Alpha’a Talks: Isabela Galvao from London Art Walk
Alpha’a is excited to announce our partnership with Isabela Galvão, a London-based Brazilian curator who turned her love of visiting galleries into a thriving art walk business. Pre-pandemic, Galvão was well known for her art walks throughout London where locals would return again and again to be guided through the city’s most buzzing exhibitions.
After the new COVID restrictions forced her guided tours on pause, Galvão began channeling her same enthusiasm into a blossoming career representing up and coming artists and hosting private art viewings at her centrally located London apartment. Like our team at Alpha’a, Galvão is passionate about making art accessible and engaging with the community, making her the perfect partner.
Galvão got her start hosting art walks in London five years ago. After taking her friends with her to gallery visits, she began advertising her tours online and attracting Londoners and tourists alike. Galvão would combine her enthusiastic and inviting charisma with detailed educational elements like sending out a pamphlet with information about the art shows a few days prior to the tour to choosing a few artworks per exhibition to present.
Since COVID-19 hit, galleries have greatly reduced their maximum occupancy so bringing along large groups of twelve-plus visitors isn’t realistic anymore. “My clients who are visiting exhibitions since the pandemic have reached out to tell me that they miss my tours. When they go see art without me something is missing and they don’t get the same experience,” says Galvão.
Galvão still frequently posts art recommendations to her 36,000 followers on Instagram, but her focus remains on in person experiences where people can discuss art and view its tactile qualities.
While many tour businesses simply shuttered their doors or discontinued their businesses until the pandemic is behind them, Galvao used this opportunity to reevaluate her approach and come up with new ways to channel her passion for bringing art that she vouches to the public.
The result: private artist exhibitions in Galvãos centrally located London apartment in Mayfair. This way, Galvão can foster real life conversations about art while ensuring guests feel safe by enforcing COVID protocols and maintaining a limit of visitors at once.
Galvão hosted similar viewings in her home in Brazil before moving to London. These events are more intimate than a gallery tour and visitors are invited to linger after viewing the work to socialize, a nice change of pace from the average 30 minute gallery visit.
Her in person events bridge the gap between artists and the art market. By spreading the word of artists she personally believes in, Galvão is not only connecting buyers, curators, and art enthusiasts to a new artist, but she is also giving that artist access to potential sales and a new following.
As Galvão gets ready to prepare her first home exhibition in London in collaboration with Alpha’a, she talks to us about what she looks for when choosing an artist to support and how our collaboration is reshaping the way she shares art with the public.
The state of the art market:
The partnership between Galvão and Alpha’a came about through a shared ethos of making art accessible and marketable to the general public. “I think art should be accessible, I don't care if it's a print, if it's an edition. Budget is something that cannot be ignored,” says Galvão.
The gap between emerging and established artists has increased since the pandemic according to Galvão. “What I have found is that generally since the pandemic, the very established artists are selling work at a very high price. The established artists have gotten the chance to become even more established but where is the middle? ” asks Galvão. For her, and the artists she represents, having a platform like Alpha'a, where artists can showcase their art to a broader, international public is a game changer.
“I think it's a great collaboration. I do this by myself. I'm a mother of three young ones. I can only work at a certain pace when I do it alone. So to have an institution like Alpha’a go and help with all the work and the outreach is awesome.”
“I think we do join forces, you know, because I've been here for 6 years and have a local clientele, not only people who buy the work but also curators and people who want to hear and see what I'm talking about and what I am showing. Working with Alpha'a can bring more exposure,” says Galvão. “I'm already thinking about two other artists who would be a very good match for Alpha’a. I hope this is a collaboration that is only starting,” she adds.
How she started expanding beyond art walks:
“Hosting private exhibitions and representing artists started naturally. During walks, my clients would sometimes ask, what can I buy? What do you suggest? Because I also collect, I started thinking to myself ‘yeah I think I can do this,” says Galvão.
Galvão started out by reaching out to her friend Hormazd Narielwalla, a collage artist from India who has been based out of London for the last 20 years. She started taking his work with her back to Brazil and presenting it to collectors and curators there. He became the first artist she represented and in the four years since they began working together, she has sold 200 of his works.
Connecting Brazilian and London art scenes:
After her success bringing a London-based artist to Brazil, Galvão turned her focus to bringing Brazilian artists to London. “I think overall, I think there are great Brazilian artists, many established ones, that are presented in London. But there is not a lot of space for up and coming young artists from Brazil here,” she observes.
“It is very exciting for me to actually provide a space for artists that are not so established yet,” Galvão says, emphasizing the importance of personally believing in the artists she promotes. It is her genuine conviction that the artists she backs will achieve success that makes Galvão’s voice in the art scene so compelling.
Her clients follow her lead and stay in touch because they not only want to hear about the biggest shows happening, but also about the lesser known artists that Galvão predicts will become successful. Along with providing London locals with a curated list of the best shows to visit, Galvão also uses social media to bring these shows to her following based out of Brazil.
“For my instagram account, I think half of my followers more or less are in Brazil. The other day I was looking at the statistics and some of them are in the Northern area of Brazil and it's just great to think of myself as a vehicle for someone who is in the North of Brazil to see exhibitions that are happening right now in London.”
Her upcoming collaboration with Alpha’a marks the first time Galvão will present a Brazilian artist in London. “It just felt right, you know, to circle back: I am a Brazilian in London taking work from London to Brazil. So now I want to bring a Brazilian artist to London so that's what I'm doing with Alessendra Rehder,” says Galvão.
For the approaching viewing, Galvão went with Brazilian nature photographer Alessandra Rehder, who she first discovered at an art fair in São Paulo, Brazil. For Galvão, Rehder’s work ticks all the boxes of what she looks for in an emerging artist: a unique and identifiable style and point of view and a body of work that partakes in a current cultural conversation.
To capture her images, Rehder travels around the world turning her lens to different cultures and landscapes. Her work promotes the belief that art can be a powerful tool to raise awareness for environmental activism.
“She won't photograph the dying trees, instead she photographs the opulence of nature. I think opulence is an important word in her work because she always doubles the number of leaves that the trees have,” explains Galvão. “She shows the beauty of nature by adding more color, more leaves, more abundance. Her work engages the view with nature, how beautiful it is, how important it is, how vital it is, and how we need to take care of it. She is doing it in a very positive way. She is creating awareness by showing nature at its best.”
Galvão will showcase a series of Rehder’s works that focus on the solitude of nature for this show. Close up images of the leaves on trees offer a meditative respite from day to day urban life. Rehder’s collection speaks to the collective desire to escape and unwind in nature following the pandemic. She cuts and assembles her prints resulting in three dimensional reliefs reminiscent of looking out a window. Along with original 3D prints, Alpha’a will also have limited edition prints of Rehder’s works available to purchase through the Alpha’a platform.
The event is on Monday, October 11th from 5-9pm and kicks off Frieze Art Fair. The opening party will be followed by private viewings throughout the week. We look forward to seeing you there! Please RSVP if you can make it.
