[mandelbrot]

Laz receives 7 figure investment from Qatari magnate and a move to Mayfair is on the cards. He claims that his artists are not 'smash the system' types and in fact are not even anti capitalist - including Banksy!


www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b752bdf0-ce5f-11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77.html#ixzz3zfSl5D8y

[Dr Plip]

Feb 9, 2016 12:14:11 GMT 1 mandelbrot said:

Laz receives 7 figure investment from Qatari magnate and a move to Mayfair is on the cards. He claims that his artists are not 'smash the system' types and in fact are not even anti capitalist - including Banksy!


www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b752bdf0-ce5f-11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77.html#ixzz3zfSl5D8y

That's it. It's all over folks. Pack up your Guy Fawkes masks.

Edit: Could someone with full access to the article be a love and copy and paste it here so everyone can read it.

[Gunny]

Anyone got a lin kto the article that doesn't involve paying for it ?

thanks
david

[Ruggs]

Something about it on Steve's Instagram.

http://instagram.com/p/BBj2pdqlxJN

[Gunny]

Thanks

[DrWhite]

"“I have spent every single penny we have made in this gallery to reinvest and to try to grow it,” he said. “We now have a manufacturing business making screen prints and we have developed our whole ecommerce business. Now we need investment to grow them to what they are capable of.”

Now Steve just needs "print monkeys" to buy his products his words of course !!

[sakyamuni]

thanks for sharing denada. I love this one   :

 "These guys [artists] have never been anti-capitalist, they are pro-human rather than anti-capitalist."

[twist65]

I take it Laz's pro-human artists won't be doing political/protest art about Qatar human rights or the world cup farce then!

[sakyamuni]

i have also discovered that I collect paintings selling below the low-end of the market

[dotdot]

Feb 9, 2016 13:10:48 GMT 1 DrWhite said:

"“I have spent every single penny we have made in this gallery to reinvest and to try to grow it,” he said. “We now have a manufacturing business making screen prints and we have developed our whole ecommerce business. Now we need investment to grow them to what they are capable of.”

Now Steve just needs "print monkeys" to buy his products his words of course !!

(from the "old kent road" to mayfair.. perhaps ?)

yeah i remember that quote.

having said that he's moving on and why not ... why stay and .. run out of £ when you can take an investor (VC) / split your potential, share the risk ... pass JAIL (waving tenners .. i'm sure) and end up in MAY FAIR ?

where's the monopoly board Zeus did a few years back ?

[Sacked...]

From Laz :


New Qatari Investment Announced for Lazarides Gallery


Tuesday 9th of February 2016


Steve Lazarides' disruptive activity within the notoriously elitist art sector has attracted many sympathizers. Today, he announces a partnership with an art lover of a similar mindset. In Lazarides' own words, "We may be an odd couple, but we approach art from the same perspective and have a common goal for the future of the gallery."

Investor, Wissam Al Mana is a prolific art collector, and strong supporter of the style and manner in which Lazarides' has done business. His support prompts a paradigm shift in the gallery's ambitions.

Qatari born Al Mana is the owner of an eponymous conglomerate operating vari-ous activities, from real estate to retail, in eight countries. Aged 40, Wissam was raised and educated in London where he discovered his love for fashion and de-sign after working Saturday jobs in boutiques on London's King's road from the tender age of 14.

The partnership has been facilitated by Pierre Lussato of Skylar Group. "Pierre is a rare commodity in the world of finance," says Lazarides, "he understands the nuances of contemporary art and shares the same vision as myself and Wissam."

With the operational and financial backing of the Qatari businessman, the evolu-tion of Lazarides' business will be significant.

[Poster Bob]

Feb 9, 2016 15:10:48 GMT 1 Sacked... said:

From Laz :

Qatari born Al Mana is the owner of an eponymous conglomerate operating vari-ous activities, from real estate to retail, in eight countries. Aged 40, Wissam was raised and educated in London where he discovered his love for fashion and de-sign after working Saturday jobs in boutiques on London's King's road from the tender age of 14.

That section is very misleading. It makes him sound like a self-made man as opposed to the trustafarian he surely is. Not that he should be hated for being rich, you can't help who your parents are, but I always view the world's 1% with suspicion. 

[Ruggs]

Dear all,

Many of you have been instrumental in the existence and growth of this gallery and without you we would be nothing. For that you have my lasting gratitude.

