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Annelien Bruins, independent Chief Marketing Officer, former CEO of Tang Art Advisory, course leader and instructor in our Art Advisory 201 Program, discusses the importance of a strong brand for an art advisory business.

What does marketing mean for art advisors?
Art advisors often operate as single-owner-businesses and therefore have limited resources available in terms of money and staff to assist with marketing. Therefore, it’s important to use marketing strategies that are appropriate for your company: a service business that is focused on an affluent, educated clientele. In Module 3 of this course I will discuss the two most effective marketing strategies for art advisors in more detail.

Why is the sales funnel so important in marketing?
The sales funnel is an important concept in marketing and for good reason. It explains how a customer (i.e., your potential client) makes the decision to engage you. Understanding this process means that you’ll be more effective in selling your services because you know what message to send out at what stage of the sales funnel.

The art market is based on personal relationships. What does that mean for marketing an art advisory business?
The art world is a small world based on personal relationships and as such, trust is an important factor. A collector is less likely to engage your services if they don’t trust you or know you, or if you haven’t been recommended to them by someone they trust. This means that your marketing has to focus on helping you establish that trust with potential clients and referral sources.

Why is it important to have a strong online presence?
The way in which we buy services and goods has changed tremendously in every industry. Even if you don’t get your clients through your online presence but rather through personal recommendations, prospective clients are likely to research your company online before they commit to engaging you and they’ll most likely also research the competition. Showcasing your expertise through thought leadership in your niche helps to nurture your personal brand which in turn will help you to establish trust with your clients and referral sources.

Find out more about Effective Marketing Strategies for Art Advisors with Annelien Bruins. Enroll in our Art Advisory 201 Program today!

Katherine Wilson-Milne and Steven Schindler, Partners at Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP and course instructors in our Art Advisory 201 Program, discuss common conflicts and explain how the art market has changed from a legal perspective.

What are the most common sources of conflict that you come across in your work as art attorneys and how could those conflicts be prevented?
By far most of the conflicts stem from not having written agreements between artists and galleries, collectors and dealers or between other collaborators. Parties often think they are on the same page, but writing business and relationship terms down really helps to make sure all parties are really clear on their respective responsibilities.

How do you feel the art market has changed over the past 20 years from a legal perspective?
The higher price and profile of art, especially with respect to contemporary art and cultural property/appropriation issues, has made the risks for art market players much greater. The potential liability with respect to one work of art can easily be millions of dollars. That risk makes parties more inclined to document transactions, engage in better due diligence and have written agreements. The art world is not fully professionalized in this way, but it is moving in that direction due to market realities.

What would your number one piece of advice be for new art advisors starting their own business?
Do not handle your client’s money. Of course, some advisors are also dealers, but those roles are distinct. If you feel like you may have a conflict of interest, you should consult an attorney and make sure any dealings with your client are well documented.

What is the difference between a fiduciary and an agent?
An agent is someone who may legally bind her principal (i.e., sell a work of art on the principal’s behalf), because the principal has given her that authority. Examples of agents are gallerists with respect to artists they represent, dealers with respect to their consignors and money managers or financial advisors with respect to those on whose behalf they are investing. Agents always owe fiduciary duties to their principals, which means that they must act in the best interests of the principal. There are other types of fiduciary relationships (e.g., attorney-client). If you are providing specialized advice to a client and they are relying on your advice with respect to spending money or selling art, you should assume you have fiduciary obligations to that client.

Find out more about Business and Legal Issues for Art Advisors with Katherine Wilson-Milne and Steven Schindler. Enroll in our Art Advisory 201 Program today!

Note: This interview is not intended to be a source of legal advice for any purpose. Always seek the legal advice of competent counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

Annelien Bruins, independent Chief Marketing Officer, former CEO of Tang Art Advisory, course leader and instructor in our Art Advisory 201 Program, discusses how the art advisor’s role has changed over the past decade.

Why did you develop this course with 1AN?
Before my career switch to luxury marketing I was an art advisor for 20 years. I know from experience that there is very little support available for art advisors in terms of how to set up your business, how to come up with an appropriate fee structure and how to understand the legal ramifications of operating as an art advisor. With the Art Advisory 101 (geared towards aspiring art advisors) and Art Advisory 201 (focused on art advisors with some experience) courses we hope to address that gap in the market.

How has the role of art advisors changed over the last 10 years?
Art advisory used to be a fairly informal occupation. In other words, it was not considered a real profession. Times have changed, however. These days, with through-the-roof art values and more complex art transactions, an art advisor is expected to be a well-rounded professional with a working knowledge of not just art but also areas such as taxes, art law and conservation so that they know when to call in the experts in these respective areas. An art advisor really is, or should be, a collector’s quarterback at all times.

Can an art advisor do other things, like running a gallery?
Many art professionals take on a couple of different roles in the art market: appraisers who advise on art transactions; gallery owners who provide art advisory services. Aside from any legal restrictions that may apply to each of these professions (i.e., the USPAP standard for appraisers), I personally don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to fulfill more than one role, as long as you are completely transparent with your clients and charge them appropriately. Needless to say, when in doubt, always ask an experienced art attorney about the legal ramifications of your particular business model.

Find out more about Understanding Best Practice in Art Advisory with Annelien Bruins. Enroll in our Art Advisory 201 Program today!

Today we chat with Mary von Aue, Editorial Director of Observer and host of the inaugural Business of Art Observed.

