VICTORIA CHARLTON
Victoria has been involved in the production of performing and visual arts for decades, although she began her working life as a journalist.
For some years she represented the licensing interests of many US studios including Paramount, MCA and the Licensing Corporation of America.
In the 80’s Victoria moved on to producing some of the world’s most important dance and opera companies including The Bolshoi, Kirov (now Marinksy), Royal Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Perm Ballet, Moscow Classical Ballet,The ENO, Orchestras, Moscow State Circus, Georgian State Dance Company, The Egyptian State Opera, soloists, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald,even UB40. Her company built five temporary theatres to bring large scale dance and opera companies to a wider more inclusive audience.
Following the coup in Russia Mikhail Gorbachev invited her to organise his lecture tour of the UK, over five days she produced 14 events in five cities, and arranged 31 media interviews.
She has curated many exhibitions under the sponsorship of the Russian and UK governments beginning with the Costume and Coach Collection from St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, shown at London’s Barbican Centre. The British Shoes Collection from Northampton at Moscow’s Kuskovo Museum, Oleg Vingradov at the Royal Opera House, Treasures of the Tsars, a porcelain collection from Catherine the Great and Napoleon, (Gary Weston converted the fourth floor of his store, Fortnum and Mason, to museum standard exhibition space). Other exhibitions have included American/Russian artist Katya Levental in London, commercial photographic exhibitions in London and Manchester and The Cinderella Syndrome in London.
For many years Victoria commissioned Lord Snowdon to photograph the performance of the companies she promoted. She later organised Snowdon’s retrospective in London, New York, and Moscow. In Moscow she converted an orangery to house 220 works, this was designed to replicate Snowdon’s exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. They also published two books together, one focused on India, the other Russia.
Victoria continues to work with artists and galleries in the UK and the United States.
Many artists who were selected for the 2022 show have since been invited by other galleries to show their work, much of the work was sold to collectors by the host galleries. Each year the project expands and in doing so gives the participating graduates unique opportunity for a wider career base. That is the aim of The Graduate Art Show