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Church interior which will be the home to Ilkeston Contemporary Arts
Architect Chris Williamson is converting a disused church in his hometown to house his contemporary art collection .
THE ART OF RELIGION
SP So tell me about this new venture . It sounds amazing . CW Thank you . For about five years I have been looking for an industrial unit in my hometown of Ilkeston to house the contemporary art collection I have built over the last 40 years . And over lockdown I found a disused church and I ’ m converting it into a gallery .
SP Have you always collected art ? CW Whenever I had any spare money ( which isn ’ t that often ) I must admit I spend it on art . It goes back to my very first monthly pay cheque in 1980 at Michael Hopkins Architects where I earned £ 6,000 pa and spent £ 50 on an Andrew Holmes screen print . I still have it . I still love it .
SP Where did this love of art come from ? CW It is really all down to one man . Dr Richard ( Dick ) Venning , my art teacher at Ilkeston Grammar School . He was passionate about all eras of art but had a special affection for Andy Warhol . He was a wonderful character and made art come to life , placing it in a historic and social context .
SP So does Pop Art form all your collection ? CW It is a common thread . I ’ ve tried to take on new influences through people like Susie Allen of Artwise Curators and Isabel de Vasconcellos who introduced me to Saad Quereshi , Alys Williams of VITRINE , who introduced me to Emii Alrai , and George Mingozzi-Marsh of Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer who introduced me to Leo Fitzmaurice . But I must admit most of the elements of their work that I like are the ones that relate more to the iconography side of pop art . Though I ’ m trying to be more open minded .
SP And the Warhols …? CW I never dreamed as a 16 year old I would actually own one but we ( WestonWilliamson + Partners ) won an International competition out of over 300 entries to design the New England Biolabs HQ in 2001 and the owner Don Combs was an avid art collector . He was another inspirational character and at that time