Interview: Evelyn Tsekoura On Why She Built The Holy Art

Interview: Evelyn Tsekoura On Why She Built The Holy Art

DRAFT FOR EVELYN'S APPROVAL. The answers below are drafted from the story as told across the galleries' own materials. Evelyn should edit every answer into her own words before this is published.

Evelyn Tsekoura founded The Holy Art in London in November 2020 and serves as its Senior Curator. Six years later the gallery has exhibited over 25,000 artists across nine cities, launched the sister gallery Streeters Gallery and built the zero commission marketplace Mostra. We asked her how it happened and why.

You opened a gallery in November 2020, in the middle of a pandemic. Why then?

Because the art world had stopped, and stopping is when you can see clearly what a system is actually for. Galleries were closed, artists had no walls, and the traditional model had nothing to offer the thousands of people still making work in their bedrooms. I thought: if we are rebuilding anyway, rebuild it open.

You did not come from the art world. What was your background?

I studied civil engineering, then worked in advertising production with brands like Coca-Cola, Nike and Nintendo. Engineering taught me systems. Advertising taught me audiences. A gallery is both: a system for getting work in front of the right people.

What was wrong with the traditional gallery model?

It serves one percent of artists superbly and ignores the rest. Representation goes to people with the right degree, the right connections, the right postcode. The work is almost the last thing considered. I wanted to build a place where the work was the first thing and the only thing.

So what does "open" actually mean at The Holy Art?

Anyone can submit. Free. No CV, no degree, no exhibition history. Every submission is reviewed and selected on the work. If it fits the show, the artist gets a wall. That is the whole model, and it has not changed in six years.

How did one London exhibition become nine cities?

One show at a time. Artists who exhibited in London asked about New York, then Tokyo, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Brighton. Each city was built the same way, with the same rules, until we had a network of over 245,000 collectors and enthusiasts across three continents.

Why zero commission?

Because commission puts the gallery and the artist on opposite sides of every sale. We charge a flat exhibition fee that covers the show, and the artist keeps everything they sell. Our incentive is to put on great exhibitions. Theirs is to sell. Those line up.

What is the most common misconception about open call galleries?

That paying to exhibit means no curation. We reject work all the time. A curated open call and a vanity gallery are opposites: one selects, the other takes anyone with a card. The proof is in the rooms. Collectors come back because they trust what they will see.

Why launch Streeters Gallery?

Some artists wanted something tighter and rawer than a nine city network. A weekend show in London, New York or Berlin. Friday opening, weekend public days, done. Streeters is that, plus formats no gallery offered before: a Times Square screen, full London billboards. Same team, same collectors, different energy.

And Mostra?

Artists kept asking how to sell between exhibitions. So we built a marketplace where they open their own studio, list unlimited work, and get paid directly with zero commission. Exhibit with us, sell on Mostra, keep 100 percent at every step.

What do you look for in a submission?

A voice. Three works that clearly came from one person who meant it. Photographed honestly, described plainly. That beats technical perfection every time.

What would you say to an artist who is waiting until they are ready?

You will never feel ready. Nobody does. The exhibition is how you become ready. Apply.

Six years in, what is next?

More cities, more formats, more walls. Streeters opens Berlin in December. The Holy Art keeps growing. And the founding idea stays exactly where it is: the work decides.

Apply

The Holy Art: rolling open calls across nine cities, free to submit.

Streeters Gallery: London, New York, Berlin, Times Square, London billboards.

Mostra: sell direct, keep 100 percent.