This year, Enter Gallery celebrates its 30th birthday. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been bringing Brighton beautiful art from our Bond Street gallery for so long, but hey…time flies when you’re having fun.
To honour reaching our prime, each month in 2022 we’re bringing you specially-curated Fab 30 collections. As we fall into September, it’s the turn of Enter Gallery’s Art Advisor, Tim.
In today’s article, we chat to Tim to hear his advice on building the perfect collection for you, and dive into five of the pieces he’s selected for his Fab 30.
Get yourself connected
Tim has been working at Enter Gallery for three and a half years now. Speaking about what drew him to the art world, he reveals:
“I’ve always been interested in art, probably led by my love of cartoons and comic books as a child. I have an older brother who was the more artistic one of the family, so naturally he pursued that, and I followed a keen interest in business and economics (sparked through many hours playing Monopoly). Over the years, I’ve built up my own art collection. I have a lot of Pop Art and street art pieces. D*Face was the main artist that inspired me to collect seriously when he did a series of superhero designs that hooked me in.”
When it comes to building an art collection, Tim offers the following words of wisdom:
“Your collection should consist of pieces you feel a personal connection to. Your collection is down to you – it can be anything, for any reason, as long as you love it. It should reflect your life story and personality. I like to have a variety of styles of work, so some will be music-related, some will be abstract design – anything that you see and that you connect with should be added to your collection.”
Weapon of Choice – Fanakapan
Fanakapan is an internationally-renowned street artist known for mind-bending depictions of balloons that have seen him dubbed, ‘the pioneer of balloon graffiti’.
We were lucky to get some hand-finished versions of Weapon of Choice for ‘Pulling Faces’ – Fanakapan's 2022 solo show at Enter Gallery. The piece is a collaboration with Portuguese artist, Nuno Viegas, and is based on a mural they created in 2016.
The piece depicts a life-like vision of his own 'weapon of choice' - a crushed spray paint, with not a drop wasted. Tim tells us:
“I love street art. D*Face was the artist that got me into it but I’ve also owned a couple of Banksy’s over the years, some Lee Eelus pieces, Blek Le Rat and I’m a big fan of Fanakapan.”
“I love this piece because it’s a collaboration with another artist I like – Nuno Viegas – who did the glove. As with Fanakapan’s crushed can, this piece appeals to me because it’s the tools of the trade of an art form that I appreciate.”
Bassfuckinline – Ryan Callanan AKA RYCA
Tim’s second choice is Bassfuckinline by RYCA, a British artist known for combining techniques and typography from old-fashioned pub signage with motifs from popular culture. This piece is the latest in a line of works from RYCA in which he depicts widely-used sweary sayings. Tim reveals:
“I’ve chosen this piece because it reminds me of music, which I was into before I was into art. I grew up listening to the Top 40 on a Sunday, fingers on play and record trying to get the tracks I liked before the DJ ruined the ending.”
“After that, I went tunnel vision into hip hop for a number of years, mcing in cyphers with friends and at open mic nights, before starting to trace back all of the musical roots that hip hop had sampled from, which broadened my whole scope on music – funk, soul, jazz, and these days any genre out there. I worked for a friend's record label and club night, which specialised in breakbeat, drum and bass and house. I DJ’d hip hop and then following that, the original breaks, mostly at friends' parties. This piece brings back great memories as 90% of the music that I love is formed on a bassline.”
Prince 2000 Zero Zero – Mike Edwards
Next up, Tim has selected this typographic portrait of one of the greatest musicians of all time, Prince. Brighton-based artist, Mike Edwards, creates his mesmerising portraits using song titles and lyrics from the stars he celebrates.
Here, Edwards uses lyrics from various Prince hits, with the chorus of absolute classic, 1999 beautifully spray-rendered in the background. Tim explains his choice:
“I’m a massive Prince fan. In my opinion, anyone who doesn’t like Prince, doesn’t like music. His own back catalogue is ridiculous, and then there’s all the songs he wrote for other artists – his list of hits goes on and on. His stage presence, his musicality, he’s undoubtedly one of the greatest artists of all time and I was lucky to see him play live.”
Kindness is a Superpower – Euan Roberts
Tim’s next choice is this original acrylic painting by Hastings-based artist, Euan Roberts. This piece was created for Euan’s solo show at Enter Gallery at the end of 2021. Speaking of his art, Euan explains that he wants it to emanate optimism and hope: "I want my pictures to be visual mantras for the viewer. Lifting them up, dusting them down and telling them to keep going.”
Kindness is a Superpower depicts a monkey giving a dehydrated snake a refreshing drink, extolling the virtue of helping others. Tim explains why he’s chosen this piece for his Fab 30:
“I love Euan’s work. He was one of our former colleagues here at Enter Gallery so I’m really happy to see him being successful as an artist, and I love his approach to things. I’m a big David Shrigley fan too, and it’s very much in the same realm – that naïve style of painting with witty and positive taglines. I love the colourful imagery and the fact his show with us last year was called ‘Tell Your Friends You Love Them’ – it’s just positivity all the way.”
The Motif Suite – Peter Blake
In The Motif Suite Sir Peter Blake depicts four of the symbols seen repeatedly across his oeuvre in the bold Pop Art palette that has come to define his work. Tim explains his choice:
“I’m a big fan of Pop Art and in particular, The Godfather of Pop Art, Peter Blake. I’ve chosen The Motif Suite as it includes the iconic symbols used throughout his work. It’s stylised, beautiful, I love the vibrant colour way. It’s a highly-collectible series that will be a great addition to any house.”
If you’d like to see these artworks for yourself, swing by Enter Gallery on Bond Street in Brighton. Select pieces from Tim’s Fab 30 are marked with blue stickers, and for the month of September, you’ll receive 30% off framing of any of the pieces included in the collection.