Mary joined Observer from the start-up publishing world, where she built editorial strategies and new outlets in the media landscape. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University that focused on Arabic literature and for years covered contemporary art and literature from the Middle East. Today, she continues to focus her editorial lens on the ways in which the arts intersect with current events and the business world.

Observer is known for bringing the latest in news, culture, and luxury. Why are you putting more attention back on art specifically?
We have a long history of covering art at Observer, but this year I wanted to take the conversation to the next level and explore the industry in a specific Observer way: that is, looking at the power players that are influencing the industry. I think that at this moment, Observer is best equipped to cover the shapeshifting art world and the innovation that is transforming it. Thanks to a team of writers and experts who cover both the cultural and business beats, we’re able to approach the industry holistically and capture the ecosystem from different angles. That tends to yield more nuanced, cross-sectional reporting, and for an industry that is changing as rapidly as the art world, it’s needed.

You hosted your inaugural Business of Art conference in New York on May 21. What was the reason for bringing this format of conversation to the market?
I think it was long overdue. When you’ve got an industry that has seen several disruptions in the last decade, being able to measure that impact is imperative. We wanted to bring all different players from the art world to an interactive platform not only for discussion and debate, but to ask what’s next. It’s not easy to stay ahead of innovation or point to the next big disruptor, but these conversations can help the art community build better businesses.

What topics did you address and why do you feel they are important?
What didn’t we cover!? Observer’s online strategy has always been to understand industries through their players, technologies and diverse influences as a way of capturing the zeitgeist. I think this event was a clear reflection of that strategy, as evident in our far-reaching topics. We looked at how the rules are changing for everyone in the business of making, buying, selling or displaying art, how regulation is impacting the market and how technology solutions can drive the industry forward.

We tackled everything from art fairs to risk management, and yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. I walked away with a wealth of new insights from our panelists, but also with a sense of excitement because there’s still so much more to discuss. That’s why we’re hosting another Business of Art Observed on November 12, this time as a full day event, with more opportunities for the art community to share insight and collaborate.

Educating the industry to create greater transparency and standards is something we are passionate about. What art business professionals do you feel would benefit most from attending this conference?
It’s tough to point to just one professional who would benefit most, as our last event created a welcome space for artists, gallery owners, auctioneers, lawyers, private collectors and beyond. Again, I feel these events are a clear reflection of Observer’s editorial brand, which offers our readers rare access to industry news from a nuanced perspective. If you work in the art world and you’re looking to share your knowledge, experience or challenges with the community, we’ve created a space for exactly that kind of discourse.

How important is it for a professional to stay up to date on trends and issues to advance their career?
To be honest, I can’t imagine professional success in any industry without that kind of participation. Just in the last few weeks, Observer has discussed how artificial intelligence is affecting art collectors and curators, how policy is changing the international art market, how blockchain is altering the process of art dealing. We wanted to host this conference to give people an opportunity to acknowledge these ripple effects and discuss ways in which they can navigate the challenges as a community.

View recordings from the inaugural Business of Art Observed Symposium as leading figures from the art industry share their experience. WATCH NOW!

Women artists—from old masters to those just out of art school—have slowly gained traction in museums and on the art market for years. If you’re thinking of collecting art by women, now is the time.

This year appears to be a watershed. “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future,” an exhibition of work by the Swedish modernist that closed in April, shattered records at the Guggenheim, pulling in 600,000 viewers.

In January, Victoria Beckham joined forces with Sotheby’s during Masters Week to spotlight 21 works by 14 women in a show called “The Female Triumphant,” including gold-standard artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun. Sales exceeded estimates, realizing $14.6 million.

The 2018 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth survey conducted by Bank of America found that the proportion of its clientele of highnet worth women investing in art more than doubled from the previous year—from 16 percent to 36 percent.

Collecting art takes passion, and it takes work. If you’re put off by the head-scratching research, the hushed austerity of white cube galleries, the competitive bustle of art fairs or the prospect of competitive bidding at auction, Julia Wehkamp of One Art Nation recommends hiring an art advisor. Read more about investing in female artists here!

For many collectors, their interest in acquiring art is a passion. People spend their entire life time building their collection and it can make up a substantial part of their net worth. But, unlike the thoughtful planning that is often intrinsic to other assets, the majority of collectors have not crafted a plan of action for their art collection.

Should the unlikely happen and you are no longer here tomorrow, what would become of your collection? Have you communicated with your family and friends about your works and their value? Have you laid out a comprehensive plan so your collection can go from one generation to the next or to the greater community to enjoy?

So how do you prepare for the inevitable? Read More Here.

Since the early 2000’s our perception of street art has evolved from the discussion of whether it’s vandalism or not to the question of how much a Banksy will bring at auction. Since entering the mainstream contemporary art market as a category to be taken seriously in its own right, millions of dollars of urban art has sold every year at the big auction houses and top galleries. Buyers range from art lovers interested in purchasing their first piece to seasoned art collectors who are looking at urban art as worthwhile investment. Corporate and consumer brands spend big bucks to incorporate street art into their branding.

Annelien Bruins sits down with Muys Snijders, Head of the America’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Department at Bonhams, and Tony “Rubin” Sjöman, Manhattan based mural and studio artist to interview them on how street artists increasingly dominate the contemporary art market and how they have managed to turn graffiti into a sought-after investment.

How do you go from creating art on walls to selling it in galleries?
There’s no simple answer. It’s a gradual process where one thing leads to another. When you start creating work in a studio, it can lead to exhibition spaces and galleries.

