Venn Gallery closes doors
The shakeout of the Perth commercial gallery scene has claimed another casualty, with the cutting-edge Venn Gallery closing its Queen Street premises at the end of the year.
“It has been a tough decision but we can’t financially continue,” Venn owner Desi Litis said.
Changing buyer habits, the tough economy, the online retail revolution and generational change have led to a spate of closed galleries in the past two years.
She urged more people to support “WA contemporary artists and arts organisations that strive to make our city a wondrous place”.
When Ms Litis and co-owner Jade Rubino opened Venn in the renovated heritage-listed CBD building in 2010, they incorporated a bar-café and design shop to spread the income stream beyond the fragile art market.
The gallery’s future had been shaky since Rubino sold her share of the partnership earlier this year and the shop and café were separated from the business.
Restauranter Andy Freeman took over the cafe and renamed it The Flour Factory in a nod to the building’s industrial past. There are plans to extend the bar and café across all levels of the three-storey building.
The pool of serious Perth art collectors numbered in the dozens, not even the hundreds, which was not enough to sustain the gallery in its own, she said.
“There are people who have the ability to spend money, regardless of the climate of the moment but I think the biggest issue is awareness and having that knowledge,” she said.
“In Australia there is not a huge cultural focus and we don’t grow up going to galleries. That is what needs to begin to shift.
“It has become a vicious cycle because where do people continue to go now if they want to see contemporary art? Where do people go to see work and to have that regular engagement?
Gallery closures over the past two years have included Melody Smith Gallery, Perth Galleries, Gallery East and Galerie Dusseldorf.
Emerge Art Space recently moved north along Beaufort to Inglewood to escape the high rents of Mt Lawley.
The future of Turner Galleries is uncertain, with its Northbridge premises up for sale, while Seva Frangos Art in Subiaco and Gadfly Gallery in Dalkeith are changing locations and their working models.
Harvison Gallery in Northbridge recently converted the front half of its premises into a thriving cafe.
Ms Litis said artists had to keep finding new ways to present their work.
One such example of the new approach is the one-night Raw Showcase exhibition and performance event at The Bakery tonight arranged by the online-based international arts collective Raw Artists.
Audiences pay an entry fee and can experience a wide range of entertainment while seeing work by visual artists. Raw Artists is a global movement which organises these occasional pop-up shows in cities around the world.
“Artists have to be creative and open to how they are presenting work,” Ms Litis said. “In this climate you have to be open to other avenues.”
Venn has been one of the few Perth commercial galleries focused on leading-edge WA contemporary art. Its stable includes Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Tom Muller, Clare Peake, Gian Manik and Kate McMillan.
“We have the most amazingly talented artists and I just wish there were more opportunities for them here,” Ms Litis said.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank each of these artists for being so fantastic to work with and to acknowledge the engaging and significant exhibitions they have produced,” she said.
Ms Litis would continue to promote artists as an independent curator on a project and consultancy basis. Gallery manager Bayoush Demissie has obtained a job with a gallery in Brisbane.
Venn Gallery’s final exhibition, Summer Show 2014, runs until December 5.
