Rebecca Fairman 1960-2020
Jane Boyer pays tribute to the artist Rebecca Fairman who, alongside her own practice, ran artist-led gallery Arthouse1 in Bermondsey, London.
My first contact with Rebecca was through an email. She had read some text I’d written for a curatorial project I had just completed in 2014. She emailed me expressing her appreciation for my literary genre and asked if i might have an interest in writing for Arthouse1. I can tell you i used to be thrilled by such a suggestion at that stage in my career.
I worked with Rebecca for nearly five years, and therein time, we became good friends respecting and dealing to every other’s strengths. She was a joy. there have been never any demands, but always kind requests. She offered A level of generosity reciprocally for work given to Arthouse1. An example was giving me my first solo exhibition in London — gratis. I don’t know if she ever realised that her invitation to be art writer for the gallery gave me a useful opportunity to hone my skills, which has stood me in good stead. I’m certain that I never thanked her enough for such an exquisite opportunity.
In the beginning of our work together, my days would be crammed with communications with Rebecca, to such an extent, i might miss her with an ache if things went quiet, as they naturally did sometimes . It felt like we were in near-constant contact with one another . i feel her partner, Adrian, and my husband, David, got frustrated with us. We were like best girlfriends with a secret world.
We did have a secret world; it had been Arthouse1. it had been such a privilege to share the curatorial responsibilities of programming the gallery together with her . i feel initially , she wont to feel unsure of choosing proposals, but I could always tell she knew what she wanted, and by the time my career took me faraway from Arthouse1, Rebecca not needed a ‘second opinion’. She had her own vision, and she or he was building a solid reputation for the gallery. I’ve learned from Rebecca, if you would like to start out a gallery, confirm you've got an honest designer on board!
As an artist herself coming from a family of artists, Rebecca’s first concern, always, was to assist and support the creative individuals she worked with. She wanted to offer them a chance to point out their add London; understanding how very difficult it had been for emerging artists and curators to realize entry to gallery spaces. She never played the crass artworld-thing of exclusion. If you had an honest concept and therefore the work made sense with the proposal, you bought the show. As her reputation grew, it had been clear that she held thereto principle, but it had been also evident she knew what she was watching .
Rebecca’s early working career was in advertising and style , mostly involved within the fashion retail industry. She received a BA (hons) in Ceramics from Camberwell College of Arts, followed by a postgraduate in Sculpture from City & Guild London School of Art. Rebecca made a gorgeous statement about her passion for clay:
“My work evolves around themes of life stories and private histories. I mainly work with clay because this mutable material lends itself to endless expressions of visual language, with the power to carry every small touch and intention, embedding narratives, memories, time and place.”
These words resonate with the sensitivity and empathy that was her very being. Her kindness and generosity, along side her keen sense of what was evocative and meaningful in contemporary art, shone through her work and therefore the gallery she made accessible in Arthouse1, reflecting the nice and cozy caring person Rebecca was.
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