Emily[hidden]

Emily has been working as an Art Consultant since the autumn of 2022. Her love of art was sparked while studying literature at Kings in London. She tells us, “I’m really interested in the interplay between general culture and art movements.”

After university, Emily turned her focus towards curation, studying for a Masters in Art History and Curation at the University of Sussex. As part of her Masters, Emily worked at Towner Eastbourne, where she curated Cruising the Collection – an exhibition and podcast that celebrated queer stories and the work of queer artists within the Towner archives.

Emily reveals: “Working at Enter Gallery is giving me the opportunity to acquire essential skills in things like valuable object handling and logistics, with the aim to be curating more exhibitions later down the line.”

Speaking of her favourite part of working in the gallery, Emily tells us: “I love art collections, and I find the role at Enter Gallery fascinating because we represent contemporary art as it is right now, in and around Brighton and London. I also love it when people come in not expecting to learn anything and I can tell them interesting things about the works that help them to grow their appreciation of art. That’s something I love about curating as well – you can help to guide people’s understanding of something, and give them a passion for something in the same way that you have a passion for something. Sharing knowledge in that way is really satisfying to me.”

If you could go back in time and hang out with artists from any artistic movement, who would you choose and why?

“I’d love to hang out with all the creatives that were hanging around Paris in the 1920s – Modernists, Dadaists, Surrealists…that was the place to be creatively at that time. I think if you go back any further you’re going to die of a disease before you get to have any fun.”

What would you steal in a high stake art heist?

“My favourite art heist of all time was when someone just shoved the Mona Lisa up their jumper at the Louvre and walked out with it. In terms of what I’d choose, whenever I watch Indiana Jones movies and he says, ‘That belongs in a museum’, I always think, ‘Yes it does!’ I’d steal really historically valuable originals or artefacts that museums have and give them back to the countries they came from. Something like the Easter Island heads that hold the souls of their ancestors and they’re just sat in The British Museum.”

If you could emulate the style of one artist, who would it be?

“Marc Chagall is my favourite artist at the moment. I went to the Chagall Museum in Nice recently and I’ve never walked into a space and wanted to cry. It was incredible. They have a room with his biblical pieces that are just so beautiful. He uses a lot of vibrant colours and his work is so expressive. It looks effortless but also purposeful. I look at his work and think that’s what art should be.”

Who is an artist that you think is one to watch?

“I love Mark Powell’s work because he is just pure talent. I particularly love his James Baldwin piece. Another of my favourite artists is Dan Hillier. We have so many people who come into the gallery who are obsessed with his work. In a lot of his works there’s a tiny falling man hidden so I enjoy looking at them with people and getting them to find the falling man.”