Roofer opens new contemporary art gallery in Hereford

Michael Hayes, a former art student and art lover, has taken the plunge ... and the lease on a unit in Bastion Mews, to open the new space, called Bocam Gallery.

It was the realisation that he didn't have enough room to hang all his pictures in combination with having inherited some money that led to the decision to open a gallery himself.

"And we don't have an art gallery as such in Hereford, so I thought that I'd give it a go," he explains.

Gallery owner, Michael Hayes at his new Art Gallery in Bastion Mews. Picture: Rob Davies

"The sort of things I am showing are contemporary street art and pop art, as well as digital art.

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"I do like fine art," he says, "but the artists I have are more up-and-coming. I have sourced them from a European art auction site and so a lot are French and Italian, with some British and American artists, and I have also commissioned some artists."

Michael adds that the opening of the gallery may prompt him to return to his own art – he is currently continuing with his work as a roofer – but says modestly that he's not sure whether it will be 'good enough' for the gallery. "But art is subjective," he says.

A private opening for family and friends will take place before the gallery – a play on his own nickname of 'Cambo' – opens every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.