The Livingstone gallery chain in Cornwall has collapsed due to more than £200,000

Artists say they fear they may never see the money they are owed to a Cornwall gallery after it went bankrupt and its owner “ghosted” without a word. Livingstone St Ives, which had galleries in St Ives, Truro and Clifton in Bristol, closed for good, leaving dozens of artists in the lurch.

The business was founded by Alicia Livingstone, 44, in 2018 as Far & Wild Ltd in Perranporth. It changed its name to Livingstone St Ives in 2021 and expanded with a gallery in St Ives, Bristol and even Chelsea in West London. Although it no longer had a gallery in Perranporth, Livingstone St Ives grew further with the opening of a new gallery on Truro’s Lemon Street in March, which was launched with a solo exhibition by Cornwall artist Jack Davis.

However, now it has all come crashing down and many of the artistes feel they may be left out of pocket. The St Just Jack artist said he is owed more than £50,000 from Livingstone St Ives, while other artists who had regularly exhibited with the company are out of pocket between £3,000 and £5,000.

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Jack, who has been at Livingstone St Ives for three years, said at first he was paid on time, but over the past two years payments have become increasingly irregular, to the point where he owes sales for at least six months since last September. year. He claims that Mrs. Livingstone used the sale of artists’ works to prop up her ailing business, effectively paying for new art with old art while racking up massive losses.

He said: “I feel like he took the money from the sale of the artwork that he owes artists like me to run his failed business, but he had no intention of paying me. Now he took his business offline and changed his number and completely imagined the artists. .”

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According to Companies House, Livingstone St Ives’ accounts for 2022-2023 (which were filed on April 30 this year) show that the company had debts (liabilities) of £207,535. The accounts for the previous reporting year show liabilities of £72,718. Mrs Livingstone is listed as a director with a mailing address at Krowji Studios in Redruth and her occupation listed as ‘curator’. An Alistair John Jones is listed as the previous director, for two-year terms, the last ending in April 2022.

Jack added: “All the artists feel they have been fed a lie and that she has used the sale of their work to cover her costs. There is no accountability and now it’s all gone.

“All the artists were able to get their work back so at least there is that, but while I hope there is a legal way for all of this, there is no asset in the company so no one will be paid. We understand the Staff were told they would be paid but no word on us artists we felt it was a money job.

“Why open a new gallery in Truro when you’re already stretched thin?”

Another artist, who did not want to be named, told CornwallLive she was approached by Livingston St Ives a few weeks ago as part of a massive ‘Open Call’ to artists, which charges each artist a 20 of pounds in a bid to “discover new talent from artists working in all mediums – from textiles to painting, prints, jewellery, photography and ceramics”.

At the time of the Open Call announcement in February, Ms Livingstone said: “Our gallery is committed to representing the most exciting emerging artists and promoting their work to the public. , original parts and we want to find them. This Open Call celebrates art making and we welcome any artist, at any stage of their hobby or career.”

However, the artist who contacted us said that she applied for it herself and now she may have lost some money as well. She said: “I’m afraid it was just a scam to make money to save their gallery.”

When we contacted Livingstone St Ives for comment, we found that the website, Facebook page and Instagram accounts had all been shut down. We received this auto-reply message to our email: “Unfortunately Livingstone St Ives gallery has taken the difficult decision to close our doors for the last time.

“Thank you to all of our loyal customers and collectors that we have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past four years. Thank you for supporting us and our artists. If you have any questions about ceasing to trade, please contact our representative William Buxton and Purnells: [email protected].”

Mr Buxton, insolvency manager at Purnells, said: “Purnells has been instructed to put the company into creditors’ voluntary liquidation as the company is insolvent and therefore unable to continue trading. As a result of the company’s insolvency status, it is not in a position. make any payments to its creditors.

“Once the company is in liquidation, the appointed liquidators will begin there investigation to establish the causes of the failure and will report the director’s conduct to the Secretary of State. At this stage I cannot comment on the likelihood of creditors. receiving the money that is owed”.

He added: “We are currently only acting in an advisory capacity and will not have the legal authority to act or investigate until we are appointed. Currently, we have requested the director to provide us with all the necessary things. the information necessary for the preparation of the company’s statement of business and statutory notices will be sent to all known creditors in due course.

“In the meantime, I would ask that all creditors be patient and allow the law to take its course. I fully appreciate that anyone who is owed money is understandably aggrieved, however I cannot say anything further at this stage.’

He added: “If you are an artist and you currently have work located at any of the company’s premises, please contact the gallery via the email address used to raise this issue and liaise with staff regarding your return. I can confirm that staff have been retained for the next two weeks to facilitate this.”

Jack, who has a studio at Krowji in Redruth, added: “I had no idea this was happening. I’ve built a good relationship with Alicia over the years. But she never even called us. She changed number and showed us no remorse.