Meet Andrew Salgado | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Salgado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
[I thought I had to answer all the questions so I did this one, and then, well… I sorta run on a tangent. And then it was the only question I had to answer, oops]

I think that there’s a misconception about a creative career as a very unstable thing. Perhaps this ideology has shifted in recent years, with university degrees falling out of favour (in my day, it was ‘get a degree; you needed a degree to do anything and everything, but truthfully I see why the ‘university path’ is losing relevance with newer generations.

I’m not yet 40, but certainly when you look at how scholastic debt anchors persons after university, the lack of jobs in the workforce, the lack of pay – and the rise of success via Instagram and internet start-ups, and we think of the greater Creative Industry in terms of who is actually catalyzing change, who is making waves, that’s all changing in a drastic way. People are pulling away from what our parents had told us was the only way to be successful and defining success in new methods and via new channels. It’s exciting but also a bit scary.

In some regards I think, maybe, depending on where the world is headed, it almost seems…. what, ‘cooler’ (?) not to operate free from the pre-established channels. Is it relevant to have an art degree anymore? I don’t know. I do. But I’m on the tail-end of that generation that took the traditional routes. There’s a bit of Romance to the ‘self-taught’ label, right? Particularly with how Instagram and social media have gutted the hierarchies as we once knew them.

So to directly answer the question. I suppose people tend to think that creatives spend a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. What they fail to realize is that some of the most successful creative types I know are also among the most incredibly hardworking and driven people I know. It takes a lot of grit, spit, and mental ingenuity to be successful in a creative enterprise. But okay, sure, it’s fun to play the unassuming, air-headed artist type. It takes a lot of raw nerve and hard work to be successful in such a cutthroat industry. It can also be quite scary, but there is a beauty in forging your own path, I think.

I used to say there’s beauty to being young, naive, and broke.
I’m not young any more but hopefully I have some control over the other two.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Um… I do think these sorts of questions tend to be a bit solipsistic. I learned how to speak about my art from that BBC documentary with Francis Bacon. (The answer, is sincerely, sparingly, and evasively.) Nobody likes to be told what to see or think.

I feel like what I do comes from a place of great sincerity. I have fun with it, sure, but there’s real intent and truth behind my motives and reasons. I read a lot, I write a lot. There’s a coalescing of ideas. It’s like that Japanese idea of Ikigai: what you want to do, what the world needs, what you can get paid for, what can bring you pleasure. There’s a core little nugget there, and the idea is to cut through all the noise and access that nucleus.

Anyway, I have a show this October/November in Tokyo at MAKI Gallery called The Lotus Eaters.
After that I have a show in Sydney in April 2023, at Piermarq, called Good Things.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I really like the new roof bar at 100 Shoreditch (the former ACE hotel). They have brilliant views with the sunset (which is key) and the wine list is small and great. There’s a dry Australian Riesling for £50 that will blow your mind. Get the crispy fried chicken. Tell Felipe you know me and he’ll get you a good table.

I’m quite boring. I like Broadway Market by my studio for a stroll and coffee. I like the Market Cafe for a coffee or beer or Bloody Mary or all three. I like the owner there who wears the funny glasses. I don’t know him but we smile at each other and he asks me what I’m reading.

Francesco at Henson’s Bar makes the best Vesper martini in the city. (In the lobby of Mimi’s Hotel in Soho.)

I have to admit I really like the Ivy Brasserie. The vibe is art deco with Modernist posters everywhere. It’s great for groups, dates, lunch, parties, you name it. I’m a sucker for Chicken Milanese. And they wrap their lemons in those little gauze nets. Very posh.

I also like the pool at 180 Rooftop. It’s a bit grown up and civilized. I eat the Nocellara olives and champagne and pretend I’m some posh wanker. Maybe I am, after all.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This is such a hard thing for me to do, namely because I view my practice as the sort of crux of a million different things that culminate into whatever it is that I do. I like this idea that we’re all a sum of various other parts. I’m not sure I can adequately shout out to anyone in particular without forgetting at least a dozen others.

I also think I’m being evasive because my answer is kinda dorky. My kneejerk answer is Tori Amos. It has to be Tori Amos, because she’s been the single most consistent and constant creative influence for me for over 25 years. I feel like, in a way, I’ve grown up with her. Her music has always made me feel understood, calm, and that ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ is – is possible.

And of course, my partner of 15 years, who has singlehandedly tamed what was once a Catherine Wheel of chaotic energy and creativity and like, smoothed it out, reigned it in, made it palatable. I am a better person and artist than I was without him in my life.

Website: www.andrewsalgado.com

Instagram: @andrew.salgado.art

Other: https://beerslondon.com/artists/andrew-salgado/

Image Credits
Brynley Davies