That Was The Week That Was — 27th September 2026

New York will always be a very special place for me, having been the catalyst for many things in my career, from working with Hillman Curtis in the 2000s to having Cinema Redux appear at the MoMA in 2008 to name just a few. This week I travelled to this favourite city to attend the opening of Gazelli Art House's New York gallery with the show Put the Kettle On which Persian Dreams was appearing in alongside a multi-generational array of artists which Gazelli look after.

On the morning of the exhibition I walked up to Cafe Chelsea to get breakfast in this lovely French Bistro style cafe attached to the legendary hotel. When I'm eating on my own I always have three things with me; a pen, a notebook and a book to read. I'll sit and write down observations about the other people in the restaurant or phrases I've overheard from people sitting nearby. On this occasion I seemed to be sandwiched in between two sets of German speaking guests, maybe something to do with the UN being in session. The book that I was currently reading was my forth J G Ballard of the year — The Unlimited Dream Company — which is one of the most inventive, surreal books I've ever read and one I couldn't put down.

Following a nice breakfast of Eggs Benedict and English Breakfast tea (thankfully they never asked "hot tea?" – there is only hot tea!) I took a walk to the gallery to get a sense of where it was located. On the way, I happened to bump into Mila Askarova and her husband Robert (founder of Verisart) having coffee outside a nearby cafe. This is one of the reasons I love to walk when I can — you can't bump into people travelling in a taxi — though you can have great conversations with the driver sometimes.

As I sat down to join them on a table made for two I managed to tip the table over and send a full bottle of water crashing into Mila's coffee and all over the table. I had arrived.

After apologising profusely we took a walk to the gallery which was still being made ready. The space in the former Marlborough gallery was impressive and the show looked fantastic, with my own work installed as a three screen installation. I stood there, in this beautiful contemporary space in Chelsea wondering what the hell I was doing here, how did this happen? At any moment I felt someone was going to tap me on the shoulder and say "Mr. Dawes, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us now. You don't belong here." Yet somehow here I was and it felt good.

I've always believed in instinct and that's most evident in the people I choose to hang around with and work with. When Gazelli approached me back in 2021 to talk about representing me I knew it was right simply because I got on really well with Mila and the Gazelli team, loving Mila's vision for the gallery and her passion for digital art. So far that instinct has served me well.

Before the show I met up with my friend and Anamorph co-conspirator Gary Hustwit and after a cocktail at the hotel bar we headed over to the opening. The space was nice and busy and it was great to see some familiar faces who very kindly came out for it, including some other members of the Anamorph crew.

During the night I managed to avoid people asking "can you tell me about the work?", not because I don't want to talk to people but because I would much rather people look at it and make up their own minds in that moment.

After the show myself, Gary and the Anamorph crew headed over to Bottino to celebrate the evening with some beautiful food. A few minutes later Mila and Robert happened to walk in though this time I stayed well away from their table and any liquids.

Breakfast the following found me back at Cafe Chelsea to meet my friend Benny. Due to the crazier than usual traffic in New York caused by the UN being in session, Benny was going to be about an hour late, so I sat with my Ballard book in hand at the bar with a cup of tea. It's always good to have book to hand in these situations.

After a great catch-up with Benny — talking all things art — I wandered over to Academy Records on 18th Street and bought two classic soundtracks from the sixties — Bullitt on orange marbled vinyl and the Our Man Flint – the spoof spy series starring James Coburn. The covers alone are worth the price I paid.

That evening I was back at the gallery along with my friend and amazing Illustrator Yuko Shimuzu for a fifty person dinner. Sitting down for dinner with a roomful of strangers is always a little intimidating so I try and do the best I can to start conversations. As the person next to me sat down I asked "what brings you here?" She replied "whadda ya think? An invite! What brought you here? An invite? Yeah? There ya go!" She seemed pissed off she was even there. For the rest of the evening I chatted to everyone else but her.