Gallerist Q&A - Oscar Gilbert

How did you find your way into the art world - and what drew you to becoming a gallerist specifically?

Whilst I was still a student in Edinburgh, I started organising exhibitions with friends from the university and the art college, where everyone would exhibit their work and then there would be DJs and a party afterwards. I didn’t know anyone collecting art, but my landlord at the time owned several student apartments and there was a rumour he drove a Ferrari. I invited him to one of the shows and he bought 10 works to decorate his apartments - that was my first taste of sales.

The owner of a commercial gallery in Edinburgh came to see one of the shows - I had a chance to talk to them and found out that the gallery model existed. This was shortly before I first came to Denmark on an exchange. I took my CV to every commercial gallery in Copenhagen and have a fond memory of Susanne Ottesen kindly inviting me into her office to hear more about my interest. Eventually I started interning at V1 Gallery and that was my first professional experience in the art world and one that had a big impact on guiding me towards what I am doing today.

As soon as I met people who were running their own galleries, I was drawn towards the opportunity to realise projects with artists, to use sales as a means to encourage people to support artistic production, and to enjoy the flexibility to work spontaneously on shorter timelines than institutions.

How do you see the role of a gallerist in today’s art world, and what do you consider your key responsibilities?

If you run a commercial gallery, I think the primary job role is split between directing the programme and taking responsibility for the practical aspects of the business - particularly sales. The goal is not to sell indiscriminately, but to build connections between artists and the people who are interested in their work and want to support their practice, ideally over an extended period. One of my particular strengths is communicating about artists’ practices on their behalf - and doing it with enthusiasm!

My responsibilities are to be a sparring partner to the artists I collaborate with, to work hard and strategically in support of their careers, to make interesting and well-curated exhibitions, and to make sure that visitors to the gallery have a great experience – including, but of course not limited to, those who are purchasing works.

How do you discover the artists you collaborate with, and what draws you to their practices?

Before starting the gallery, I used to run a blog where I would interview artists and document studio visits. It was a great excuse for me to develop relationships with artists whom I had met in the city, or whose work I had seen in group shows or online. Some of the first interviews I made were with Anna Weyant, Sara-Vide Ericson, Mads Hilbert, Richard Kern, Keith Boadwee, Penny Davenport and Erica Eyres. In the case of Keith, Penny and Erica, the dialogue after the interview led to us working together and eventually representation with the gallery.

Today there are other exhibition platforms, including galleries outside of Denmark or non-profit spaces, whose programme I like a lot and follow closely. There are also many artists, curators and collectors whose opinion I trust when it comes to sharing recommendations. It is hard to generalise, but often I am drawn to practices that have matured and developed over time, and that feel personal but with a critical point-of-view.

Are there particular mediums, themes, or sensibilities that define the next generation of artists you want to work with?

I think in some ways the gallery has become best known for exhibitions of small-format paintings that are intimate and psychologically-charged. At first, working with small-formats was more of a practical and economic necessity. But over time I found that the intensity of small-formats and the way they work on the mind, rather than the body, perhaps, is particularly interesting. That being said, I think some of the best-received exhibitions at the gallery have focused on body politics, ideas of the uncanny or the grotesque, and new approaches to religion and spirituality. I was interested to discover that the latter can sometimes be more of a taboo subject in Denmark than I was expecting.

What sets OTP Copenhagen apart within the Copenhagen art scene, and what are you aiming to push forward through your programme?

When it comes to the programme, I am really trying to promote unfamiliar practices that would otherwise be absent from Copenhagen’s art scene. I am not from Denmark, so I play into that and instead focus on offering something different and an international perspective.

One of the things that really sets OTP Copenhagen apart in the city’s art scene is the experience you get when you come to the gallery. Whoever enters the gallery I will get up and greet them properly and introduce myself to them and offer to walk them through the exhibition. If people prefer to look for themselves, they are welcome, but I have heard from many visitors that it is nice to hear some context about the show, who the artist is, and how they are working. Of course, some of this information is written in a press release, but people don’t come to galleries to read a press release.

What does the demographic profile of your collectors/audience look like? Do you explicitly cater to younger collectors or new generations?

When I first started, Instagram played a big role in my sales to new customers, and I sold most works to collectors in Denmark, and then after that the US, mainland China and Taiwan. Over time, as I have become more established in this part of the world, I sell more to collectors across Scandinavia as well as Northern Europe and the UK.

I did a breakdown of my invoices at the end of last year and found that 70% of my sales to new collectors in 2025 had been to men, so I have actively been working to foster a more mixed collector base and particularly to sell to more women collectors. Some of the collectors I have worked with most consistently are younger collectors and that is also something I am trying to focus more on. But of course, on average, people with young families or at an earlier stage in their career often have less disposable income.

Since founding OTP Copenhagen in 2021, what has been your biggest achievement - and your biggest challenge?

In 2025, my New Year’s resolution was to sell a work to an institution. In the months that followed, works by artists from the gallery found homes with foundations, public collections and both Danish and international museums, which felt like a major milestone.

One of the challenges I have been focusing most on is how to scale the gallery in a way that provides the best opportunities for the artists I work with, particularly when they are at pivotal stages in their careers, whilst also ensuring growth at a sustainable rate. In my mind the development of the gallery over time is like a series of stepping stones - I know we are heading in the right direction.

Looking ahead, what are your ambitions for OTP Copenhagen? Is there a “dream project” or collaboration you hope to realise in the coming years?

One of the reasons the gallery is called OTP Copenhagen, is because I liked the idea that OTP could be used as a short moniker to unify all the gallery’s activities. So, some dreams for the future include: OTP Books, OTP merch, OTP London (or another kind of presence for the gallery in the UK), some kind of OTP billboard/public display project, and last but not least OTP at CHART. I am really looking forward to showing at Charlottenborg for the first time this August. The galleries at CHART are very much the peer group that I would like to see myself alongside, so participating this year feels like a long-held ambition realised.