The gallery is called CLOSE, which shares the same name as the 17th century house, and forms part of the estate Yianni owns with husband Magnus Hammick. Yianni aims to build artist careers and set them free.  She hopes that CLOSE will be the same and will outlive her and not carry her namesake, unlike many galleries. "We have been told so many times that CLOSE offers a warm welcome to artists and visitors, this is a great achievement for me". (Freeny Yianni).

Formerly a major part of the Lisson Gallery, Yianni challenged art genres in digital art, video and performance based work. She worked with the great sculptors McCracken, Kapoor and Deacon as well as mentoring many of the Frieze generation and Young British Artists within the London and New York art scene. Yianni is a storyteller and has a multitude of fascinating stories of artist studio visits and the special relationships she formed with artists, gallerists and writers. When the time came to leave Lisson Gallery, her loyalty to the gallery meant she initially chose to pursue her love of public art and architecture, launching in 2000 with husband Magnus Hammick, a design company BLU (Beautiful Lines Unexplained). During this time Yianni developed work within Art and Architecture realising projects that took the company into a new realm of design underpinned with a conceptual discipline including prestigious projects such as the Monte Verdi Building, London and The Fontana Project at the Hayward Gallery to name a few. 

After the birth of her two sons Yianni returned to her roots and established CLOSE Gallery, fulfilling her passion for  working directly with artists and curating shows. Her home and gallery estate is a thriving hub of creativity which nurtures artists in residence, exhibition and education programs. CLOSE has grown into a discerning art centre which centres on sensitivity and excellence, something Yianni is very proud of. Her knowledge of contemporary art history sets the tone for exciting external projects and events that are underpinned with a first hand experience of contemporary art. Yianni is altruistic and develops her projects with a keen sense that her work is covering rare territory. 

Freeny Yianni volunteers as Co Chair of charity SAW (Somerset Arts Works) a National Portfolio Organisation that serves to develop artists opportunities and inspire communities through their outstanding art engagement. They are funded by Arts Council England. She lives between London and Somerset. 
 

MORE INFO

• Born in London.

• Brought up in Cyprus until 1974 when the Turkish Invasion of the Island brought her and her family back to the UK. Her father died in a tragic accident in 1973 her mother, a couturist brought Yianni up in 70's London with her three older siblings, two sisters and a brother.

• She studied BA Honours Fine Art at Winchester School, Hampshire and her tutors included Cornelia Parker, Clyde Hopkins and Vanessa Jackson.

• She then went on to study for a Masters Degree in Interdisciplinary Art and Architecture at The Kent Institute under Andrew Brighton. 

• Between 1990 and 1999 Yianni went onto work at Lisson Gallery and then set up her design company in 1999 called Beautiful Lines Unexplained. Here she designed for prestigious projects like the Monte Verdi Building, The Fontana Project at the Hayward Gallery as well as personal appointments with The Beckhams family and Madonna. 

• 2001 saw the birth of her first son Yanis Hammick who is now a contributor to her gallery and a part 1 architect in his own right. And 2006 saw the arrival of Cassius Hammick, a young musician and songwriter. 

• In 2007 Yianni bought CLOSE Estate and in 2009 she established her art gallery. "We used to have exhibitions in the house itself and I was very much dipping my toes back into the art world. My first show was a photography show called 'Cuba Italy China' by Barry Cawston" By 2018 the courtyard was developed into CLOSE Gallery, much revered for its simple rural aesthetic, which launched its first show in 2019. Yianni lives and works from the estate and travels regularly to see her artists as CLOSE develops situations for them on an international scale. 
  
  

THE CLOSE TEAM

Sarah Watney, Head of Communications and Exhibitions, plays an essential role for Close Ltd bringing our work alive on screen to enable the character of our projects to transcend to our audiences, helping to reduce our carbon footprint and yet remain relevant on an international platform. She is sensitive to the artists we work with and integral to developing our activities. Contact sarah@closeltd.com

Katherine Perrins leads our marketing and sales here at Close. Contact Katherine directly at katherine@closeltd.com

Contributors include;

Yanis Hammick

Tim Bowery                     

Andrew Brown