MEET THE OWNER

Pyramid Power

We visit York’s most vibrant independent gallery

his year Pyramid Gallery in York’s picturesque Stonegate celebrates its 40th anniversary. Set in an historic oak-framed building dating back 600 years and owned by the National Trust, the gallery’s two sales floors are packed with exciting contemporary jewellery, glassware, ceramics, prints, paintings and sculptures.

Current owner and manager Terry Brett has been at the helm for the last 28 years. Terry was fascinated by art from an early age but ended up training as a quantity surveyor. He and his then wife Elaine bought the business in 1994, and were soon making such a success of it that they gave up their professional careers to concentrate on it full time.

Pyramid Gallery was one of the first galleries in England to be listed and approved by the Crafts Council, for which it had to demonstrate that at least 60% of its products were designed and made in the UK. It’s a target the gallery has always comfortably exceeded; virtually everything ever shown there was either made by British artists or by artists based in Britain.

FINESSE AND FUN

So how does Terry select work for display? “Our ethos is about top-quality, handmade objects,” he says. “We aim to fill the gallery with things that are highly desirable, quirky, or both!”

When it originally opened, Pyramid Gallery focused on jewellery – not surprising, given that founder Robert Feather was (and still is) a jeweller. To date the gallery has dealt with around 300 British jewellers, and jewellery currently accounts for nearly half the gallery’s sales.

Pyramid’s jewellers are certainly an interesting bunch. York-based Ruth Claydon, for example, scavenges ancient pieces of metal and other objects from the River Thames foreshore and turns them into delightfully enigmatic necklaces, pendants and earrings. London-based Gail Klevan, by contrast, moulds, casts, laser-cuts and colours acrylic to create intricate, bold, bright bangles and cuffs.

When they acquired Pyramid Gallery, Terry and Elaine added prints, and subsequently paintings, to the range of work on show. One well-known painter-printmaker who makes a strong showing at the gallery is Anita Klein, a graduate of the Chelsea and Slade schools of fine art and former President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.

“Her colourful line-drawn paintings and prints portray a cosy family life we can all identify with,” says Terry. “I like them because of their humour and careful observation, and the fact that she has a keen sense of how to fit the image into the picture space.”

TOP OF THE GLASS

Studio glassware is another important part of the mix at Pyramid Gallery. “We always have a strong selection of sculptural glass on show,” says Terry, “and we’re particularly lucky to have Colin Reid, one of the country’s most highly respected contemporary glass artists.”

“Colin works with clear and coloured kiln-cast optical glass, cutting and polishing it to create multiple internal reflections. His work has a huge impact – quite breathtaking sometimes. Many of his pieces would be too large and heavy for the delicate floors of this historic building, but he makes smaller-scale work especially for us!”

Thanks to Pyramid’s longstanding association with glasswork, the gallery is a regular venue for exhibitions curated by the Contemporary Glass Society. The society is holding its 25th anniversary show at the gallery from 10 September to 30 October. Entitled Bedazzled, it features work by 25 innovative British glass artists. The gallery is also well known for its charity work. “Almost every year I’ve used the gallery, and our large customer mailing list, to raise money for good causes,” says Terry. “It’s something that was instilled in me from an early age by my mother. Recently I have collected my rabbit cartoons – drawn under the nom de plume ‘Bertt deBaldock’ – into two books funded and published by Pyramid. So far they have raised nearly £3,000 for St Leonard’s Hospice and Refugee Action York.”

Terry’s favourite part of the job? “It’s definitely the people – dealing with the artists themselves, and making connections between artists and collectors. Every customer who spends their money in Pyramid Gallery is endorsing the artist, and supporting what we as a gallery do. I still get a thrill from selling a greetings card for £3 – and even more from selling a piece of glass for £10,000!”

virtually everything ever shown here is either made by British artists or by artists based in Britain.

For more information about Pyramid Gallery visit pyramidgallery.com or call 01904 641187.

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