The Patricia Fleming Gallery was established in 2017. It operates an annual programme in two locations – Oxford House (4 Oxford Lane) and 44 Carlton Place. The gallery has evolved from the curatorial practice of Patricia Fleming, with a focus on the art that speaks of our time. The gallery champions predominantly women artists, addressing under-represented voices in both public and private collections. Our mission is to maintain an open space for diversity and criticality, supporting artists to take risks and to grow their practice in spite of any barriers they might face. We do this by curating a dynamic range of annual exhibitions, events, and commissions locally and across the world, including regular attendance at international art fairs.

How do you decide which artists to represent or exhibit?

I look for art that is truly pushing the boundaries of what art does, challenging what it can be and as a result what it communicates. Artists working with that level of commitment and skill excite me. I like being in the world with people who are asking questions. I learn about the world and how to be in it through the evolving and shifting thinking that art provides.

The Patricia Fleming Gallery in Oxford House in Glasgow (Image: Stallan Brand)

Have you noticed any shifts in what collectors or visitors are responding to in the past few years?

In my opinion collectors are fairly consistent: they are looking for quality and things that speak to them. Those types of people tend to be in a position where they can own art, collect art and take risks. They like to follow artists’ careers. Collecting art in Europe, for example, is much more common, and seen as a way to support artists and from a viewpoint that investing in culture benefits everyone.

How important is it for you to balance commercial success with artistic experimentation?

We are a curatorial gallery – our programme remains our primary driver. Building commercially is obviously important to us because it means we can do more exhibitions and work with more artists. Contemporary Art is by nature experimental: balancing these things while remaining in business takes patience.

What’s changed most about running a gallery in Scotland over the past few years, both economically and culturally?

I don’t think things have changed. In Scotland, owing art is often seen as being something only super-wealthy people do, and there is a disconnect between seeing and enjoying art and then buying it. I think people are nervous about asking for prices if they are not displayed in the gallery. We always have price lists on hand, but it’s rare to be asked for it at a preview here. Artists and galleries only survive through sales.

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How do digital platforms and online sales fit into your gallery’s strategy now?

We have partnered with platforms like Artsy in the past, but our clients still prefer experiencing art in real life before deciding to buy. They may reserve something from a digital catalogue but don’t buy until they see it. This can be in an arranged meeting in our viewing room in Glasgow, or when presenting a booth at an international art fair.

How do you nurture relationships with emerging artists while keeping established names in the mix?

In my experience our artists enjoy the mix of generations and the sense of community spirit and peer-to-peer support this brings. They attend each others’ exhibition launches and talks, swap tips on materials, and catch up about other shows they have seen. It adds a dynamic to the gallery that maintains its critical edge, creating an interesting dialogue between the work and the generations. An established name can be well-known to curators and museums but still under-represented in the art market. It’s also not uncommon for an artist with less exhibition experience to be highly sought after by private collectors in the art market.

Are there particular themes or mediums that feel especially relevant to audiences right now?

Painting is certainly still the medium people think of when you mention art. With painting there are materials people understand and images or abstraction that can disrupt or sooth. Most people, I would say, can be transported by a painting. Perhaps this is a refection of why painting is still so popular – it’s this desire to be lifted out of the everyday. I see the enduring appeal of painting through artists who are also pushing what it does rather than what it says – artists like Jo McGonigal’s ‘spatial paintings’, or Miranda Boulton’s re-working the floral genre through a feminist lens.

In what ways do you collaborate with museums, festivals or other galleries to build visibility for artists?

I founded the gallery as a way to address the lack of art by women artists (of my generation) in our national art collections across the UK. It was incredible to me to see the names missing from collections and institutional exhibitions. I then looked deeper at art history and it was just so unbelievable. I realised perhaps a woman gallerist would be more likely to champion woman artists and to provide the securities museums and collectors require to acquire and place work. Building visibility from there is an ongoing uphill challenge. Working mainly with other women curators within these institutions, we have now placed many of our artists in multiple national collections: Jacqueline Donachie, Tessa Lynch, Ilana Halperin, Kate V Robertson and, proudly in the Scottish Parliament Art Collection, three works by Sekai Machache. We have also taken many of our artists to international art fairs, taking risks on solo booths and the exorbitant costs of gaining access and maintaining visibility in the global art market. We have been a supporter of Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art since its biannual format in 2008. We had two exhibition in the current festival, which ran until June 21.

What defines a sustainable gallery model in today’s art landscape and what connections do you have with Scotland’s art colleges?

I am still figuring sustainability out … my experience to date says a sustainable gallery is one which builds slowly and learns from the highs and lows of leaning into the actual market. You can’t learn that and then start a gallery, or rather you probably wouldn’t start a gallery if you knew too much in advance. We have a strong relationship with The Glasgow School of Art, both in the discovery of new artists and in providing work experience for students looking to develop their curatorial practice and gain insight into the commercial art market.