Steve Lazarides

Steve Lazarides
Born 1969 (age 47–48)
Bristol, United Kingdom
Occupation Gallerist and Art Promoter
Known for One time associate of Banksy and promoter of street art
Website www.lazinc.com

Steve Lazarides (born c. 1969)[1] is a British art gallery owner best known for once being the agent for the graffiti artist, Banksy. He is noted as one of the first figures to help popularise street art, and as an authority on the latest trends in underground art.[2]

Early life

Steve Lazarides grew up in Bristol, England. He worked variously as a chicken processor, builder, and photographer,[3] having studied photography at Newcastle University.

Art career

While in his twenties, Lazarides was working on a photograph shoot for Sleaze Nation magazine when he met Banksy.[4] He then began selling the graffiti artist's work to friends[3] and became Banksy's agent, with some sources claiming he "launched Banksy's career".[5] Lazarides subsequently launched the 'Pictures on Walls' website to promote graffiti art, and widened his scope to work with a larger roster of street artists.[4] He continued this tradition by creating an in-house print studio, Lazarides Editions, and working closely with the artists to create high quality prints to share with the Art community. The market in street art took off in 2007 only shortly before the 2008 Recession, with Banksy's work, "Laugh Now", selling for £228,000 at auction in early 2008.[4] According to the Financial Times, "If there had been one individual responsible for whipping up and sustaining the fever around urban art, and who stood to lose most from its demise, it was Steve Lazarides."[4]

Lazarides opened up his first gallery in London in 2006, and brought many unknown artist’s in the UK to light including holding Invader’s first UK exhibition, Space Invader’s Invasion London and Rubik Bad Men II.[6] Lazarides now represents artists including the renowned portrait painter Jonathan Yeo, the Parisian artist JR, the contemporary English painter Antony Micallef and Portuguese graffiti/street artist Vhils.[7]

In 2009 he moved headquarters from Charing Cross Road into a five-story Georgian townhouse on Rathbone Place, near Oxford Street, with the first exhibition at the new Lazarides Rathbone being of the Portuguese graffiti artist Vhils, this was also the artists debut UK show.[8] Lazarides Rathbone now forms the flagship Lazarides space with Lazarides Editions creating prints in a separate site (situated in Greenwich). In 2016 Lazarides opened Banksy Print Gallery [9] in South bank’s Mondrian Hotel, the space centers around Steve’s time with Banksy and also offers the chance to buy secondary-market Banksy prints.

Post-Banksy

Lazarides and Banksy parted ways in 2008 [10]in unexplained circumstances.[4] Lazarides began to broaden his scope to organise shows of art that "would not look out of place on a Turner Prize shortlist".[4]

In recent years Lazarides has organised several ambitious 'pop-up' shows, including Hell's Half Acre in October 2010, held in The Old Vic Tunnels beneath Waterloo station, London.[4][11] He returned to the tunnels in 2011 and 2012, with shows titled Minotaur and Bedlam. The most recent Lazarides off-site venture was in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory in October 2013, titled BRUTAL and taking place at London's 180 The Strand. These pop-up shows have included work by, among others, Doug Foster, Conor Harrington, Lucy McLauchlan, Antony Micallef, Karim Zeriahen, Stanley Donwood, Vhils, Todd James and Ian Francis.[12]

In 2011 Lazarides announced "audacious" plans to organize a large art fair in Miami, Florida, as a rival to the established Art Basel Miami Beach show,[4] that had been launched in 2002 as part of Art Basel, which was founded during 1970 in Switzerland. However Lazarides's plans were cancelled in July.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Mikhailova, Anna (13 October 2013). "Steve Lazarides, the gallery owner who backed the street artist, is looking to profit from communist posters". The Sunday Times.(subscription required)
  2. ↑ "Live Nation, Tribeca Film Festival and Banksy's Ex-dealer Plan to Challenge Miami Art Basel". PaperMag.com. The Huffington Post. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 Sooke, Alastair (4 August 2007). "A shop window for outsiders". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Child, Andrew (28 January 2011). "Urban renewal:Steve Lazarides continues to expand his street art empire". The Financial Times. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Michals, Susan (11 October 2010). "Banksy's Ex-Gallerist Talks About Their Breakup, Depictions of Hell". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Lazinc, Steve (5 October 2007). "Invader: Space Invader’s Invasion London and Rubik Bad Men". lazinc.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  7. ↑ http://www.lazinc.com/artists
  8. ↑ Leitch, Luke (11 July 2008). "Steve Lazarides: Graffiti’s ?ber-dealer". The Times.(subscription required)
  9. ↑ https://www.timeout.com/london/blog/a-banksy-gallery-is-opening-on-the-south-bank-112516
  10. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27732691
  11. ↑ "Artistic Installations to be Shown in Recently Discovered Labyrinth Beneath London's Waterloo Station". ArtDaily.org. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Bedlam? You don't have to be mad to work in the arts, but it helps". Independent.co.uk. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Breen, Matt (25 November 2016). "A Banksy Gallery opening in the South Bank". Time Out. Retrieved 9 March 2017.


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