Domino Gallery

Visit 3rd October

I found this visit really pleasant. As a group we were informed of the history of the gallery by the owner, Felicity Wren, who was really nice and down to earth (I've never met a curator before so I didn't know what to expect!). It was interesting to hear the story of how she came to be the curator she is now. We were told a story I found incredibly sad and relevant to myself as she explained how she had always wanted to be an artist, but been advised to follow a different career path for financial security, and in the daily grind of life lost her enthusiasm and drive to create art. The way she told it was very touching and a bit heartbreaking. 

It was really useful to hear an account from someone who has set up a gallery herself and curated it all herself. It's interesting to know what kind of work and preparation goes into it. I was a bit surprised that she'd chosen to keep the gallery to the format of a kind of mock white cube, but with a wooden floor. I think perhaps for a smaller gallery it might be interesting to do something a bit different to the common white-washed walls. Maybe she could have painted the walls a different colour, had the work arranged in an installation or just put the frames at different levels instead of all equally spaced at the same height. However, I don't really know as much as she obviously knows about the "business"!

The gallery itself was quite small and dainty, apparently at one point having a personality crisis as to whether it was a cafe or gallery. The work exhibited in there was by an artist called, Diane Welford, and her work were some small charcoal and ink drawings/ sketches. Priced at £1200 I felt they were overpriced and so did the owner, who was baffled at the artists' choice. The only reason I could guess as justification for the price was that the work was special to the artist who didn't want to part with them, but had an opportunity to exhibit. The space is a commercial space primarily and so perhaps she wanted to exhibit without actually selling anything, but keep the owner happy? It's a loose thread to follow I suppose...

The opportunity of curating and exhibiting arose which seems like a really promising path to be available! It was a really nice visit and felt like a nice environment!