Curator Jennifer Caroline Ellis talks about her multifaceted approach to contemporary art in an interview with the Asian Curator.
I am passionate about contemporary art because I truly believe it is one of the most empathetic yet critical mediums by which you can communicate about topics.
Jennifer Caroline Ellis
Featured image – YCC: Zadie Xa, image courtesy ArtNight London
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Jenn and I’m a founder, curator, patron and speaker. The beginning takes me back to Geneva, Switzerland though, where I grew up. I was born to a Colombian mother and British father in California but left after three weeks. Went to an international school where there were 52 different nationalities. I was thrown into a medley of languages and cultures from the get go. Going forward, my outlook of life was informed by this. Surrounded by scientists, I was brought up to be passionate about what I “do” but crucially also curious about the world around me, both what I see and do not.
I didn’t fully understand or appreciate this as a teen. I was incredibly pluralistic, from ballet to mathematics higher, music theory to athletics. But I repressed that mutli-facetedness wanting a ‘singular’ future. I assigned a narrative to myself as either an international or financial lawyer, and that was that. A turning point, however, came at age 18 when I didn’t get into Oxford University to study jurisprudence. It was a shock, but I owe it a lot. As I then started to think about what I like to do as opposed to what sounds good?
What lead to your journey with art?
I’d always loved art. I gave it up in school to study economics, and that was enough compromise. So while I decided to go ahead with my law degree, I did so in London at King’s College where I had all the museums at my footstep. I signed up for History of Art evening classes at The Courtauld next door and went every week for three years. In the final year I realised that I had found something I’m truly passionate about. I’m lucky, do something about it! I applied to three universities, got into my top choice, and went to study History of Art at the University of Cambridge the next year entering straight into year 2 of the tripos.
And that was the start of being in art and me being utterly true to myself about what I do and why.
Jennifer Caroline Ellis, portrait courtesy Luar Klinghofer Bar Dov.
How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work?
I try to define myself by who I am rather than what I do. As such, I’d say I’m an extremely curious person who is deeply loyal to family, friends, peers, has a true passion for innovation, solution-finding, impact and doing so with a spirit of collaboration and joy.
More specifically, I am passionate about art because I truly believe it is one of the most empathetic yet critical mediums by which you can communicate about topics.
This spirit and outlook has led me to being, professionally, a gallerist for 7 years from Hong Kong to London and now a founder, independent curator, patron, speaker, podcast co-host, committee member, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, etc. A full embracing of that pluralism!
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating something completely new with each project?
This is a great question. I identified several years ago that I was suffering from acute self-generated anxiety. There were multiple factors: insane travel, internalisation, a rhythm of life that didn’t let me or ideas really breathe.
When I have an idea, I feel it in my gut and body that I need to see it through. I am a big fan of letting things hover, though – so you may make massive strides one day, and another a bit less. But that’s ok – it’s growing in other ways.
I’d also say that with this increased awareness of myself, I follow the waves: one day I will be on a high, another I may wake up early thinking “I need to do this, this, this” and I will help myself in either situation. Do yoga. Drink coffee without caffeine. Go for a walk. Rely on a friend. Practice patience – which isn’t always easy!
One more thing I would add, which is so important, is to ask yourself: who are you doing this for? When you put an idea out there, it’s releasing a little part of your soul, which is terrifying! I aim for it to not be performative. It’s for me, the artists, the collaborators, the project in itself.
Dreams Illusions Phantom Flowers, Elephant West, Presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, 2019, image courtesy Edouard Malingue Gallery.
How do you balance the contradicting elements of your work?
I believe the balances shift over time depending on the stage you’re at in life. I’ve come to learn about boundaries, the importance of these from a self, health and professional perspective.
I am fortunate that many of my friends are in the art world, and art – what I do – is something I breathe. But as mentioned above, it’s not “all” of me. So there are big pockets of my life that have nothing to do with my professional endeavours.
Commercial vs creative
The commercial vs creative conundrum is a really interesting one: being passionate about alternative approaches to exhibition-making and funding, I think you can find alternative models. I set up a non-profit for the Young Collectors Collective in 2016. We collectively raised funds for projects. The tenet followed by us is that no amount is too small and everyone is treated equally. When leading a series of projects for Edouard Malingue Gallery, we looked at the cost of print ads and art fair participation. And thought, how can we allocate those funds in a more impactful and meaningful way? Currently we are exploring artwork sales but also a by-subscription model and in several months time a shop with AORA. A virtual platform and space I co-launched in June 2020. Through the meeting of art, architecture and music it aims to instil a sense of calm and wellbeing.
