Well that was a strange one!
Isn't it funny this year how things seem to take ages and then all of a sudden go by in the blink of an eye! It is fair to say that, along with most of the world 2020 ended up not to be the year we had originally planned! Still being painfully optimistic at times means I still take lots of positives from it. I thought I would right a quick hello and say 'Hurrah for 2021' look back over some of the things we missed, some of the things we thought were epic and a little look ahead to what may or may not happen in this year. I hope you are all safe and well and can start the year positively, however that looks for you!
What Made us Sad
As always we never rest on our laurels and had an aggressive schedule booked in for 2020: travel, painting on the streets and new artists on our radar. We managed all but the first of these for obvious reasons. Being accepted for Moniker Art Fair in 2017 and 2018 was one of my proudest moments as a young gallery and a sign we were doing it right and could cut it with some other amazing galleries such as Think Space, Creative Debuts & Art Hound so it was with great sadness that this did not happen again in a physical form. My time with my good friend and artist Tymon de Laat at Powwow Rotterdam last year smoking up some amazing works as well as hanging. out was a highlight and we had planned to go back this year. While the festival went ahead, we could not make it due to travel restrictions. Tymon de Laat has been super busy so I can't wait to catch up soon and the team at Powwow Rotterdam (who are total inspirations to me) managed an amazing festival in very difficult circumstances. We also had lots more walls planned around our home city and unfortunately a lot of these fell by the wayside. But it is important for us all to remember that this is a temporary blip and like many others suffering in all the artistic sectors, brains are still whirring and plans are still being made to come back with real a fire and passion to set the world one alight again!
What Made us Happy
Not travelling as much meant we had more time to forge links with some new artists and some old friends we had been circling around a while in the shadows. Getting them onboard, all be it virtually, is always such a rewarding journey. It is never as simple as it seems and a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, so when I get to send that text or make that call to say we have sold their first piece it is always so so satisfying. My favourite bit of being at the helm of Landmark Street Art is that I know all our artists personally and we have always kept that very personal link between the customer, us and them. It really does matter a lot and makes everything so much more worthy.
Jacqueline De Montaigne
This year seeing Portuguese artist Jacqueline De Montaigne sell out and go from strength to strength on our site has been really special, also seeing up and coming Welsh Talent Tarw get some amazing new original works up online after a long journey is really great. I genuinely could name every artist on our roster as special be they new or old three are too many special people to mention so go check them out here. A massive thank you goes out to all our artists, their passion and talent is what keeps us pushing hard to make the world a more colourful interesting place.
Tarw Drops Originals
Which nicely leads us on to Ben Eine and Lucie Flynn coming and doing us the honour of painting on our streets (Watch the awesome documentary here!). This was a real highlight for me for the city I live and work in. To see two good friends get up on our streets and bring so much to what they did, just epic! Our big agenda is to spread culture and give people opportunities to interact with public art in a place that until recently was totally devoid of any.
The BBC Covering Eine & Lucie Coming To Carlisle
To get Ben's piece, arguably one of the biggest names in font based graffiti and a true originator of the UK scene, along with Lucie's stunning abstract completed was really great. Also bringing it back local and seeing the amazing talent that is Martin Evans complete his first 'wild wall' meant a lot to him and me...and all who see it by the comments we got! (See the video here) The lack of travel allowed us to sit back and make some properly exciting plans for 2021 and we are in talks with Arts Council England and several artists about some new and exciting plans for paint on the streets in the coming year, we promise we have not taken our foot off the accelerator ... in fact we have pushed it further to the floor!
Martin Evans By His Work In Carlisle
Lastly and most definitely not least, thank you to everyone of you who made a purchase big or small, liked a post, watched a video, came to see a wall we curated or took interest in what we do. This is such a personal journey for me and the artists I am lucky enough to work with, something we whole heartedly believe in and will continue to do for as long as we can.
No one really knows what 2021 will hold but I sure has hell know it will be exciting and colourful! Stay Safe Stay Positive
Ben
Director: Landmark Street Art