The indefatigable art lover Lizzie Glendinning is Co-Founder and Creative Director of Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, the leading international art fair for original contemporary print that brilliantly disrupts the elitist nature of art fairs, providing significant opportunities for artists worldwide. Lizzie has nigh-on two decades experience in curating, collecting, and directing across various commercial art galleries, private dealers, and public museums. She made the leap from running her own gallery, Brocket London, to running her own art fair in 2016, when she founded Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair together with her husband and business partner, Jack Bullen. Brocket now operates as a private Art Advisory and Curatorial practice, while hosting The Brocket Residency from their stunning North Pennine outpost. Brocket is in the process of taking the step to change its name over to 'Lizzie Glendinning Contemporary Art' to reflect their current working model, while building up to another large-scale arts project to be announced soon. Here, exclusively for House Collective Journal she shares her expertise, and picks some of her favourite artists exhibiting this year.
Anaïs Charras - Descendances
This work is exquisitely executed, Goya-esque, and surreal – representing everything I love about the possibilities of drypoint. The acute intricacy of process and thoughtfulness of the narrative – which, completely randomly, alludes a recurring dream I had growing up – is all very impressive.
Sergio Suarez
I've been championing Sergio's work since 2020 and have a large piece hanging above my bed. This piece is absolutely magnificent, and it stretches 9metres. This will be the first time he is exhibiting in the UK, and he has been making quite the mark at some recent international art fairs across New York, Miami and Toronto. He really pushes the boundaries of print and will be joining me as an artist in residence in 2025, integrating aspects of his wider painting and sculptural practice.
Natasha Michaels - Disguise (Leda and the Swan)
Natasha recently joined me on The Brocket Residency where we curated the narrative for our Brocket booth this year. It will be based on Ovid's Metamorphosis and reinterprets the classical text through the eyes of artist mothers, in this case my 2024 booth artists, Natasha and Cat Roissetter who joined us on the residency in spring with her six-month-old daughter. Natasha's monotypes explore and subvert the 'celebratory' depictions of Ovid's narrative of Zeus taking different forms, ultimately to rape women, while exploring interpretations of the stories through feminist writings who suggest that Ovid was in fact sypathetic to the victims compared to traditional male reflections on the text.
Wilhelmina Peace - We All Fall Down
I love the illustrative nature and dark undertones of Wilhelmina's work - I believe all six entries made it through the panel selection process to be exhibited in the Fair. Like the Charras pieces, there is a reference to the unconscious and the inspiring role it plays through her work.
Mei Tseng
This was the first piece I reviewed and applied a full score during the selection process. While the depiction and scale are incredibly powerful, it is the use of materials and mark making linking back to ancient Chinese meditations and philosophy that captures me completely and underpins my interest, and professional background, in Chinese art history.
The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair exhibits November 21-24th
Find out more and book tickets here