Has Street Art attained a position in the contemporary market?
Absolutely. Artists that started on the street are coming in and out of the market through the gallery world and secondary market. Bonhams has been offering sales of Street Art since 2008. Artists are going main stream and are ending up in the top evening sales.

Street Art in general is more accessible across different mediums from skateboards and billboards. And, unlike other art categories, it’s very international. The market will continue to grow as more attention is given to these artists. The works also speak to a younger generation of art collectors that easily identify with and understand the works.

Is there a big international client base?
It’s amazing what Instagram has done to the growth of the international Street Art market. It has propelled Street artists to the international forefront. It’s also a great tool to use when identifying which artists have come to market. Artists can show their work and the process behind it as opposed to just selling work on the platform.

What makes a good Street artist and does the same criteria apply as it does in the contemporary art market?
One of the ideas behind Graffiti Art is to not follow any rules. But nowadays, there are just so many rules. If the work is honest and authentic, that’s all that matters.

Sadly, there are a lot of fakes across all categories including Street Art. When making any significant investment, do your research and homework. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Where do you buy Street Art?
Visit artist’s studio to get to know the artist and actually see the process. The process can be more important than the actual work. Other viable options are a gallery show or contemporary art fair such as Moniker Urban Contemporary Art Fair.

How do you feel about art being removed and sold from walls?
If you do something illegal on the streets, unfortunately you don’t have much claim to it. But when it comes to ethics, of course it’s not correct. So where do you draw the line?

You can listen to the audio recording of the discussion here.

Prologue
As an art lawyer, I am interested in the intersection between art, law and politics — particularly in reference to the body politic. As a founding board member of Performa, Roselee Goldberg’s New York-based visual performance art biennale and for years involved in representing artists who work in the public sphere on percent or corporate commissions, my interests are particularly in art which challenges and interacts with existing hegemonic political structures and efforts by artists to cut through existing stereotypes and biases, to assert cultural and personal identities often marginalized or invisible. Such art often brings engagement in critical, sometime humorous dialogue with an audience to the forefront. Thus, in planning my agenda to review the 58th Biennale, I was particularly interested in visiting National Pavilions appearing at the Biennale either for the first time, such as Ghana and India, or National Pavilions with an emerging contemporary art scene not known globally, such as Mongolia. Having been inspired by the second edition of the Mongolia Pavilion Venice 2017, I visited Mongolia in October 2018 to experience the nomadic lifestyle and culture by a visit to the Golden Eagle Festival in the Altai mountains of western Mongolia, October 2018 and the art scene in the capital, Ulaan Batuur. I was also interested in the Pavilion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have been following Iran and its art scene since I had the privilege of visiting and learning about its ancient and rich cultural heritage during a visit in 2017. And in the interest of transparency, I was thrilled to see Martin Puryear represent the United States. Many New Yorkers and visitors to Madison Square Park are aware of his magnificent sculpture installation entitled Big Bling (c) (2016) , commissioned by Madison Square Conservancy. That commission inspired the Conservancy to apply to sponsor Martin and the Pavilion to the Department of State that selects the curator and artist for the US Pavilion, which is owned by the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. Madison Square Park Conservancy is the first public park organization to have been selected for this role. I have followed Martin’s career and amazing work for years, as well as representing him on a number of public art projects, including for the Getty Museum and the US Embassy in Beijing.

This year there were 90 National Participants or Pavilions located principally in the Arsenale, the Giardini and with about thirty throughout Venice . The curated International Exhibition is different from the official National Pavilions and is displayed in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini, as well as the Corderie of the Arsenale. The artistic director is selected by the Bienale foundation and sets the agenda for the Bienale and the International Exhibition.

Rugoff’s Curated International Exhibition

The ostensible non-theme for this year’s Biennale, selected by the artistic director Ralph Rugoff, was based on a fictitious Chinese proverb “may you live in interesting times.” Notwithstanding that the Venice Biennale started having themes in 1972, Rugoff stated that the 58th International Art Exhibition will highlight a general approach to making art and a view of art’s social function as embracing both pleasure and critical thinking. The title was meant to suggest and represent false news. Rugoff selected 84 contemporary living artists to participate. He explains his choices as follows: “all of the artists in this exhibition were selected because in some way their work acknowledges the open ended character of this exchange with the viewers own associative responses and interpretations to give meaning to their works of art. May You Live In Interesting Times has been formulated in the belief that an exhibition, like a work of art, is most deeply engaging when it provokes a vivacious inquisitiveness and encourages us to wonder and to question, and to try to better understand how different pieces of the world fit together.”

In a departure from Biennale practice, Rugoff gave each selected artist space in the Arsenale (Proposition A) or in the Giardini Central Pavilion (Proposition B). This was not a particularly successful endeavor for all artists, nor was the entire curated installation. While there were many successful installations and important works by artists both established and emerging, the International Exhibition as a whole in my opinion did not work as a curated exhibition: the artistic director’s description of the curated exhibition was too general to present any real order or direction to the the installations which ranged from mini gallery exhibitions to large scale installations. Far from highlighting “artworks that explore the interconnections of everything,” I found it difficult to experience how the artists spoke to each other.

The lack of curatorial vision or agenda made me recall with nostalgia some of the brilliantly curated themed exhibitions by other artistic directors over the years.

