| Zavier Ellis Two years after graduating from Manchester University with a BA (Hons) in History of Modern Art in 1996, Zavier Ellis opened his first gallery in London at the age of 24. Also an artist with a Masters in Fine Art, Ellis has work placed in several renowned international collections including Peter Nobel (Zurich) and Anne Lewis (Sydney, New York). Most recently Ellis exhibited at Paul Stolper Gallery in London with Damien Hirst, Peter Blake, Simon Periton and others; and at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg with Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti, Thomas Hirschhorn, Jannis Kounellis, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Kurt Schwitters, Antoni Tapies and others. Ellis launched CHARLIE SMITH london in 2006 as a curatorial dealership specializing in young, contemporary artists, and opened a gallery space in Old Street in October 2009. His approach is collaborative and curatorial with an emphasis on work that challenges, seduces, confronts and consoles. Beauty, death, horror, sexuality, the psychological and mythological are core interests. Throughout his career Ellis has become recognised for his ability to identify rising talent at an early stage. Artists that Ellis has exhibited having identified them directly from art college include Jennifer Allen, David Blandy, Leah Capaldi, Oliver Clegg, Tim Ellis, Tessa Farmer, Sam Jackson, Monica Ursina Jäger, Annie Kevans, Nika Neelova and Douglas White, all of whom have gone onto achieve great success with galleries and collectors and many have begun to work with international museums. Zavier has also co-curated shows at Mark Moore Gallery (Los Angeles), Changing Role Gallery (Rome and Naples), Galerie Schuster (Berlin), Kalhamma & Piippo Gallery (Helsinki), Garboushian Gallery (Los Angeles), Torrance Art Museum (Los Angeles) and Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre (Klaipėda, Lithuania). Ellis therefore has a broad and extensive experience of contemporary art as gallerist, curator, artist, collector and events organizer. |