George Mingozzi-Marsh. Gallerist, curator, and co-founder of amici.art and Amici Studio, Hastings
Your surname is intriguing…
I married into the Mingozzi name. My partner Laura’s father is Italian, so when we got married, George Marsh became George Mingozzi-Marsh. It sounds more exotic, but it also confuses people in Italy who assume I must be fluent. My Italian is… optimistic at best.
Are you local?
We are now. We live on the West Hill in Hastings, and this is our sixth year here. Like many people, we came down from London, but we were conscious not to arrive and immediately impose ourselves on the town. I was still running my London gallery, Brooke Benington, and we didn’t want to be those people who move down and say, “This is how it’s done.” We lived through the Covid years here, got to know the community, and gradually people encouraged us to do something locally. At the same time, we began to see a space for something that wasn’t a traditional gallery – something that could grow out of what already exists in Hastings.
How did you end up choosing Hastings?
I grew up on the edges of London, went to Kingston Art College, where I met Laura; afterwards I moved around: Tooting and Brixton, then Bow and for many years in Peckham Rye. When we started thinking about leaving London, we knew we wanted to be by the sea. We visited different coastal towns looking for a creative community we felt aligned with. We looked widely – Somerset, Dorset, Margate, Folkestone. Brighton didn’t feel different enough from London; we wanted somewhere smaller and more intimate. Margate felt a bit too ‘Shoreditch- on-Sea’. Hastings was the sweet spot, with its diverse architecture and vibrant music scene, a mix of the rundown and the up-and-coming, the eccentric and the ambitious.
Tell us about 12 Claremont, the building Amici Studio is based in. It still says YMCA on the doorstep…
It’s had many lives. It was built in 1870 as The Claremont Rooms, a community meeting place, but at various points it’s been a YMCA, offices, and Hastings’ first telephone exchange. It’s always had this beautiful north light, so it’s had a creative history. The top floor, where we are, was once an etching studio connected to the print-works and the Hastings Observer newspaper building behind us. In the early noughties it was bought by artists with the hope of developing a community arts space – there were a few artists working up here, and Project Art Works actually started in this loft space. About 15 years ago the council bought it with the idea of linking it to the library, but the buildings didn’t connect physically, so it sat empty for years.
And then Hastings Commons stepped in?
Exactly. They’re an extraordinary community-led developer. They’ve restored the Observer Building, Eagle House, and many of the Victorian shopfronts along the street. Their model is brilliant: acquire underused buildings, redevelop them, keep rents capped, and eventually transfer them to a community trust so they can’t be sold off. Being part of that network opens up a whole ecosystem of creatives, tech people, youth groups, and small businesses. We’re already planning joint events.
So 12 Claremont is now a creative hub?
Very much so. Project Art Works are using the ground floor as a gallery for six months. The middle floors are home to documentary filmmakers, an art school studio, an architecture practice, and a couple of digital arts related businesses. And then the top floor is us.
How will your space be used?
The front half is our office – Amici Studio CIC and Amici Art Ltd – where we’ll run mentoring sessions and a local crit club for artists, and where Laura does her design work, including Get Hastings magazine. The back half is a flexible gallery and event space. We’ll run six major exhibitions a year in two- month blocks. The first two will be Amici-led collaborations; the next four will be organised by my gallery Brooke Benington as an ‘In Residence’ programme. Each exhibition will have a talks programme, salon dinners with local chefs, cross- disciplinary performances, and community workshops led by Laura, especially for schools and young people. Being on the top floor means we can host both public events and more private, supportive sessions.
What shows have you got planned?
Our first show – a collaboration with Gertrude, the art app – will have finished by the time ROSA comes out. The second exhibition, opening March 11, is co-curated by Kelly Jessiman – ROSA’s cover artist a couple of issues ago – and Alexis Soul- Gray. It explores the experiences of artist-mothers raising children with complex needs. The first Brooke Benington artist, showing in May, will be Katie Tomlinson who will curate a group show alongside exploring gender identity in the paintings of Queer artists.
Do you travel much around the county?
Mostly along the coast – Bexhill, Eastbourne, Hastings, sometimes Rye. Inland tends to be reserved for family trips: Bodiam Castle, Battle Abbey, National Trust places. We’ve got a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old, so weekends revolve around things we can all enjoy. Pevensey Castle is fantastic. And the Mint House in Pevensey – if there’s an exhibition there, we’ll combine it with a castle runaround for the kids. This part of the world is brilliant for that mix of culture and history.
What are your favourite pubs and restaurants in and around Hastings?
The Imperial on Queens Road is our local and one of the best pubs anywhere. Brewing Brothers started there; the wood- fired pizza is great, the beer is great, and it’s got that proper, slightly scruffy charm. The Piper in St Leonards is brilliant for live music. BAYTE is as good as everyone says it is, and the new restaurant at Hastings Contemporary, Coquina – run by the same people – is excellent too. And I have to mention Three Souls in a Bowl, which does this Indian street-food- meets-fusion thing. They’re currently doing a residency at French’s, and the food is exceptional.
Which galleries do you rate in Sussex?
Matt Black Barn in the countryside near Chichester is extraordinary – Andrew Sabin and Laura Ford have created this hybrid of home, studio, sculpture, landscape, and occasional gallery. Nearer to home, I love what they’re doing at Hastings Contemporary under the new director, Kathleen Soriano. Project 78 on Norman Road is artist-led, rough around the edges, but all the better for it, and home to remarkable, often experimental shows. And Flatland Projects in Bexhill has a programme as strong as anything in the country. You’ll see future Turner Prize artists there.
When did you last swim in the sea?
Not much this year – the storms have been brutal. Last time was late last year. When we first moved here, I swam every day of the year. Then came the pollution-dumping scandal, which broke the habit. Sea swimming switches my brain off. I’ve got a noisy mind, and the sea is the mute button. That’s one of the main reasons we moved here. It’s grounding, clarifying – almost meditative. Tell us a Sussex secret… I love the smuggler history. At the top of Hastings High Street there’s a tiny cottage with an oversized chimney. In the 17th century it was a lookout point – they’d put a lamp in a small window to signal to boats that the coast was clear. The big chimney hid a token stash of contraband, a decoy for the authorities, who, if they discovered it, wouldn’t realise the bulk of the stuff was in tunnels below. Ninety percent of Old Town residents were involved in smuggling at one point. It’s a wonderful bit of local lore.
Amici Studio, 12 Claremont, Hastings. amici.art @amici__art