For example, the 52nd International Art Exhibition, directed by Robert Storr, Think with the Senses – Feel with the mind: Art in the present tense; the 54th International Art Exhibition, curated by art historian and critic Bice Curiger, ILLUMInations; the 55th International Art Exhibition, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, curator at the New Museum, The Encylopedic Palace. In that exhibition, performance artist Tino Sehgal was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist, the first time a performance artist was a recipient of this award. Angola, a first time Pavilion, deservedly won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation with an extraordinary site-specific installation by photographer Edsen Chagas, “Luanda Encyclopedic City”, in the rented Palazzo Cini, a museum of Renaissance art, with wonderful paintings by Pontormo, Giotto, Botticelli and Piero della Francesca. There is a significant overlap in artists selected in this International Exhibition and that of The Encyclopedic Palace.

After two walkthroughs, I still really longed for the clarity and the vision of the recently deceased Okwui Enwezor, artistic director for the 56th International Art Exhibition titled All The World’s Futures, and Okwui’s even more brilliant artistic curatorship of Documenta11 (2012). There are definitely others who prefer the more flexible curatorial approach of Rugoff, which can include any artist he likes.

The International Exhibit is always been a place of discovery: Pipoletti Rist, Ever is Overall (1997), El Anatsui, DUSASA II (2007), Tabimo (2007), and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (2013). These artists have gone on to well-deserved art world success. Anatsui and Yiadom-Boakye are in the Ghana Pavilion. This year, I also made new discoveries. For example, Michael Armitage: his work was installed in the Arsenale as almost a mini-gallery exhibition. He also has some beautiful pen and ink drawings in the Giardini. Armitage hails from Kenya and works in Nairobi and London, represented by White Cube. In October, he will have a solo exhibition curated by Thelma Golden, at MOMA. He is definitely an artist to watch.

For those with extremely limited time who nevertheless want to see the International Exhibition, my suggestion is to get a detailed map from the Biennale website or the Exhibition catalogue, which indicates where particular artists are located in both the Arsenale and the Giardini and seek out only those artists.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Teresa Margolles are artists who I have followed and put in my own “curated” exhibition, When the Body Becomes Art (c) (2015). Hamdan focuses on the politics of listening, whilst Margolles trains a feminist lens onto the brutalities of narcoviolence that pervade her home country of Mexico. Having throughout her practice thematised governmental negligence, the social and economic cost of the criminalisation of drugs, and the specific textures, smells and physical remains – that is to say, the materiality – of death. For Mura Ciudad Juarez in the Central Pavilion, she installs sections of a concrete wall with barbed wire riddled with bullet holes to depict violence. She was awarded special mention by the jury. I found perhaps this section of the International Exhibition, including also the works of Shilpul Gupta, Untitled (c) 2009 (mobile gate) and Sun Yuan (1972) and Peng Yu (1974) China, Can’t Help Myself (c) (2016) and Christian Marclay, The Scream (c) (2018) the most successful curated part of the International Exhibition. I experience a sense of emotional fear and uncertainty collectively expressed by these artists for the times in which we live. Particularly Can’t Help Myself, with the constant interplay between the fluid and the robotic – and the works title, with its evocation of impulsive compulsive behavior – raises questions about the different and interrelated vulnerabilities of the organic and the mechanical. My own associative responses and interpretation were enhanced by the difficulty I had in finding the exit to the Central Pavilion – a sense of panic and fear that I would be late for a lunch meeting hosted by an international gallerist with artists from China. I still don’t know if the guard in front of the Mura, I asked to assist me finding the exit who responded “I’m not here to help you”, was a performer in the Margolles installation or an exception to the usually kind Venezia Polizia.

Two other artists have mini exhibits which are strong: Nicole Eisenman in the Giardini (B) and my New Orleans Prospect discovery , Njideka Akunyili Crosby represented then by Victoria Miro and now by Miro and David Zwirner.

In theory, most works of art in a Biennale are not for sale. That is actually no longer the case. Increasingly, Biennales have become a venue for galleries and collectors to acquire artists and works of art. The entire site, specifically the 2013 Angola Pavilion of Edson Chagas, although not the Palazzo Cini, was acquired at that time by collector Jochem Zeitz and is now exhibited as part of the collection at Zeitz MOCA in Capetown, South Africa.

Artsy recently reported on the winning gallery for artists’ represented in Venice: “Notably, there are no artists represented by Gagosian in the Biennale this year; Pace and Hauser & Wirth have just one artist apiece. White Cube, Jay Jopling’s hugely influential outfit with spaces in London and Hong Kong, as well as an office in New York, has the most artists in the 2019 Venice Biennale, with seven. Five White Cube artists are featured in Rugoff’s exhibition: Julie Mehretu, Danh Vō, Christian Marclay, Michael Armitage, and Liu Wei. In the National Pavilions in the Arsenale, Xiangyu will be one of the four artists representing China, and Ibrahim Mahama is one of the six artists in Ghana’s Pavilion.” Marian Goodman has four artists: Leonor Antunes, Nairy Baghramian, Julie Mehretu, Kemang Wa Lehulere and Danh Vō. Worthy to note given its influence on establishing visual performance art, Performa participants in this year’s Biennale include Zanele Muholi, Mehretu, Lehulere, Christian Marclay, Joan Jonas (collateral event Ocean Space), Ed Atkins and Defne Ayas, curator of the first four Performa editions, originator of the Dutch Pavillion 2017 and co- curator of the Ganwgju Biennale 2020 (the International Jury).

