Interview: The RYDER Projects

Name: The RYDER Projects
Location: London
Opening year:  2015

When did you first get interested in art, and how did it lead you into the business of being a gallerist?
I’m originally from Barcelona and although it’s a nice city, I wanted to move out of my comfort zone. After finishing my degree in Humanities, I went to Paris to study Comparative Literature at La Sorbonne. Perhaps peculiarly, it was there that my interest in curating art started. In a way, comparing texts was similar to comparing works of art, but the physicality of art would allow me to jump from the constraints of a world of lines on paper to the three dimensions of the space – to create a tangible path between works in dialogue. I moved to London and started working for an art advisor while taking a Masters in Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths. These experiences gave me a more global perspective on the art world, how market and ideas could somehow relate. I worked for a commercial gallery in Mayfair for a while and a small non-profit space in Angel. I used to carry a notebook with names of artists I was interested in as well as ideas for exhibitions I thought were relevant to our times. After a while, I found a space on Herald Street very close to my apartment and decided to open The RYDER – which borrows its name from the apartment block that I still live in.

How would you describe the program and vision of your gallery? What sets The RYDER Projects apart?
With good exposure, due to its location (Herald Street), the space focuses on the presentation of artists not represented in UK, whose practices encourage the visitor to reconsider our values and preconceived ideas about the world surrounding us. Not restricting by medium, nationality, or concepts addressed, my aim is to give exposure to artists whose practices refer to the here and the now, artworks that could only have been produced in our current time and which speak about the world that surrounds us and the issues we currently face. There is, however, a focus on performance art and process-based works. I’m interested in participation rather than representation. Being relatively small at 50sqm, the tall space has a large roller shutter that makes up one wall, which we often use as the curtain when a performance is presented to the audience in the street.

Our exhibition program consists of curated dialogues and solo presentations, and it is often complemented by public talks and events to encourage dialogue and critical reflection. In the same way, we consider our participation in international art fairs crucial, most recently ARCO Madrid.

You represent a diverse group of artists. Are they somehow related in their artistic practices?
We represent the work of Andrea Galvani, Rosana Antolí, William Mackrell and Jaime Pitarch. They all share an interdisciplinary practice, working with one medium or another to create the ideal ’container’ for the content addressed. We live in a world with a multiplicity of formats and channels of communication, working with artists restricted to a single medium would be an anachronism. They also share an interest in actions that are sometimes defined as performance, meaning live actions, and other times as process-based works.

Where and how do you find new artists to exhibit, and what do you look for when considering a new artist for your gallery?
I constantly follow certain art writers that I believe have a good eye, and I often find artists through their writings, but it is also of course about keeping your eyes open: Visiting exhibitions, whether public or private, has always proven the best way to find artists I believe in. Sometimes it is by visiting the collections of my clients that I will discover great talent. Once we have a pre-selection of artists, we look at their CV’s to make sure their work is backed by museums, art critics, and public curators. The next step is to meet the artist – it is always true that a great personality and engaging conversation translates to an interesting art practice, both conceptually and aesthetically. Finally, if I am looking to represent them, I need to find strong personalities that I observe will always fight for what they want, artists that will walk in the same direction as the gallery.