Interview: Sascha Bailey talks art and family with The Upcoming at Lights of Soho

Sascha Bailey, son of celebrated photographer David Bailey, has been curating and producing art exhibitions for the past three years. His new company, Quite Useless, is now hosting its final show in a series of six with an exhibition showcasing the work of Fenton Bailey, his brother. 

The Upcoming caught up with Sascha during the exhibition’s unveiling at Lights of Soho on Thursday night. We chatted with him about what Quite Useless hopes to achieve, Fenton’s explorative work and what it’s really like working with family.

Tell us about your new company, Quite Useless.

So, the reason it’s called Quite Useless is because Oscar Wilde said “all art is quite useless”, which means it serves no functional purpose but it is there to simply be enjoyed and admired. Our eventual goal at Quite Useless is to become a space quite similar to Lights of Soho but we also want to be a restaurant. We want to support young artists and be their launching pad as much as we can.

So, is it more about an experience?

Yes, that’s the idea, it’s going to really be an immersive company ideal. And it’s still got more of a vision being decided on for the future.

If there was one major impact that Quite Useless could have on the art world, what would it be?

We are aiming quite big: we want to change people’s perceptions of art. We’ve done installation art here and light-based art, we’ve had Fenton’s modernisation of the “mutoscope” and we’ve had more traditional painting shows as well. We really want people to think of art not just as a “picture on the wall”; we want them to think of art as something that can really be involved with their life in a more functional way and in a more meaningful way. I feel like the meaning has been lost and some people think it’s more about technique. We really want to show that there can be a middle-ground between technique and new, contemporary ideas.

How does this fit with all of your previous projects?

It’s quite organic compared to what I used to do. It fits in quite nicely; it’s not too much of a change and I really like the team I have around me. I think the most important thing in the creative industries is wanting to grow and if you want to do something hard enough you will learn the necessary skills along the way.

So a little bit about your current show (a showcase of Fenton Bailey’s work). This is the final show in a series of six – how has this exhibition compared to the others?

It’s so different, so it’s hard to compare them. We’ve had shows from artists who are just starting out and shows from artists who have their own kind of following. This show is more about Fenton’s following and our company’s following all combined into one.

Why did you choose this show in particular as the final one?

Honestly, because he’s my brother. We wanted to do Fenton’s show last because we wanted to go out with a bang and we knew that what he was doing was going to be really cool. Also, it’s going to be one of the last shows where Fenton shows off this kind of erotic style. He’s going to move into other areas and expand his portfolio. I felt like this was a nice send-off, and the venue was perfect.

On that note, do you enjoy working alongside your family?

I’m quoting Fenton here but, as he said, “working with family is crazy, wild, frustrating and tiring but overall incredibly rewarding”.

What message do you think viewers should take from Fenton’s work here today?

You need to live in the moment. Fenton’s work shows perfect moments caught in time and they are candid moments between two people in love, two real people, and you can see that in his pictures. I think the one thing you should take from his photos is to not let moments like that go so quickly.

Laura Ewing

For further information about Quite Useless visit here.

Read our review of Fenton Bailey’s latest showcase in Soho here.