On 28th June 2023, Hector Campbell paid a visit to the ASP 9 studio. He introduced himself, told us about his work and explained how he came to a place where he was able to open his own commercial gallery in Elephant and Castle; Soup gallery. In this gallery he explained that he was conscious of creating a space that exhibited works of a range of mediums rather than simply painting alone, which so many commercial galleries already often spotlight.
Hector is always supporting emerging artists through attending graduate shows, representation at Soup gallery, and through his work at Collective Endings, which provides studio spaces to emerging artists in Deptford. Hector explained that he had been based in Bristol before moving to London without any contacts within this art scene and that it was through attending and ‘networking’ at lots of private views in London that he found many valuable connections.
Noah Smith, Karl Murphy and Emma Todd presented works, firstly outlining their current practice. Hector was interested in the ways the work manifested in these particular forms, the history of our practice and the reasons we were drawn to the themes we explored. We discussed folklore, cultural heritage, sacredness/ divinity, poetry, Britishness as well as many other themes. Hector was very attentive and probed thoughtful questions that allowed us to examine the works showcased and providing helpful pointers to move forward with our works. Emma Ogawa Todd
