The internship

Plaster’s co-founder Milo Astaire reflects fondly on a formative experience at Flowers Gallery. As part of Plaster magazine’s guest editorship of CATALOGUE, the magazine of Cork Street Galleries…

In 2012, I was generously given a three-month internship by gallerist Matthew Flowers. I was a young layabout, but eager to understand the art world. Damien Hirst’s show had just opened at the Tate Modern, and although I couldn’t quite understand why a blow-up beach ball suspended in the air by a hairdryer was art, it appealed to my childish sense of humour at the time, and I wanted more.

Matthew is the son of Angela Flowers who founded the eponymous gallery in 1970. One day, while a young Matthew was working part-time at the gallery in 1976, my grandfather, Edgar Astaire walked in and purchased a work by the artist Patrick Hughes on the spot. It was Matthew’s first significant sale. Edgar was a stockbroker and one of the few clients they knew in finance. As a struggling gallery, Angela thought it sensible to invite him to sit on the board of directors, thinking my grandfather could offer some sound financial advice. That advice amounted to offering the services of his son, my father, as an ‘art consultant’. The advisory position, though somewhat fruitful, didn’t last long. But 20 years later, when I was searching for a job, my father reached out to Matthew.

Email exchange between Simon Astaire and director Matthew Flowers

I have since dug out the original email, in which, my father introduces me as a “sophisticated young man.” I was not. Ambitious perhaps, but sophisticated? Far from it. Beyond that brief visit to Tate Modern, my understanding of art history started and ended with the Venetian Renaissance, which was the main subject of my Part 1 History of Art A level. I was also aware of Banksy thanks to a mural next to my local Mexican bar hangout on Portobello Road.

When I arrived at the interview, Matthew was towering yet welcoming, wearing a baggy suit and firmly holding a Chelsea FC mug. He had great recollections of my grandfather, but when he asked me about my interest in art, he could spot an imitator. I didn’t know what I was talking about, and he knew it. However, he saw a glimmer of something in me and was willing to give me a chance.

Speaking to Matthew recently, it became clear that interns were an essential part of the Flowers business model at the time. As a fledgling gallery with no guarantee of their next sale, Flowers relied on the internship programme to help assist the full-time staff. At the time, interns didn’t need to be paid, save for their travel expenses. We were all willing participants – some straight out of uni and others, clueless and misguided youths like myself. We were given far more responsibility than was probably warranted.

My role was to support the then-new sales director of the gallery, Isabel Bingley. Isabel, only a few years older than me, had excelled at the gallery and risen quickly up the ranks. Being lumped with me was her punishment for doing so well. Working so closely with a senior staff member, you begin to understand, by osmosis, the inner workings of a gallery. You get to grips with the strange language of online art databases, learn how to speak to clients when they come into the gallery, and find out what a franking machine is. Isabel was far too generous with her time educating me, but her enthusiasm rubbed off and very quickly I felt emboldened by my new role.

Installation view of Patrick Hughes, ‘Multispective’, 2012. Photography by Antonio Parente, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery

Internships, I believe, are extremely important. They give you an insight into the working world without the commitment of full-time employment. With the internship at Flowers, I felt like an important cog in the system. For the first time in my life, I felt a sense of pride in my work (aside from the occasional Saturday morning that I arrived completely hungover – I was 19, after all). Flowers created a community where full-time staff and interns were united.

When I recently returned to Flowers Cork Street gallery to speak to Matthew for this article, I learned that an intern, Antonio, who started the same week as me, was still working there. This is testament to the attitude Flowers instilled in its interns. You believe in the gallery, especially if they believe in you. I also learned that another intern who came before me is now the head of their Hong Kong gallery.

When I look back on the internship, I am reminded of happy times, like my first attempt at a sale, which I failed with flying colours. My friends would call me up pretending to be clients and I would unwittingly put them through to Matthew. Thankfully, he saw the funny side. But most of all, I remember the education, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Matthew reminded me that on the final day, he actually offered me a full-time job at Flowers. Unfortunately, my January travel plans somehow felt more important to me at the time. Matthew was – and is – always ready to take a chance on someone, even if they can’t see it themselves. The faith he and the team showed in me was invaluable, as I spent the next few years trying to navigate my way through the art world. I knew that whatever happened, at least someone thought I was talented enough for a job. So, thank you, Matthew, Isabel and Flowers.

Angela Flowers, 1993, Courtesy of Angela Flowers and Flowers Gallery

Find this article in print: CATALOGUE issue 7.0, guest edited by Plaster, and featuring one of 14 collectable artist posters, is out now