National Participation Pavilions

Paolo Burrata at the US Pavilion talking about the importance of the National Pavilions

The pavilions I have selected, for the most part, represent the particular interests and biases stated at the beginning of this article. Coincidentally, as the press has appeared, it does seem that many of my choices do seem to overlap with the choices of “first responder art world pundits”. One of the themes in play in my analyses of the pavilions I have selected is the meaning of “National Pavilion” in the context of the Venice Biennale. There has been much criticism on a variety of levels of the National Pavilions. Perhaps one of the most trenchant was the brilliant artist and intellectual Alfredo Jaar when he represented Chile in 2013. His artwork called Venezia, Venezia presented a model of the Giardini submerged in water to suggest that the entire infrastructure had lost its meaning in the fluidity of globalized world culture.

The National Pavilions I discuss for the most part do not reject the concept of National Pavilions, although the meanings poured into the concept differ. In this sense, they reflect Rugoff’s view of art in general in its complexity. In his introductory essay, he quotes the artist Ian Cheng who objects to the idea that art must be meaningful. “I think this is a misunderstanding he has observed. Maybe the real purpose of art is to wrestle with the relationship between meaning and meaninglessness and how they transform each other.”

My discussion of the pavilions is organized more or less by location and proximity to each other.

United States Pavilion – Liberty/Libertà
Martin Puryear

Martin Puryear is one of the most highly respected and acclaimed contemporary sculptors practicing today, although globally he is underrecognized. Known for his historically engaged, deftly hewn wood forms, Puryear has honed his woodworking skills since the 1960s, when he learned the craft techniques of West Africa, while serving in the Peace Corps. He continues to use such techniques to develop organic forms that speak to the natural world, African-American history, and salient cultural issues. As the press release states, “Martin Puryear’s enduring approach has galvanized his art for more than five decades: issues of democracy, identity, and liberty have long propelled him.” Martin’s works in the US Pavilion reflects the understated elegance and superb craftsmanship combined with the subtlety of the power of its form and inherent symbolism for which he is known. Martin has long recognized how utilitarian object can evoke monotonous labor, seasonal ritual, oppression or emancipation.

A Column for Sally Hemings, 2019, in the foreground, is dedicated to the African American slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, who was the father of her children. Puryear’s iron stake at the crown also destabilizes and offers a critique of the Pavilion built in 1930, on the Palladian principles of Monticello, Jefferson’s home, a slave. Puryear is not the first artist chosen to represent the US to critique the symbolism of its architecture. Puryear’s predecessor Mark Bradford in 2017 had garbage strewn in the yard of the Pavilion. One of the most memorable for me was that of Ann Hamilton’s myelin in 1999, who placed a veil of water glass that framed and distorted the image of the building seen through it. Inside the Pavilion, she had a fuchsia-colored powder sifting down the gallery walls, collecting on Braille dots that spelled out verse about human suffering.

Cloister-Redoubt has been characterized by Puryear as a meditation on the mystery of religious belief and a view of faith as an elaborately constructed edifice. Other objects in the Pavilion play on Puryear’s investigation of headwear, like the historical Phrygian cap or the aso oke (c) (2019). The latter is part of contemporary Nigerian dress and there is also reference to Yoruba textile and weaving.
There is no question that the intelligent elegance of the installation and the beauty of the artistic execution of the works made this Pavilion an artist’s, collector’s, art critic’s and curator’s choice. In conversation, an internationaly exhibited artist told me she thought that the US Pavilion was perhaps one of the best pavilions she had ever seen.

It made me curious to see how many times in recent history the US had actually had its Pavilion selected. Surprisingly, I found out that although the process was somewhat different in 1964, Robert Rauschenberg who represented the US Pavilion in 1964 was awarded the Golden Lion for painting. Critics stated that this signaled the end of European dominance of the art world, and further that it cemented pop art as a marketable artistic commodity. In 1988, Jasper Johns represented the US with Jasper Johns: Work Since 1974. Apparently this was taken as a statement that the US was still interested in participating in an international art world and hordes of collectors from the US arrived for the pre-opening festivities. He was awarded the Golden Lion for painting

Canada Pavilion – ISUMA
Isuma Collective

Artist collective Isuma, founded by Norman Cohn and Zachariah Kunkun, for the past two and a half decades has made films and videos in the Inuit experience. This marks the first presentation of art by Inuit in the Canadian Pavilion.

Consistent with the view that national pavilions represent the spirit and mood of a nation at that time, is the Canadian Pavilion. Few countries are as enlightened when it comes to the recognition of indigenous or First Peoples as Canada, notwithstanding that the Pavilion deals with episodes of mistreatment of the indigenous people of Baffin Island. The Isuma collective is made up of artists and indigenous people and has a mission of preserving indigenous language and culture, including through indigenous language TV. In a sense, the Pavilion shows artists who in one generation have gone from “the age of stone to the digital era.” Isuma means “state of consciousness” in the Inuktitut language. The International Exhibition artist who opined to me about the superiority of the US Pavilion commented when I had indicated my interest in Canada, “I am tired of National Geographic in a Pavilion.” I disagree. The exhibitions in the Pavilions of Brazil and Canada are not only appropriate because the events which they depict and the issues raised are at the center of current major legal socio-political debate, but also because the insight and talents of the artists take these out of the realm of ethnographic documentaries.

