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Meet Katie Tsouros

We’re welcoming Katie and the Artfetch community to Rise Art! Rise Art is excited to announce our merger with Artfetch - a like-minded and curated online art marketplace - and to welcome Katie to the team as Brand Marketing Manager! Read all about her daily inspirations, tips on how to spot great artistic talent and see some of her favourite works on Rise Art.

By Rise Art | 13 Jun 2016

Today we’re welcoming Katie and the Artfetch community to Rise Art! Katie co-founded Artfetch 3 years ago to give emerging artists a place to increase their visibility and find new markets, and for customers to discover and buy really great curated artwork from all over the world in one place. Sound familiar? That’s because the curated ecommerce platform shared a very similar to vision to Rise Art’s online marketplace, and today we’re happy to announce the acquisition of Artfetch by Rise Art, and to welcome Katie to the team as Brand Marketing Manager, and her community of artists and collectors to Rise Art.

 

So where did the Rise Art Style Quiz place you? Think it’s spot on?

It picked me out as an Urbanite – I’m not sure it’s quite spot on, but I also think it’s hard to pin me down! I like a lot of different things, I like to think I’m a bit of a Trend Setter - that has pretty much been my job for the last number of years - but I also like calm, elegant, subtle, and minimalist works which might put me in the category of Sophisticate. Really I’m drawn to individual works & artists for various different reasons, but it’s definitely a fun way to explore your taste!

As a curator, what are your top tips for a beginner collector?

Buy what you love, hands down. That’s the only metric that wins out in the end. Look, discover, research but ultimately try and guide yourself purely on what you like. At the same time there are many things you can look out for to keep an eye on an artist’s career – where they studied, where they’re exhibiting, who’s writing about them. But luckily in a place like Rise Art you know someone has gone out and done the hard work for you and vetted the quality of the work, so you’re free to browse and choose what you love and what excites you.

What made you realise there was a promising market for buying artwork online? Was it scary taking the entrepreneurial leap?!

It wasn’t scary because I didn’t really think about it too much! To me it seemed like the only natural progression from selling in a gallery, which I found incredibly limiting. I buy everything online and I felt it was only a matter of time before people started to view the internet as a place to buy art, and there was nobody at the time doing it in a really good, curated way. I think it’s incredible how aligned the vision and mission Artfetch and Rise Art share is, especially the emphasis on curatorial and service. I think it’s a winning formula and a very exciting industry and I’m very happy that I’ve ended up where I am.

Go-to daily inspirations?

Total Instagram addict, love it. I follow loads of trash (guilty pleasure), but also lots of design, art, food, fashion, fitness and travel. I really like following Tommy Clarke, his photos are amazing, and the Irish street artist Maser, and I love the Jealous Curator. I’m also addicted to travel magazines and am a constant sufferer of wanderlust.

Artfetch was all about supporting new and emerging artists, where did you go to find them and what are the signs of truly great talent?

I had worked with a lot of young artists previously in my gallery so had a good pool of talent to choose from when we started out, and a good network. We also trawled degree shows and had independent curators work with us internationally to recommend artists. It’s a really fun job discovering great talent, it was a great buzz for me, and even more so to sell the work and see it go to good homes.

For me signs of true talent are a cohesive, well thought out and developed practice, and real passion and commitment from the artist to the work that they are making. That always shines through. It’s hard to find new or different things nowadays, which also show great quality, so if you find something that is saying something new that is really special. I found that in one of my painters Iidu Tikkanen, I felt like I hadn’t really seen work like it before, and that is incredibly exciting.

Techno & Dance

Iidu Tikkanen

You’ve just arrived in London. Which exhibition is top of your list for a visit?

Really looking forward to Georgia O’Keefe at Tate Modern! In general Tate is always top of my list, I love their programming.

Favourite medium or style of art? (Nigh impossible to answer, I know!)

Really hard for me! I love photography, especially some based on performance, I also love typographic work and painting – from process based works to colourful abstracts, and pared back minimalist pieces. I also like fun, sweet illustrations and drawings, I think they’re really nice gifts too and tend to give them to people.

3 dream dinner party guests? Dead or alive…!

Ha! I’ve done this one before – Andy Warhol & The Beckhams, for the ultimate lesson in branding! Or Louise Bourgeois and Frida Kahlo if we want to get a bit more arty.

What are you going to miss most about Dublin? I’ve never been to the city, what should be top of my agenda?!

Lots, it’s such a great city to live in! Mostly friends, family and this indefinable thing we term ‘the craic’. The banter and humour of Irish people is unmatched anywhere else in the world, but I am biased! Top of your list should be a good pub for a pint of Guinness and the original Francis Bacon studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery.

Favourite part of your job?

Getting to create and come up with ideas every day. I like to be able to problem solve and have the freedom to try and explore new things, and that is very much part of the process with content creation. I also feel like I’m a guardian for our mission, brand and values, and we want to build something very special. Seeing a business like this work and being part of that is very satisfying, when I left university businesses like ours didn’t exist so we’re really doing something great for the art world and how it functions. We also have a lot of beautiful things to work with and look at everyday!

Lastly, the fun bit! Your top 5 artworks on Rise Art and why?

Eleanor CunninghamGrand Canyon South

I have to pick one of my Artfetch artists first! This is one from Eleanor’s new series that hasn’t been available until now. I think it’s such a great example of her really unique work and practice. I love the colours, the expanse and the atmosphere she creates in this.

Gugi GooQuelque chose remuait en moi…

I love the colours and light airy feel of this work. I also like the gentle movement in the abstraction, it feels very free!  

Rob RyanI Miss Being A Small Girl

I am sucker for this kind of work combing words, phrases or poetry with artistic sentiment. I really like the paper cut technique also, it displays a lot of skill and is very delicate and intricate. It’s a very pretty piece.

Daniel BourkeIris

I like the combination of the digital and paint in this and the vibrant colours, it really stands out and I could see it making a really cool impact in the right room. I also really like it because it reminds me of Georgia O’Keefe.

Georgia PeskettOld Street Reflection / New York Doorway

Her paintings are amazing! I actually really love Curtain Rd but sadly it’s sold (but happily for the buyer!). I lived on Curtain Rd when I first moved to London to do my MA and it has a graffiti image of the great Mohammad Ali in it which feels quite poignant now. But in it’s place I would happily take Old Street Reflection, apt because we’re working from Old St right now! Or New York Doorway is also great. They are just incredible.

 

See the Artworks Just Added to the Artfetch Collection, Handpicked by The Experts. Happy Collecting! >>

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