Rather than thinking about contradictions and binaries, I think it’s about being creative, getting inspiration from different industries and seeing how these can apply on a case by case scenario.
YCC: Zadie Xa, image courtesy ArtNight London.
AORA:I The Place, image courtesy AORA.
Tell us about your curatorial philosophy. How does it all come together?
Creating connections between artist, space and context, is where my curatorial philosophy is deeply vested. What is the relationship between this artist, artwork, the location? What narratives are being fleshed out? I’m also a big believer in beauty with meaning: finding ties between conceptual enquiry and aesthetic appeal.
For example, I did a project in Bergamo, Italy in a palazzo with Chinese artist Yuan Yuan. It was curated by Dr. Valentina Locatelli, a Switzerland-based curator who was originally from Bergamo. She was interested in another artist but when I saw photos of a location she’d recently visited in her hometown I said: that’s a Yuan Yuan painting! Fast forward a year later, Yuan created 22 new paintings responding to the site, making a connection that relates to beauty and artistry. We organised a dinner and series of events around the opening of the exhibition so there wasn’t a UFO effect but rather an honouring of context and introduction, too.
Alternative Realities, Yuan Yuan Solo Exhibition, presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, 2018, image courtesy Edouard Malingue gallery.
Tromarama
Another example is a recent project I curated in London with Indonesian collective Tromarama. It was set in the temporary project space I identified for Edouard Malingue Gallery in a grade 1-listed building in Islington. Presented was this six meter-high cascading digital waterfall called ‘Madakaripura’, which has been a pilgrimage site for centuries in East Java. Set in this deconsecrated church, removed from London’s main drag, it offered itself as a place of discovery, while the series of events teased out the topics of connection, community and technology.
Madakaripura, Tromarama, presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, 2020, image courtesy Edouard Malingue Gallery.
Lets talk about your frameworks, references and process. What inspires you?
Those moments and places where your chest expands, inspire me. I’m thinking of Naoshima, Dia:Beacon, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where there is such a perfect meeting of art, nature, place, context, feeling. It’s multi-sensory. That feeling is what Benni Allan, my co-founder and I have tried to achieve with AORA. Build in the digital world with soul.
Other things that inspire me: kindness, long-term development and commitment, collaborative transparency, operating from a place of proactivity rather than reactivity.
How does your interaction with an artist evolve from the (brief) initial interface, to the working-involvement-relationship?
There is no one path. I met many artists through my years at Edouard Malingue Gallery. But similarly met many outside of that context. It may not be immediately obvious what you’ll do together but over time something might ‘click’. For example, Rafal Topolewski – I came across his work at the Royal Academy graduation exhibition four years ago. I kept following him on Instagram, and now he has two works included in AORA’s inaugural exhibition! Or, Gabriela Giroletti, I discovered her work at South London Gallery where she exhibited as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries. Arranged a studio visit, and fast forward several months later have collected her work and also included it in AORA.
Gabriela Giroletti, AORA:I, The Hall, Image courtesy of AORA.
Which shows, performances and experiences have shaped your own creative process? Who are your maestros?
I really keep returning to Naoshima. The architecture of Tadao Ando. Putting on those little slippers to lightly tread on the porcelain floor in the Monet room, blew me away. Walking into the astounding room by Walter de Maria. Getting lost in James Turrell. Other moments include tracking a Rachel Whiteread sculpture in the middle of the Joshua Tree desert, travelling by train to go to the Louisiana Museum and finding serenity in the Giacometti room overlooking a pond, taking myself on a mini pilgrimage to Serralves in Porto.
But I would also say, a lot of inspiration comes from outside the ‘art world’! Actually, fellow curator and friend Cliff Lauson and I launched a podcast called ‘Between Two Curators’ that you can find on Spotify, iTunes etc that addresses just this: what makes people from physics to architecture tick because it’s precisely what they do that inspires us, too! So if you’ve not already had a listen, highly recommend it.
Between two curators. Jennifer Caroline Ellis
Tell us about your own personal evolution, vis a vis the work that you do. What have you observed re the changing cultural landscape over time?
