Zeitgeist Arts Projects was founded in 2012 by artists/curators Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilley and is based in ASC Studios, London. They created support systems to enable artists to realise their creative potential, to continue to learn, exchange dialogue, develop networks and collaborate, framed around their wide-ranging activities as well as exhibitions.
During 2011-16 the duo ran an artist’s education and exhibition programme at ASC Studios in Bond House, London and exhibited 603 artists from across the country as well as New Zealand, Spain, France and Ireland.
"Putting diversity and practice at its centre, Zeitgeist Arts Projects answers a real and growing need for artists to gain valuable support and guidance, an affordable education, to be a part of an active professional, artist-led group, the opportunity to exhibit and a sense that they belong to a 'community of practice'." - Graham Crowley, artist and former Professor of Painting at the RCA.
As an annual membership body for artists, we had 415 artist memberships since 2012-15 which is approximately 100 members per year. Many of our members exhibited in the ASC project space over the years as well as being part of our annual Zeitgeist Summer Exhibition; an exhibition specially created and curated for our artist membership body. Our membership comprised great diversity - non-hierarchical and open to all - and therefore we had member’s at all stages of their careers from new graduate to established artists from across the country. For all our activities we had 1345 attending our events in 2015 alone, including visitors to the exhibitions.
Our annual events programme included talks, seminars, art tours, peer critique, tutorials and workshops that encourage artists to learn from other artists, engage, thrive and raise their profiles. Guest artists for our programme included: Graham Crowley, Justin Hibbs, Mark Titchner, Susan Collis, Phoebe Unwin, Virginia Verran, Freddie Robins, Delaine Le Bas and Transition Gallery. Zeitgeist Arts Projects was run by artists for artists. We had over 100 members annually who visited us at the space to take part in the professional practice events, one-day exhibitions, talks, social-media workshops and artist tutorials that we provide. Additionally, we were able to provide some 600 artists (members and non-members) from London, the South East, nationally and internationally with the opportunity to exhibit in London, providing them with new audiences for their work.
Davis and Tilley’s pioneering talk: The A-Z of Surviving as an Artist toured the country and is informed by Tilley and Davis' two different experiences of the art world. The talk has been hosted by galleries including the De La Warr Pavilion and FirstSite, the Whitstable Biennale and a host of artist organisations and universities across the country.
Among the many artists Tilley and Davis have been privileged to curate are: Graham Crowley, Rose Wylie, Freddie Robins, Virginia Verran, David Kefford, Jeff Dennis, Wieland Payer, Annabel Dover, Debbie Lawson, Ben Coode-Adams, Cathy Lomax, Louisa Chambers, Tom Butler, Jake Clark, Harry Pye, Guy Allott, Freya Douglas Morris, Emily Speed, Iain Andrews and many more.
In 2016 Rosalind and Annabel on their final collaboration wrote ‘What they didn’t teach you at art school’ commissioned by Octopus Books which is internationally distributed across the world.
