Gallery launch in Canterbury

The launch of a new gallery took place last Friday; I interviewed the art director of the gallery afterwards to see how it went. Hannah Stanton reports:

Director David Lilford already has one gallery in Canterbury so I was intrigued to know his reasons for opening his latest place. It is very suave and sophisticated inside with black marble floor, leather sofas and bright lighting; this is the kind of place you would expect to see in the centre of London.

The launch went very well, with a turnout of 150 people. I asked him why he had decided to open his second gallery in Canterbury. He says: “We’ve built up an excellent reputation in Canterbury. We do art fairs in London and around the country.” He added that this was a higher end space compared to his other gallery in Castle Street. The work in his other gallery is similar although it will now be a little bit more conservative.

David goes to many art fairs in London and he will be at the Twenty-Twenty-One show which is held at the Royal College of Art in February. “Sales at those fairs are pretty good”, he says: “All we need is a base in Canterbury.”

I was very impressed with the collection of work he had in the gallery including pieces from Banksy. He says: “I deal mainly with artists that I know, although there is secondary market work like the Swoon and the Banksy.” David gets approached three or four times a day, but he’s not looking for artists and most of the time the artists that approach him are not the quality he is looking for.

There is some work that David does not except, he said: “Not particularly, I’m open to anything, I don’t do photography really and I don’t do prints. Everything has to be by the hand of the artist.”

David is “extremely careful” about which artists he chooses to exhibit. In comparison to his other gallery “sales wise it’s pretty similar at the moment, but looks-wise it’s quite different.” He doesn’t have any galleries outside of Canterbury but he does have a framing business in Herne Bay.

David says his favourite artist is Billy Childish. “He’s my hero.” Billy is a rounded artist, he has released about 120 records, and he has 40 published books of poetry and five novels. “He’s influenced some of my favourite rock stars, people like Kurt Cobain.” Customers’ ages vary from teenagers to pensioners and travel from all over the world to buy work from David. He says: “I’ve just shipped a deal to a guy who lives in California.”

A variety of people attended the launch on Friday, January 20. There is definitely a punk feel to the gallery, with artists here such as Jamie Reid. A lot of people in David’s age group are buying in to this work because they loved the rock era. David, 47, hasn’t always been an art dealer, he worked in retail but he has now been an art dealer for 12 years. Yet he does not intend to open any more galleries. When he gets the chance he goes to shows in London around Shawd Edge and Brick Lane. “That’s where the cool stuffs coming out” he says.

How does he intend to combat the recession: “We have already done that, I’m finding that people are putting their money on the wall rather than giving it to banks. The recession hasn’t touched us, business is up 50% year on year.” I then asked him if art business is the way to go, he replies with: “It is for me but it isn’t for everyone. I know we’re bucking the trend because there are galleries closing left, right and centre. We have a different proposition, I’m dealing with artists.”

David adds: “I’m quite robust when it comes to artists that apply. People are looking for something that goes up in value.” This gallery stood out for me with its clean and fresh modern look, it turns out that in David’s opinion: “This gallery stands out from anywhere in the South.” He is clearly very passionate about his galleries and the art business in general. He said: “For me this is one of the coolest places around and I’m very proud of it.”

An interesting fact about the gallery’s building is that it was built in the 50s. David says; “Funny how it’s developed because it was bombed in the war, it’s kind of timeless really.”

The Lilford Gallery is located at 3 Palace Street in Canterbury.

It is open 9.30am - 5pm Mon - Sat / 11am -4pm Sun.

Phone: 01227 639086 for more information or visit their website at: mail@lilfordgallery.com