A York gallery and shop will close in two weeks as the owner retires after 50 years in the art business.
Village Gallery on Colliergate is now holding a closing down sale and a final exhibition called, appropriately, ‘The Curtain Descends’.
For this, gallery owner Simon Main, has invited back ten local artists that have previously displayed their work in the gallery.
The exhibition and sale finishes when the shop finally closes its doors on 14 April.
Simon said he was prompted to close the gallery because the lease on the property was up for renewal.
He decided not to sign for another five years, but to take a well-deserved break from work after 50 years in the business.
He told YorkMix “It’s been a combination of things, it’s the right time for me to finish.”
Saying goodbye to friends
After the shop closes, Simon won’t be completely leaving the art world however.
He will continue continues to showcase Lalique glass and jewellery, alongside some local pieces of jewellery, both online at Village-On-The-Web and from the Antiques Centre on Stonegate.
This means that he can continue sharing his “real passion of the Lalique” be remaining as York’s official Lalique stockist.
Nevertheless, Simon said he’s sad that he can’t take all the local artwork with him and that he is “sorry to the local artists I’m letting down”.
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Simon’s father and brother have been involved in art most of their lives so this meant that he knew the challenges local artists can face, which influenced his drive to help them.
During his five years at the gallery he has given exposure to many artists and “let them have a chance”. He said “I’ve enjoyed it. There’s an interaction with the people and to try and promote them, it’s been good.”
In his last few weeks at the gallery, Simon hopes “to see a lot of old friends to say goodbye to”, to “clear a lot of the artworks for these artists and just generally sort of be here in this place.”
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