Interview with producer and writer of the film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

Installation view of the video One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

Brazil Pavilion – Swinguerra
Barbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca

Swinguerra is a film commission for the Pavilion of Brazil. In representing Brazil at the Biennale, filmmaking duo Barbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca spotlit the underrecognized Swingueira dance groups of Recife, Brazil. Swinguerra takes its title from swingueira, a popular dance movement in the north-east of Brazil, fused with the word guerra, meaning war. The artists, Wagner and de Burca, worked out popular expressions of contemporary culture in Brazil and their complex relationship to race, gender, identity, and desire. The film provides a deep and empathetic view of contemporary Brazilian culture at a moment of significant political and social tension. The predominantly black bodies, many of non-binary gender, are in many ways “the focus of contemporary disputes around visibility, entitlement and self representation in Brazil.”

A clip from Swinguerra

France Pavilion – Deep See Blue Surrounding You
Laure Prouvost

Laure Prouvost is the third woman to be chosen for the French Pavilion after Anette Messager in 2005 and Sophie Calle in 2007. I encountered a young man of African descent at the entry of the Pavilion engaged in conversation with a journalist. When I asked him if he was the artist, he said, “No, it’s the other black man.” When I looked at him questioning, he said, “No, it’s me.” I told him I could interview him after seeing the Pavilion. Not knowing at that time the ethnicity of the artist who had been selected, I went through the Pavilion thinking that finally a person of African descent had been selected to represent France. It was interesting how it changed my perception of the experience of the Pavilion. On leaving, when I asked to speak to the artist, I was told that she had gone out for coffee. It turns out, the “artist” I had encountered was in fact one of the actors in Prouvost’s film. Unlike several of the other pavilions discussed in this article – India, Ghana, Mongolia and even the United States – Prouvost questions the concept of “national representation” and more broadly the question of identity.

Belgium Pavilion – Mondo Cane
Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys

This was a pavilion of parallel realities, which was awarded special mention by the jury.

Mongolia Pavilion – A Temporality
Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar (Jantsa) – an interactive sound performance by Mongolian traditional throat singers, accompanied by renowned German artist Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto

Performance at Palazzo Grassi of artist and co-curator Carsten-Nicolai aka Alva Noto, with throat singers Ashit Nergui, Davaasuren Damdin,Altangerel Undarmaa and Damdin Khadkhuu

It is fitting, if art represents culture, the National Pavilion of Mongolia’s focus, in part, is on its intangible heritage. Mongolian ancestors that have traced back over 3 millennia have maintained a nomadic lifestyle where developments and the accrual of tangible creations, such as literature and art, were impeded due to the pastoral way of life, which required constant movement. Because of this limited context, oral traditions emerged and evolved as a principal means of expression and passed down through generations. With the progression of time, techniques of oral expressions acquired unique and complex forms. Originally, Mongolians practiced throat singing as a means of communicating with their inner selves, surroundings and animals. Sounds differed depending on the environment and evolved minds, bodies and spirits of the people emitting them. Throat singing was inscribed in 2010 on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO under the convention for the safeguard of the Intangible Heritage (2003).

Curator Gantuya, who also organized the first and second editions of the Mongolian Pavilion, holds a degree in economics from Harvard and runs a contemporary gallery in Ulaan Bataar, commissioned the artist Jantsa to create sculptural installations to complement the brick-walled, interconnected cramped rooms of the old Venetian house. Jantsa’s sculptural pieces made of hybrid plastic and raw construction materials are created specifically for the Mongolian Pavilion. By juxtaposing contemporary works with the spirit of the old Venetian house, the sculptural installations of Jantsa offer viewers moments of fleeting forgetfulness and reminiscence where artists can interact with the space and objects with the form by emitting traditional throat singing techniques and electronic music. Jantsa, who has studied in the US, is nevertheless greatly aware of his roots and is intrigued by Mongolian tales, riddles, proverbs, and the intellectual communicative mindsets that have occupied his nomadic ancestors. Jantsa pays homage to the sculptors Ursula von Rydingsvard and Nari Ward, who recently had his first long overdue solo retrospective show We the People at the New Museum in New York, imbued with the magic and power which has previously inspired Jantsa.

The Mongolia Pavilion is located outside the Arsenale. Walk past the Arsenale entrance turn right over the bridge and you will find it, as well as Pakistan.

Ghana Pavilion – Ghana Freedom

Ghana’s first pavilion at the Biennale was much heralded. The Pavilion brought together Ghanaians from the diaspora as well as a younger generation of Ghanaian artists. It was a celebrity artist pavilion designed by celebrity architect Sir David Adjaye O.B.E., known in the US for being the architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (I was on the selection committee for what was then the Faith Ringgold Museum for Art and Storytelling in Harlem, which selected Adjaye for his first US project). The Pavilion includes an amazing three-screen video installation by John Akomfrah (1952) the noted pioneer filmmaker and artist who was a founder of the influential Black Audio Film Collective in London in 1982; large scale drape sculptures by El Anatsui (Golden Lion for lifetime achievement 2015); a large video/sculptural installation by Ibrahim Mahama, a younger generation Ghanian artist (1987) who uses the transformation of materials to explore themes of commodity, migration globalization and economic exchange; a video installation by photographer and glass artist Selasi Awusi Sosu (1976); portraits and photographs by Felicia Abban (1935), a true discovery with photographs much in the same genre as Malien photographers Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s (1977) paintings are a tour de force. The advisor for the Ghanaian Pavilion was Okwuchukwu Emmanuel Enwezor (1963-2019) to whom the catalog of the exhibition is dedicated. Consistent with one of the themes of this article, a catalog essay by Taiye Selasi, of Ghanaian Nigerian origin, “Who’s Afraid of a National Pavilion?” posits the question “if the National Pavilion is so problematic – anachronistic at best, imperialistic at worst – why would any nation want one? Why would Ghana? What business has a post-colonial nation with a biennial based on colonial nationalism?” The answer posed is that “to the curator and the artists of the Ghana Pavilion take precisely that control, illuminate the complexity, flexibility, and multiplicity inherent in the notion of Ghana itself. Here we find Ghanaian creators involved in the project of imagining not a Ghanaian self, but Ghanaian selves; and doing so exultantly, unapologetically under the banner of nation.” And further, she provided as one answer “to give Ghanaian artists, whose relationship to nation and self we allow to be opaque, the space to perform their interrogations on a global platform they deserve.”

