This year marks the 36th anniversary of the opening of the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery. Over the course of three decades the gallery has built an international reputation for innovation, individuality, energy and excellence.
'Boldness is sometimes rewarded…Rebecca Hossack is amongst the few galleries [from the late Eighties] which have not only survived but thrived, and they have done so because they do not depend on the ephemeral thrills of trendy art.'
– The Economist
Rebecca Hossack has been a great champion of Non-Western artistic traditions. Hers was the first art gallery in Europe to exhibit Australian aboriginal painting, and it continues to promote such work through its regular Songlines seasons. Rebecca Hossack has also curated important exhibitions of work from the Bushmen of the Kalahari, from Papua New Guinea, and from tribal India. Much of this art would simply not have been seen in the UK but for the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.
‘Two people are largely responsible for bringing awareness of Aboriginal culture to this country: the late swashbuckling bisexual writer Bruce Chatwin, in his magical book Songlines, and the Australian art dealer Rebecca Hossack.’
– Independent
Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery also exhibits across the broad spectrum of Western Contemporary Art, while determinedly moving against some of the dominant currents of the modern art scene. Through the work of painters such as Carla Kranendonk, David Whitaker, Mersuka Dopazo, Emma Haworth, Barbara Macfarlane, the sculptor Ross Bonfanti, the ceramicist Avital Sheffer, printmakers Phil Shaw and Rose Blake, the gallery celebrates and promotes inclusiveness, individuality, spirit, innovation, technical accomplishment and beauty.
'Rebecca Hossack's success is earned the hard way, because she has chosen, typically, to proceed via the most difficult route, taking on previously little known artists rather than established names.'
– GH Magazine
The Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery assists public and private collectors internationally to acquire contemporary and Australian Aboriginal fine art of outstanding provenance. Through its commitment to the individual artistic vision the Gallery has attracted a dedicated following of clients and collectors, including Sir Paul Smith, Bruce Chatwin, P.J. Harvey, John Hegley, Peter Gabriel, Dave Gilmour, Griff Rhys Jones, Emma Hope, and Anita Roddick.
The Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery regularly collaborates with - and sells to - public galleries and institutions. It has worked on exhibitions and had works acquired by the British Museum, Barbican Centre, National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Bristol City Art Gallery, Harrogate Art Gallery, Horniman Museum, London, Leicester City Art Galleries, and the De Young Museum, San Francisco.
As well as monthly exhibitions in its three locations, the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery exhibits at 28 international art fairs a year. To further the relationship between Eastern and Western cultures, the gallery regularly hosts poetry-readings and academic-led talks. The gallery has a very active extra mural presence throughout London - including exhibitions at Third Space gyms in Soho, Islington, Tower Bridge, Moorgate and Mayfair.
Photo credit: Julian Knox, Little Greene, Yiming Zhu