Over time I’ve definitely gained confidence in my voice and what I stand for: creating international dialogue about topics, a strong sense of lateral thinking, being knowledgeable but also accessible, using digital modes of communication from VR to video.
An increased collaborative spirit, is the one big thing that I’ve observed and love. When I moved to Hong Kong many of my close friends were and still are other gallerists and I love that. Starting out in the art world in London, it wasn’t something I had! But three years ago, on returning to London, I found the scene changed. There was more openness. I’m not naive and know this is not commonplace across all of the art world. I have definitely seen an evolution and it’s all for the better.
Moving forward and speaking of ‘trends’, I think we’ll see: a major emphasis on trust – certain people you confide in for collaborations to purchasing art. I foresee an increase in the use of digital technology, a fall in the desirability of art fairs and an increase in supporting local
How does the market/audience interact and react to your work?
AORA just got featured in the Modern House cultural diary for July, which is very exciting!
One of my favourite reviews was in Art Review of the first show I curated for the project space I set up for Edouard Malingue Gallery in London:
When you get tired of the air kissing and people-watching during Frieze week, you could do a lot worse than visit this installation by Beijing-based conceptual artist Wang Wei. The work, a glowing white box, is housed in a former church and later artist studio space in Islington, … At St Saviour’s his box sits in front of the altar and houses a person, visible only by their occasional silhouette, who appears to interact with the audience around them (the box is constructed such that the performer can see what is outside, even as they themselves are little more than an impression to those looking in). Who’s interacting with whom, and whether or not anyone is really interacting with anyone, become the questions of the day. Like in the art fair, but better.
Listen, Wang Wei, presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, 2019, image courtesy of Edouard Malingue Gallery.
Future projects: What are you working on now? What should we look forward to?
Really excited to see AORA continue to grow and really encourage people to visit and sign up for EXCHANGE – a series of intimate digital gatherings from talks to movement classes to food events that connect members from our community worldwide. You can head over to AORA.
Otherwise, we’re wrapping up Season 1 of Between Two Curators and have a great number of guests lined up for Season 2 – so be sure to subscribe and check out!
I will also be continuing with my Art Bites. Bite-sized insights into the contemporary art world, from studio visits to institution surveys. These are available on my IGTV but are also on YouTube. So if curious, head on over!
On top of all this, I look forward to working with certain clients independently from art to fashion to finance. And co-leading a yoga retreat in early 2021 to South Africa with Jordan Ashley, founder of Souljourn Yoga, supporting Lalela that empowers at-risk youths through art and creativity. Furthermore, I am looking forward to lending my support to ArtAngel as well as Chisenhale Gallery, which I sit on the committees of.
What were you working on when the lockdown was announced?
I was thinking about AORA, which we’ve now launched! I was also thinking about how to communicate about art and artworks in short, succinct ways, which is what led to Art Bites. The podcast Between Two Curators came out of that. We seized this moment to share creative inspiration with around the world.
How has this affected your practice and plans?
I’m really thinking about how you can build in the digital world with soul. This is what we’re doing with AORA, this is how consumer practices will change. From going to restaurants or being more selective in our purchases. Thrilled to share that we’ve already sold several works through AORA. Looking forward to see how this translates over into the store once that is launched!
What would elevate artists’ life during this period?
I really think initiatives like AORA help. The artist can create and we can share their practice in a meaningful way with people around the world. On top of that, we can sell their work and build a series of events around it.
What kind of critical inputs does the art world need? What can help overcome the loss of income and opportunity as a direct result of the lock-downs worldwide?
People are losing lives, money, opportunities all over the world in just about every single sector. Regardless of your position I would take a minute, firstly, to just be so incredibly grateful for what we have. Then, practically speaking, I would see how one can keep your expenses low, buckle down. Then focus, lean in to your sense of empathy and reach out to others for help, and very importantly, practice patience.
This is a big hit. We need to be agile, but also mentally healthy. It’s OK to not be productive. So take a break and then come back to the above. You’ll be fresher and thinking/doing better for it.
For enquiries contact Jennifer Caroline Ellis: jennifer [at] apsarastudio [dot] co [dot] uk
Art Bites on YouTube & Instagram
Before you go – you might like to browse the Asian Curator curatorial archives . Contemporary art curators and international gallerists define their curatorial policies and share stories and insights about the inner runnings of the contemporary art world.