At the opening of the Pavilion, I had the opportunity to interview , Selasi Awusi Sosu. Sosu’s Glass Factory II, 2019, was inspired by desolate and defunct state-owned industrial glass manufacturers in Ghana’s Western region. In its prime the factory provided a livelihood for thousands of Ghanaians. Sosu visited the abandoned site on numerous occasions seeking to capture transient and past moments. She interviewed former employees of the factory who revealed a nostalgia for the past because many of them have since resorted to illegal small-scale gold mining which, unfortunately, processes gold by using mercury, detrimental to their health, the community and the natural environment. When I talked to Sosu, she indicated that being in Venice was more than a dream come true not only because she was participating in the Ghanaian Pavilion but also because she had tried unsuccessfully to work in glass in Ghana without much success. It was in fact a dream for her to envision working in Murano and learning how to use her envisioned medium of artistic expression.

I had the opportunity to speak with Selasi Awusi Sosu

India Pavilion – Our time for a future caring

India has a long history but it has taken the Indian art and cultural community quite some time to unite on the presentation of an Indian Pavilion at a Biennale. The curated presentation is a call to understanding Mahatma Ghandi’s ideas in commemoration of his 150th birth celebration. The Pavilion weaves together contemporary artworks by eminent artists – Nandalal Bose (1882) (Haripura Posters 1937), MF Husain (1915), Atul Dodiya (1959), Ashim Purkayastha (1967), Jitish Kallat (1974), GR Iranna (1970), Rummana Hussain (1952), Shakuntala Kulkarni (1950) – emphasizing historical moments concerning Ghandi or invoking critical thinking in imaginary staged encounters. As the Indian Minster of Culture, Arun Goul stated, Secretary Ministry of Culture, “Mahatma Ghandi’s life was his message… Ghandian values have always been an intrinsic part of the Indian ethos. Art is nothing but an expression of a nation’s culture. The installation and artworks at the Indian Pavilion are an expression of the universal Ghandian values of truth, nonviolence, compassion towards fellow beings and nature, self-reliance, simplicity and sustainability.”

GR Iranna, India Naavu (We Together), (c) 2012

Having migrated to New Delhi to study and practice art more than two decades ago, Iranna reflects on the atrocities of an increasingly brutal world, critiquing forms of violence, also appealing to resist provocations and unnecessary aggression.

In recent years, Iranna has taken to working with the unpredictable medium of ash, engaging with the ephemeral, with marks and traces and the dematerialization of matter. Subsequently, he has worked with commonplace objects such as padukas, or Indian slippers traditionally made of wood, associated since antiquity with spirituality and reverence. Doing away with Gandhi’s widely identifiable eyeglasses, the spinning wheel or walking staff, Iranna turns to a less referenced object-symbol. Ghandi’s padukas (indicative of his adherence to non-violence in the rejection of leather) allude to his idea of Satyagraha (passive political resistance), attained through the collective mass action of walking/marching. Gandhi, it is believed, in the forty years of his active political life, on an average, walked twenty kilometers every day.

Chile – Altered Views
Voluspa Jarpa

The project is a result of years of research into the reality of Latin American countries through CIA declassified documents. It is composed of three reversed cultural spaces/models: The Hegemony Museum, the Subaltern Portrait Gallery, and the Emancipating Opera. Voluspa Jarpa is the first woman to represent Chile at the Biennale.

Lithuania Pavilion – Sun & Sea (Marina)
Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė

“Art is not a message that we can simply decipher and comprehend; indeed, interesting artworks do not offer us conclusions so much as deeply engaging points of departure. They provide unexpected pleasures and a residual sense of surprise and uncertainty; we might end up feeling that we simultaneously understand and do not understand them.” Ralph Rugoff said, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” This quote is indeed apt for the winner of the best Pavilion. A number of national pavilions might have received the Golden Lion, however the selection of Lithuania, funded by a Go-Fund Me campaign, cannot really be questioned. “The piece has to do with ecological issues and the Anthropocene,” Grainytė said. “But I didn’t want to be didactic because it’s such a big topic and it was important to find a subtle, romantic language.” My friend Yates Norton, a curator of a space in Lithuania and a collaborator and artist in the Pavilion talked about the challenge deliberately imposed of the eight-hour performance schedule.

As someone interested in opera and performance, I agree, it was really quite brilliant. Coincidentally, I learned Lithuania has won four other recognitions since its participation in the Biennale. Not only was I privileged to attend the performances before the announcement of the award, I subsequently learned that Performa’s gifted former curator and co-curator of the next Gwanju Biennale was also member of the jury that awarded the prize to the Lithuanian Pavilion. Given last year’s award of the Golden Lion to Anna Imhoff’s installation, Faust, in the German Pavilion, and the addition of performances during preview week as a collateral event, it seems visual performance art has been recognized as an important medium of expression in international contemporary art.