I want to continue growing our artists and pushing the brand of art we love to bigger and better things. Please have a look at the statement below to see how we are going to do this ...

New Qatari Investment Announced for Steve Lazarides, coinciding with Lazarides Gallery's 10th Anniversary

Steve Lazarides' disruptive activity within the notoriously elitist art sector has attracted many sympathizers. Today, he announces a partnership with an art lover of a similar mindset. In Lazarides' own words, "We may be an odd couple, but we approach art from the same perspective and have a common goal for the future of the gallery."

Investor, Wissam Al Mana is a prolific art collector, and strong supporter of the style and manner in which Lazarides' has done business. His support prompts a paradigm shift in the gallery's ambitions.

Qatari born Al Mana is the owner of an eponymous conglomerate operating various activities, from real estate to retail, in eight countries. Aged 40, Wissam was raised and educated in London where he discovered his love for fashion and design after working Saturday jobs in boutiques on London's King's road from the tender age of 14.

The partnership has been facilitated by Pierre Lussato of Skylar Group. "Pierre is a rare commodity in the world of finance," says Lazarides, "he understands the nuances of contemporary art and shares the same vision as myself and Wissam."

With the operational and financial backing of the Qatari businessman, the evolution of Lazarides' business will be significant.

"I looked long and hard at the last decade and drew the following conclusions for what should happen next," says Lazarides.

This week, Lazarides commemorates ten years of exhibitions with a spectacular group show titled Still Here opening to the public on 12th February.

"And damn proud of it to!" says the self-made art entrepreneur himself. Opening February 12th 2016 at 11 Rathbone Place, London, Still Here will feature new work by many of the gallery's most sought-after artists including Jonathan Yeo, JR and Invader.

"I never intended to be a gallery owner," continues Lazarides, "I started off as Banksy's photographer, which spiralled out of control and ended up with the madness which is the Lazarides gallery. The great thing about never truly being part of the art world is that we never knew – or were constrained by – the conventions that make a great proportion of the art world the dull and boring place it is today. After a decade we still don't know, nor intend, to learn these."

"There have been a huge number of artists, collectors, and well-wishers from across the social spectrum who have made this gallery possible. It has been a constant challenge, and without this support we would have been dead in the water many years ago. I cannot express enough gratitude to those who offered their unwavering backing to a bunch of upstarts who didn't have a clue what they were doing."

"Firstly, no-one can ever pronounce the name so we're changing it to LazInc. Secondly, we're moving to Mayfair. We've spent years working from a position of isolation, and now it's time to challenge the status quo from the inside. I can hear the shouts of 'Sell-out!' on the Internet from here. But find out what we have planned before you dish out any hate."

The new partnership with Al Mana opens up a wealth of possibilities for a gallery that has never lacked zeal or vigor. Lazarides is 'Still Here' after ten years – now he and Wissam Al Mana intend the following decade to be even more significant.

Again, thank you ...

A very humble

Steve Lazarides

[cashformonkeys]

He still gonna do the tat from the shop at istanbul though?, that was really fuckin street and disruptive.

All downhill....

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2016 17:55:50 GMT 1 Ruggs said:

"Firstly, no-one can ever pronounce the name so we're changing it to LazInc. Secondly, we're moving to Mayfair. We've spent years working from a position of isolation, and now it's time to challenge the status quo from the inside. I can hear the shouts of 'Sell-out!' on the Internet from here. But find out what we have planned before you dish out any hate."

No hate here, and no cries of sell out; just disappointed really because the phrase 'it's time to challenge the status quo from the inside' is just a way of justifying a move to Mayfair. The underlying message from this move is that ultimately success ( even with an outsider message ) leads to ingratiation with the rich/wealthy etc. No matter how much subversion is planned it'll be turned into a sideshow, humoured by the wealthy as a distraction and something quaint to visit when trying to fill their vacuous lives.

Whatever you attempt, big business/money wins. Best to say 'f**k'em' and keep on doing what you do best, especially if it's got passion and soul, which Laz clearly still has. Moving into a wealthy area won't change a thing!

[tab1]

In store for another increase in banksy prices in the near future then

[chads007]

At first I had reservations. But large aspects are gentrified anyway. The latest pad thread where some street art is displayed is more Mayfair than Middlesbrough. So if he's wanting to attract some of the status symbol chasers, bankers and investors, Mayfair is just perfect.