Art’s New School Gallery Owners: Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt, Unit London

The stats on these two read the typical way, they way we’ve come to expect from young prodigies making a name for themselves in any industry: Joe Kennedy and Jonny Burt. Both 24-years-old. Artists trying to get noticed in a noisy, crowded market. But it’s what they’ve done that has set them apart from old-school art institutions. With a passion for supporting other artists like themselves, the two opened their first gallery, Unit London, above a butcher shop in London’s westend. A couple of years later they took their space Soho’s Wardour Street and have created a residency below where artists whose works also dot V&A exhibits also can come and tinker in their lacquered-floor basement. An exhibit with resident artist Henrik Uldalen (a former teacher turned social-media art celebrity via his @Paintguide Instagram account) culled 60 global artists for Paintguide, an exhibition combining paint-and-canvas work with ingenious social-media marketing: directly promoting each artist’s Instagram account and the details on each piece via QR code. Follower outreach hit the high 3-million combined (aka, social media marketing gold). While Kennedy and Burt have gotten a lot of flack for being a) young and b) “inexperienced” to the world of classic art, what they do seem to have is a knack for relationship-building and the indefinable X-factor that any art gallery needs to succeed. Word on the street is that the duo is garnering lots of attention from leaders in the digital space and social media (meaning the higher ups at Instagram are wanting to meet). Thick as thieves, these co-founders are the young leaders shaping the art community in London at the moment. We interview them on what it’s like to grow up (quite literally) in front of art’s public eye, what trends they’re seeing among artists like themselves and their clients and what’s next for a brand that seems to be moving as fast as the internet can take them.

Something Curated: What was your first job (before you started in the art scene)?
Joe Kennedy: “I started off as an intern in an advertising agency in London; I was filing, sitting in on meetings and chipping in where I could. I was then offered a junior role in branding and strategy for an agency based in Australia.”

Jonny Burt: “I was actually acting whilst I was still at school and having studied menswear design, I began to freelance for several fashion magazines and started blogging about artists that inspired me, some of whom we now work with at the gallery today.”

SC: Finish this sentence: “Always …” and “Never …”
JK: “Always have an open mind” and “Never expect opportunities to fall into your lap.”

SC: How did you get into this industry?
JK and JB: “We have always been passionate about art and are both practicing artists. We were frustrated with the lack of inaccessibility within the art world and wanted to offer an alternative option. Why does a gallery have to be intimidating? Why is there not the same theatre around visual artists as there are around artists in music or entertainment? We weren’t interested in selling art, or even making money – we wanted to establish a brand that could inspire people at every single level to get involved in art through promoting talented artists, regardless of their reputation, current status or background. It’s amazing to see how well our message has resonated with people, and how far the gallery has come in such a short space of time.”

SC: Favourite medium and materials to work with?
JK and JB: “We both use charcoal, graphite, acrylic, pastels and oils.”

SC: Favourite artists at the moment?
JK and JB: “We’re very privileged to be working directly with some of our favourite artists – Ryan Hewett, Jake Wood-Evans, Joel Rea, Peter Gronquist. We are really proud to represent some of the most exciting and talented individuals across the world.”

SC: What are your rules of engagement for: *Meetings and *Travel
JK and JB: “Meetings have to be productive to be worthwhile. We are planning on opening up our second gallery overseas very soon, and have lots of international artists and clients, so travel is important!

SC: Where do you live and work? Why that location?
JK and JB: “We both live in London, and work in Soho. It’s traditionally the creative hub of the city, and there’s an amazing sense of history here. Plus it’s so accessible, so it’s really the best spot for us to showcase our artists to the widest possible audience.”

SC: What does creativity mean to you? How do you define it?
JK and JB: “Creativity is about being productive in a novel way. As a business we need to understand and identify true creativity and market it effectively. Sadly we have less time to paint at the moment, so we exercise our creative muscles in other ways; in our curation, exhibition, and brand innovation.”

SC: What inspires you to be creative?
JK and JB: “Our ambition inspires us to be creative. Knowing that we are able to bring an idea to life makes it much easier to dream.”

SC: Tell us about Unit London in your own words and what it’s about?
JK and JB: “Unit London is not just a gallery, it’s a brand that exists to showcase and celebrate talented artists from all over the world. We see ourselves as different to many galleries in our interactive approach to finding new business, new artists, and new enthusiasts. The “U” in our brand name demonstrates our ambition to connect with ‘U’ – whether ‘U’ are an artist, a collector or an enthusiast.”

SC: Who is your favourite artist at the moment and why?
JK and JB: We love Zhuang Hong Yi his manipulated rice paper petal pieces are just incredible!

SC: Favourite restaurant, hotel, place to relax, shop, holiday.
JK and JB: “Hi Sushi in Covent Garden, Rosewood Hotel, at home (!), Carnaby Street, anywhere where the sun shines.”

SC: What does London offer you as curators and art gallery owners as opposed to other cities? Any plans to create offices elsewhere, UK or otherwise?
JK and JB: “We do have plans to expand; our client base is very international and we are holding our first overseas exhibition in Los Angeles next year. London is our home, we understand the market and it’s above all an incredible city. There’s a strong creative curriculum here in the UK, which makes it a fertile ground for new talent.”

SC: Why Wardour Street? What makes the neighbourhood a perfect one for your gallery? Where was your previous gallery? Tell us what it was like to open that space compared to this one.
JK: “Wardour Street is an iconic street and has a huge footfall. We started in a small pop-up shop, which was about 60 square foot and adjoined to a butcher in West London – we were finding our feet and building the brand.”

JB: “Our 4,000 sq ft space on Wardour Street is perfect! We have renovated the property from top to toe, and the gallery brand is reflected in both the location and the design of the space.”

SC: What’s your work uniform? What do you like wearing when you’re not at work?
JK and JB: “We wear relaxed clothing – we usually don’t dress in suits and ties unless it’s a special occasion like an opening.”

SC: What’s next for Unit London? Tell us (briefly) about some of the projects you’re working on soon.
JK and JB: “We have our first solo show with incredibly exciting British painter Jake Wood-Evans in March 2016, we are heading out to LA for a show with Ryan Hewett, and we have some amazing group exhibitions lined up at the gallery. There are also some exciting brand collaborations launching very soon, which we can’t say too much about right now but which will be big news.”

SC: Tell us about some of your favourite clothing brands and treasured fashion items.
JK and JB: “We like simple high quality brands. We have Unit London branded bomber jackets, which are high on our treasured items list.”

SC: What gets you energized and keeps you recharged?
JK and JB: We love creative brainstorms. Anything that gets us thinking of new ideas.”

SC: Guilty pleasure?
JK and JB: That would definitely have to be Chipotle – for sure!”

SC: Favorite local restaurants?
JK and JB: “Groucho Club is good, one of our top places.”

SC: Favourite vacation spot?
JK and JB: “Cork, Ireland – hands down.”

SC: One golden piece of advice?
JK and JB: “You’re going to spend the majority of your life at work, so do something that you love.”

SC: Greatest lesson learned?
JK and JB: “There is no substitute for hard work.”

SC: Favorite movie?
JK and JB: “Alien Vs. Predator”

SC: Favorite app?
JK and JB: “That would definitely have to be Instagram. We held the Paintguide event that featured global artists and their handles.”

SC: Top blog or shopping site?
JK and JB: Empty Kingdom