The Artist
Russell Smith
Artist, collector, gallery founder and lifelong music obsessive, shaped by punk, northern grit, record culture and the underground creative spirit of the UK.
About the Artist
Russell Smith is an artist, collector, gallery founder and lifelong obsessive of music, design, football, records, print, culture and creative rebellion.
Born in Hartlepool during the 1977 “Summer of Punk”, Russell grew up against the backdrop of deindustrialisation, the miners’ strike, and the slow, irreversible decline of a once mighty town. Afternoons were spent daydreaming in classrooms, watching Class 52 trains deliver coal to the Port of Hartlepool, while the 1980s unfolded in all their bleak, grey intensity.
Russell’s mother raised him on Motown, The Doors, John Lennon, Northern Soul and 60s Blues. Hand-me-down clothes from his older brother and the necessity of cheap trainers later sparked a lifelong obsession with Adidas footwear, including one prized possession: a pristine pair of red patent leather Gerd Müllers.
The mid-eighties in the Northeast were grim. The sun rarely seemed to come out, unemployment was everywhere, Hartlepool United FC were at an all-time low, and London’s “City Boom” felt like it was happening in another country. Against that backdrop, Russell found escape in two things: music and his ZX Spectrum.
He began collecting records, cassettes and music-related ephemera in 1986. His first ever 7" single was “Happy Hour” by The Housemartins, and a cassette copy of a copy of a copy of Queen’s Greatest Hits gave him an enduring love of guitar music. Then, around 1989, everything changed.
Acid House hit the Top 40 and bleak, grey Hartlepool came alive in a rush of technicolour, electronic beats, shell suits and possibility. By 1990, Russell was immersed in a world of football, records, Italia 90, New Order, Gazza, Smash Hits, NME crosswords, The Stone Roses and an ever-expanding universe of musical influence. It was the beginning of an obsession that has never burned out.
From James at Manchester G-Mex and Alton Towers, to Nirvana at Newcastle Riverside, to sitting on stage with Oasis at Middlesbrough Arena on the night news broke of Kurt Cobain’s death, Russell collected records, art, prints, music memorabilia and a fair few hazy memories along the way.
In 2013, Russell launched his first gallery in Saltburn-by-the-Sea with two clear intentions: to source and sell amazing art from around the world that was cool, affordable and interesting, and to give new and emerging artists a permanent outlet with minimal commission and zero sales pressure.
The ethos was simple: if it was cool, it had a place. If it was rough around the edges but believed in, it had a place. If someone was difficult to deal with, they didn’t. The gallery never made much money, but it never went cap in hand to the Arts Council or any other funder either. Independence mattered.
In 2022, Russell expanded the gallery model into Wetherby, West Yorkshire, and saw again that wherever you are in the UK, there is always an underground seam of creativity looking for an outlet. Completing an MA at the Northern School of Art introduced him to the talents of MITSI and Laura Wigham, while a chance connection with Jonny Hannah led to friendship and collaboration.