AWITA X a-n International Women’s Day
Wednesday 8th March, Cromwell Place
Write up by Poppy Flatau
Mary Cork, Karon Hepburn, Anna Freeman Bentley, Marcelle Joseph, Lindsey Mendick, Gilane Tawadros, Sonia E Barrett
On this year’s international women’s day, AWITA collaborated with a-n: The Artists Information Company, hosting three different professional female duos. The conversation aimed to demystify connections between women in the art world, as Moderator Gilane Tawadros (Director of the Whitechapel Gallery), prompted the pairs to discuss their working relationships. Speaking first were artist Lindsey Mendick and curator Marcelle Joseph, whose conversation proved how unwavering support can boost one another’s careers. This was followed by artist Anna Freeman Bentley, who discussed her evolving occupation and entering a new stage of her relationship with Creative Director Karon Hepburn as they announced Simon Lee Gallery’s new representation of her. The conversation closed with artist Sonia E Barrett and ZELDA Co-Founder Mary Cork, who spoke about creating their own networks, and the challenges that this responsibility can hold.
The importance of an organic and genuine relationship in cultivating success was highlighted in all three conversations. Since working with Lindsey Mendick, curator Marcelle Joseph has observed “a rising star” who has both a platform and the “space to create” as an artist. Lindsey discussed how important having an untransactional connection is for her. Creating her work comes with an emotional load, as it bears her “soul and everything [she’s] feeling.” Marcelle can recognise this as a “real friendship” by how they check in on one another and adapt to various challenges. This, alongside other practices, are ways Marcelle has managed to cultivate sustainable relationships with her chosen artists. During projects finding a perfect balance between encouraging the artist and giving them room to develop their own ideas is something that Marcelle has finessed. For example, when navigating one of their most challenging projects, an install of over 50 works at The Hannah Barry Gallery, Marcelle had “to modify the way [she] works,” by being hands-on and helping Lindsey with some of the finishing touches to her artwork.
Lindsey’s artistic practice spans further than just her remarkable work. Recognising the importance of having a support system for artists, she has created one herself. Powered by her generosity, she “made and carved out the time to encourage other artists” and founded Quench Gallery in Margate alongside her partner Guy Oliver. Established during the Pandemic with the intention of giving artists and curators an opportunity to develop new work, Quench Gallery has since displayed some “absolutely stellar” exhibitions.
Gilane Tawadros, Lindsey Mendick and Marcelle Joseph
The following conversation was another great example of how Karon Hepburn’s admiration and advocacy for the work of Anna Freeman Bentley has elevated her career as an artist. Both Anna and Karon emphasised the importance of trust in their relationship, which stemmed from the personal friendship they had before becoming professional. Their working partnership was facilitated by the potential they observed in one another. For Karon, being “besotted” with Anna’s work meant that she was confident in her ability to grow as an artist and fulfil her creative visions at Simon Lee Gallery. Anna professed her need for strategy which was fulfilled by Karon’s offer as it “felt like a great step for moving [her] career forward.” As with all of the artists at Simon Lee Gallery, Karon adapts to their individual goals, serving “different needs and wants on every level.” This also applies to how the artist connects to everyone they work with, as Anna highlighted that transparency doesn’t stop at her relationship with Karon. For Anna when moving from one gallery, she placed emphasis on being “open about any opportunities that are coming my way,” making sure not to “burn any bridges.” Generally Karon emphasised the importance of creating and sustaining a fulfilling artist network, comparing it to an “ecosystem” which needs to be maintained.
The final conversation, between artist Sonia E Barrett and co-founder of ZELDA Mary Cork also delved into importance of the artist’s network and how no two are alike. With ZELDA specialising in the professional development of underrepresented artists, Mary saw great potential in Sonia through both her work and her strength of character, describing her as a “unicorn in a place where there isn’t really an arts ecosystem.” Due to the pandemic and her recent move from Germany, Sonia’s ability to make connections in the art world has been more of a challenge. Nonetheless her determination in “forging her own path” has meant Sonia's network has flourished, as she humorously mentioned that she “showed up to places [she] wasn’t invited to.” As touched upon by Sonia and Mary, the only real difficulty confronting careers and relationship is a lack of time. As both women are mothers of two there is limited time for both physical work and networking, which are both integral for a career in the arts. Whilst Sonia emphasised the strength her family bring to her (her “daughters say some of the best things about [her] work”), she also mentioned that “its incredibly challenging’” to not be able to “go to all the openings and be around people.” In trying to navigate around these pressures Mary and Sonia support and understand one another, with Mary posing as a “sounding board, providing critical feedback and facilitating connections [for Sonia] that otherwise wouldn’t have been made.” As the pair “really genuinely like hanging out” and “have great conversations,” it is understandable that they have a great working relationship. For Mary however, the “secret ingredient” is having empathy particulary “for the positions of others and where they’re coming from, as not every professional artist relationship is going to be smooth, but if you’ve got empathy, you can see your way through it.”
Our partners Cromwell Place also beautifully hosted us for the evening in their Lavery Studio. The evening was kindly sponsored by female founded and made MarGin.
The full photo gallery is available here.