About Vanessa Brady
Art student work and experiences
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Original painting in the Hammerson staff restaurant, a couple of new pieces, and the two commissions for the Leicester Project |
After graduating from the South Australian School of Art (SASA) [now the School of Art, Architecture and Design], University of South Australia, with a Painting Specialisation in the Bachelor of Visual Arts (DBVS) degree in 2004, I left Australia in July 2005 on a Helpmann Academy grant with Yhonnie Scarce, another graduate. We travelled to Scotland for the Edinburgh International Festival, and after the festival I moved to London to live.
London
London was always calling. I can't describe it in any other way. I just knew that I had to go there...the city has such an incredibly vibrant art scene, so many galleries, and a public that are really passionate about art.
When I arrived in London, like most Australians I grabbed the first job I could get (that wasn't in a pub) and became a receptionist for an agency. The agency placed me in a permanent site which was the head office of a large property development company. I was really lucky to start working at this site; this luck is what led to my further artistic success.
Commissions and projects
While working at Hammerson I got to know everyone in the office, and eventually one of the executive directors found out I was an artist. He asked to look at my work and was really enthusiastic about it. He decided that the company would commission me to do a large painting for their staff restaurant. I did this painting and they were all very excited; they even had an unveiling ceremony with champagne and flowers - it was great but a bit embarrassing!
The company had just moved offices to a brand new building in Mayfair and so far they hadn't collected any artwork. It became evident that I was the only artist in the office, so after seeing my painting in the restaurant, one of the directors asked me to research artwork for all the meeting rooms, staff spaces and executive directors' offices. I became a sort-of informal art consultant for the company while still working on reception, and ended up decorating most of the building.
After seeing my painting in the restaurant, another director, who is working on a shopping centre development in Leicester, asked me to be one of the artists involved in the project. He asked me to do 8-10 large painting commissions of various stages of the development as it was being built. So far I have completed two paintings and have a lot more work to do this year. The paintings involve travelling to Leicester and doing site visits, taking photographs of the site, and then working on paintings based on the photographs. This series of commissions has allowed me to leave full-time (reception) work for the first time in my life, and focus on being an artist.
I've also completed two private commissions while I've been in London, and two more are booked in after I complete the Leicester Project.
Art Consultant/Curator
I'm also running a gallery space for Hammerson. They have a very large reception area in their head office and they like to have revolving exhibitions in this space. I had been helping out with the administration side of things while on reception, so my facilities manager asked me to take over and run the gallery space. I was a bit nervous - I'm 25 years old and have no experience running a gallery - but she really believed that I could do it so I took on the challenge. I've now been managing the space since November 07 and am officially a paid as an Art Consultant/Curator.
When I first started running the space I wanted to shift the emphasis to focus on supporting emerging artists. I advertised the gallery and had a huge response from artists. This is because we offer them free exhibition space in Mayfair, cover the costs of transportation, hanging of artwork, insurance, and also provide an opening night with catering for up to 150 people. We also don't charge any commission on sales of artwork. I'm given a budget for each year to cover these costs, and Hammerson feels they are benefiting from being able to view new vibrant artwork in an ever-changing exhibition programme. The Westminster City Council has written an article on the programme.
Just recently I've been approached by another Hammerson director, who has been working on a development in the city of London which is about to be finished. He would like me to be the art consultant for his new building and run a similar scheme to the one I am currently running, so I have a new contract.
Exhibitions
I also had an exhibition of new work in November 2007 with another SASA artist living in London, Rosie Pellegrino. We had a great turnout and I managed to get an agent who is assisting in the sale of my artwork to corporate businesses. My next exhibition will be in Leicester this year, when the shopping centre opens. My commissions will be on display in a gallery area during the opening events and weeks of September.
Marketing
I have been in London for less than 3 years, and feel very privileged that I am now working as a full time artist/art consultant. It's been a big step to set up my own business but I'm really enjoying it, and getting there step by step. I now have a website for my paintings and I'm in the process of creating business cards - one thing at a time!