Kate Weir: Could you first please tell us a little bit about your background?
Samir Ceric: I officially 'arrived' to the art world 3 years ago when I launched the SaLon Gallery concept. It was initially a crossover of art and entertainment in an attempt to promote contemporary art to a wider audience. Unfortunately we were not able to secure an entertainment licence from the Westminster City Council, which prompted me to make the decision to launch a concept for graduate artists to assist them in launching their professional careers.
Previously, I worked with the MoD and FCO, addressed the House of Commons, gave talks on international conflicts and importance of conflict prevention as opposed to resolution, tackled the issue of Eco-Terrorism, co-organised the first ever visual and audio art exhibition on global warming in (Notting Hill 2050, SaLon Gallery) ran a national airline of Bosnia for the UK - my country of origin from which I was driven out in 1992 as a result of the ethnic cleansing, set up and ran a number of charities in the UK, hence gaining a hands-on experience in private, public and charity arenas.
I read Masters of Mathematics at University of Sussex and University of Bologna.
I won an England National Championship in a professional capacity in handball and was drafted to play for the England National Squad at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. I plan to go back to handball and fight for a place to represent the country at the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games.
KW: You told me the other day that you want to dispel the elitist/bourgeois attitude towards art. You said that the lesser renowned art schools in Moscow were producing better art because they weren't politically dictated. I was wondering why you choose to go to the more renowned art schools in London to source new artwork?
SC: I personally have no preference to what art schools artists graduate from. What I concentrate on is pure talent, quality of work (both conceptually and aesthetically), the message it contains and the message it wants to send out. It is partly true that the most prestigious schools 'produce' stronger artists but that is not a guarantee that they will succeed any faster than somebody from a lesser known art college.
KW: How is this reflected in the pricing of the works?
SC: Pricing of an artist's work has not got much to do with the school they went to. It is predominantly based on the originality of the piece, the 'popularity' of the subject matter, the level of execution, the scale of the work presented, the medium used and of course who sells it. Works sold on Cork St and Old/New Bond Street will sell for more because (a) it costs a lot more to run a gallery space in this part of London, and (b) the more renowned and established the dealer/gallerist, the more valuable the pieces of art are because of the client base one attracts and can sell to. Hence pricing in the art world is still heavily subjective due to the fact of operating in a highly unregulated market where there does not exist a predetermined formula to price every piece of art.
KW: I noticed that there were a few recurring names in the pieces exhibited in the gallery, noticeably the artists Sarah Maple and Sam Branton. What is your relationship with the artists themselves? Do you work closely with them as a mentor? Or do you advise them in their careers? And how do you avoid (if at all) appearing to favour one particular artist when setting up an exhibition?
SC: My relationship to these two artists is no different to any other artist you saw in the show. It was SaLon Gallery's first introduction of Maple's work who won a number of renowned awards and I personally felt passionate about her work from the moment I first saw it in Charles Saatchi's group exhibition '4 New Sensations' which Maple won.
As for Branton, equally, I feel passionate about his work and have featured him in three consecutive shows as I have done with Ben Young, Ian Larson, Zsi Chimara to name a few. I think they are extremely talented and brave artists who enjoy challenging the status quo. That is something I like because I am the type of art dealer who does the same.
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Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...