"BECAUSE" A Summer Exhibition at Robert Young Antiques
June 21st – 1st July, Preview Tuesday 20th June
For the first time in over 40 years, we will not be exhibiting at a major Art and Antiques Fair in London this Summer, but will instead be installing an exhibition in our Battersea Gallery.
Situated as we are in the heart of the Battersea Creative District, directly opposite the Royal College of Art, we are planning to curate a show that runs concurrently with the RCA Degree Show in the height of the Summer season in London, when many of our regular, domestic and international clients will be in the UK, prior to the Summer Holidays.
When discussing the possibilities we ultimately all agreed that curating an exhibition in our own space, for the first time since we used to host our annual exhibition of Antique Folk Art in the Spring, was the most exciting opportunity.
We plan to curate it in the way we would a major art fair, with the advantage of having more space. We plan to clear out the gallery completely, before redecorating some areas and installing a new collection with the same balance and attention to detail that we have always dedicated to our Fair Exhibition Stands.
The title “Because” came about during our discussions here, when we kept finding ourselves thinking and getting excited about the idea in principle, Because……… we will have more space; because……. we have time to plan it; because……. we haven’t held an exhibition here since well before covid; because….. we are fortunate enough to have our own gallery space and it gives us the opportunity to create something special here; because……… it will coincide with the neighbouring RCA Degree Show; because…….. we are not exhibiting elsewhere; because it is a wonderfully busy and exciting time of year in London; because…….. we have a good collection of recent acquisitions and previously unseen works to show; because……… it just seemed to make sense and ultimately because……. we simply became excited about the idea and felt it was something we all wanted to do and to make it special…
Also, “Because” is the single word used to prefix an answer to so many questions in our professional lives; why is it Folk Art, why did you not restore it, why is it so special, why is it so big/small, why is it painted, how do you know it comes from there, why did they put initials on it, why is it that price, why has it become that colour, why are they so hard to find, why are you so excited about it, why was it made, why are these so popular now, why did you pay so much and ultimately why did it survive. Simply Because…
We plan to install this exhibition in June, just Because……. we think it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our gallery location, to showcase a new collection and to welcome visitors here in the Summer…….
We will be publishing a digital catalogue to accompany the Exhibition, to sign up to our Mailing List and receive a copy please follow this link.
Also in Journal
Tom Hickman - "One Man and His Needle"
One Man and His Needle”, An extraordinary collection of recent and retrospective works by Tom Hickman, 6-16 December 2023.
"Following the success and the nationwide exposure he was subject to when winning the 2022 BBC Scotland’s “Home of the year”, I think it is fair to say that his status has changed."
