Readers might recognise Scott Lawrie from the first series of Grand Designs NZ, but he’s now also the owner of the Scott Lawrie Gallery which aims to “connect hearts and minds”. Verve sat down with the philosophical Scotsman to learn more.
“Art is about the stories,” offers the genial gallerist in his lovely Edinburgh lilt. “It provides a connection to other human beings, to lives and perspectives that we’d never otherwise access. For me, art has a social function to broaden minds and allow us to see the world in a different way. That’s really important.”
His background is an unlikely one for a gallery owner, having been raised in a high-rise tower block on a tough Scottish council estate.
“I often think it’s funny how I ended up in art,” Scott continues. “I don’t think being poor in of itself is the issue, rather the lack of perspectives and opportunities that get presented in those environments. You’re expected to do a trade at school, to get a ‘real job’. My dad was an alcoholic and there were a lot of mental health issues in a home of five kids. Art became an escape. My way out of that.”
What do your old friends and family think of your chosen career path now?
“I think they’re baffled by it! They’re very encouraging and proud of me, but it’s still completely alien to them. My mum’s first visit to the National Gallery of Scotland didn’t happen until about six years ago, and she said, ‘Oh, I didn’t feel like I’m dressed well enough.’ She was very nervous, and I said, ‘Mum, you’re a taxpayer. This is yours. This is yours to enjoy.’ I’ve always had an egalitarian approach to art. It’s a joy that should be shared by everybody.”
I ask Scott if he feels that art is now more accessible to those from less privileged backgrounds, but he believes there will always be an “accessibility issue” because of the way it is presented to the general public “as this big, unaffordable halo that puts people off”.
“Plus, the industry from galleries to auction houses is built on rarity and price rather than value and awareness, which means that art is generally marketed in an elitist way. Yet, the joy of art is inherently sociable, it belongs to everybody.”
In that vein, Scott tends to focus on communities that “generally wouldn’t have access to high-end gallery experiences”.
“I do gravitate towards Pacific and Māori communities, maybe because of my background, I’m not sure,” he says. “There’s a terrific joy in that. I’m not dissing wealthy people. If you have money, it’s your duty to support these things, it’s very important. You need money coming into it. But in terms of the enjoyment of the experience, it needs to be more universal.”
The paradox is that many artists are from poorer backgrounds also?
“Yes, right. Most artists working everywhere in the world don’t earn enough for it to be a full-time job – I think it’s less than 1%. Most need secondary incomes or supportive partners.”
Scott’s art studies in Edinburgh wouldn’t have happened without the support of a high school teacher and later a university lecturer who helped him with a scholarship so that he could continue his studies.
“Having adults who see something in you during those formative years was great, because I didn’t get a lot of that at home,” he says. “So, it was important to have a grown person saying, ‘Hey, kid, you’re good at this. Just stick with it.’ I try to pay that forward a wee bit now and help the younger artists, particularly from Māori and Moana communities, who might not even have access to art books. They come in and we browse the books and talk about what works and doesn’t. We look at their work and see what concepts might apply. Sometimes you just need a wee bit of inspiration; it goes a long way.”
After completing art school, Scott worked as a copywriter in advertising for about 12 years before setting up his own brand voice agency – the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere – which he eventually sold to a major group.
“I did really well out of that which gave me the money to build the house in New Zealand,” he says. “And I’ve always collected art, I’ve always enjoyed it, wherever I’ve lived around the world. It’s interesting because there are some crossovers between the worlds of art and advertising because you need to position artists as you do brands. They all have particular demographics and require specific messaging around how you present them to the world.”
Do you find certain professions are draw to certain types of art?
“Absolutely. You put abstract, modernist, minimalism on the wall and the architects will come flying in the door. It’s very measured, very austere and ordered, and they tend to love that rather than the wild, expressive works. Whereas the surgeons and those with really high-risk jobs will often go for something more out there, perhaps some spray paint or a bit of paint spatter. I find that really intriguing.”
Scott says his favourite collectors are the ones “who fall in love with the work and can’t live without it”.
“There’s some form of human connection, some portal that they’ve entered into when they see something that connects with them on a heart level,” he adds. “The brand position for the gallery is to connect hearts and minds, and what I mean by that is the heart part is your emotional response to looking at this thing. And then the head part is the cultural context for the piece.
Why is it important to the time we live in?”
I finish up by asking Scott about the most treasured piece he owns. He mulls it over, briefly considering “all the big fancy things in storge” before settling on an inexpensive early Bronze Age clay bowl that’s about half the size of a basketball and 4,000 years old.
“It’s the sort of bowl that would have been used probably for wheat or grain collecting, and if you look closely, you can see the wee thumbprints,” he says. “I love holding it. I encourage everyone to hold it, because they’re touching human history. If I was to distil everything down to what the joy of art means, it’s that human connection. It’s completely honest. It’s just this beautiful thing.”
