Mooney’s figurative paintings and bought one from another gallery. She was very excited when, completely by chance, he came to introduce himself to us at an event. It was like a teenage fan meeting their pop idol!
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer to aspiring collectors?
We offer a try-before-you-buy service which local clients find really useful. Ultimately we always tell people to buy something because you love it, and you’ll always manage to find a space for it.
What do you most look forward to at Fresh: Art Fair?
Friendly and seamless organisation and drinks in proper flutes at the Private View!
Many thanks to Alison and Emma for sharing their memories of the journey that The Art Agency has taken. While we wait to welcome them to Fresh: Cheltenham from the 23 – 25 April 2021 (tickets available here), collectors can explore a fabulous array of work at the Fresh: Online Art Fair.