Unfortunately, for non-preview week visitors, the eight-hour opera performed by the beachgoers will only occur on Saturdays.

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė, Sun & Sea. Vocals in this clip by Yates Norton

Taiwan Pavilion – 3X3X6
Shu Lea Cheang

Giacomo Casanova said, “One who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.” Reflecting upon the transformation of surveillance techniques since the panopticon to include contemporary 3-D facial recognition, AI, and the Internet, Shu Lea Cheang’s 3X3X6 restages the rooms of the Palazzo delle Prigioni — a Venetian prison from the sixteenth century in operation until modern times — as a high-tech surveillance space.

The Taiwanese Pavilion for me was one of the most forward-looking, creative and intellectually interesting. The complexity of the imagery and the ideas cannot be easily transmitted in this article. By way of illustration, some of the subjects addressed in various video and imagery include (i) the inverted electronic panopticon, (ii) Cassanova in pharmacopornographic times, (iii) Sade and the social contract in the age of sexual cyborgs, (iv) Foucault in Warsaw, and (v) the myth of the non-white rapist. As the curator Paul B. Preciado wrote in the catalog, “hacking digital surveillance technologies and social media, Chaeng uses the historical site of the Venetian renaissance prison to create a real time dissident interface that the visitor is invited to enter… whereas modernism negotiated the tension between craft and the emergent technologies of its era, the digital avant garde develops out of the reassessment, critique and collapse of modern aesthetics by post-internet technologies including data mining and mass surveillance. This digital avant garde movement undertakes two oppositional moves: one, Chaeng uses and misuses the possibilities of producing and distributing art specific to the internet; and second: She questions the hegemonic narrative that criminalizes sexual, gender and racial minorities… the norms that have established the difference between the normal and the pathological, the real and the virtual, the socially recognized and the invisible.”

Iran Pavilion – Of being and singing

The Iranian Pavilion, located off-site in a house at Fondanco Marcello, is an exhibition of three artists, two from Tehran, Reza Lavassani (1960), Samira Likhanzadeh (1967) and Ali Meer Azimi (1984) who lives and works in Esfahan. The curator of the Pavilion states that it is “an homage to life and to precious moments of the past, present and future. The exhibition carries a message of piece from the cultural and artistic scene of Iran, a message seldom relayed to the world by contemporary media. Representing Iran are three artists hailing from various disciplines who magnify the glory of being and kind, identity and memory, reality and dreams. Challenging the clichéd notions of Iranian art as mostly composed of local elements and motifs, these artists represent the universal aspects of Iranian art through their artistic terminology.” The banner which begins this article is “life.” Through a deliberate choice of paper maiche, the artist underlines the literal and symbolic significance of recycling and portrays the artist’s belief in recreation and the eternal cycle of life. For more immersion in contemporary Iranian art, visit The Spark is You: organized by Parasol Unit, London, curator Ziba Ardalan, in the Conservatorio di Musica Palazzo Pisani Campo Santo Stefano. The collateral exhibition brings together 9 Iranian artists of different ages, like Siah Armajani and New York-based YZ Kami, who now live and work the US with those working in Iran, who have had a similar early education and grounding in classical Persian poetry.

After five intense days of biennial events in Venice, it was refreshing to take a break to visit Murano. A quick vaporetto ride from near San Marco, I visited Glasstress, an exhibition curated by Vik Munez and Koen van Mechelen, artists include Carlos Garaicoa, Aiweiwei, Jaume Plensa, Sudarshan Shetty and Fred Wilson, among others. In its sixth edition, the exhibition for me was less interesting than two years ago and the space a bit crowded. Notwithstanding, there were some interesting works. Even more fun was to take another vaporetto for a twenty-minute from Murano ride to Burrano and relax with a marvelous, typically Venetian seafood luncheon at Il Gato Nero. My Italian friends shared a valuable tip: Buy the app Che Bateo, instead of Goggle Map for vaporetto time tables and GPS.

This month, our featured member is a speaker and a licenced sport pilot. Oh and we should also mention that he is a self-taught photographer whose career started at age 20. He quickly became one of the youngest high-profile photographers in the world and has worked with President Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, the Dalai Lama and others. Let’s see what else we can find out about Jon Carmichael!

Tell us about the trajectory of your career up to this point. 
I actually never meant to be a professional photographer, so it’s funny how my career path has unfolded. I taught myself how to use a camera when I was 20 as merely a hobby. For almost ten years I never showed anyone my artwork or even printed a single photograph. Then my father passed away and everything changed. I had many regrets of not sharing my work with him, so in his honor I spent a year learning the printing process and created my first artist proofs. Through this miraculous grapevine, as if it was fate, the day I finished my first proofs Elton John, one of the biggest collectors of photography, heard my story and invited me to his home to see the prints. He became my first collector, encouraged me to share my work and introduced me to the art world.

Who are your biggest influences?
I tend to find most of my inspiration through philosophers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Carl Sagan was my biggest influence growing up and is the reason I became curious about astronomy, which later evolved into my passion and career of being an astro-photographer. Other influences are Buckminster Fuller, The Dalai Lama, and Elon Musk.

What does your work aim to say?
I try to tell a story with my work and instill curiosity. To me, there’s nothing more mysterious or awe-inspiring than the universe and natural beauty of our planet. It’s very humbling. Unfortunately we have too much light pollution now due to electricity. Because of this, we cannot see much of the night sky and have lost our sense of awe and wonder that our ancestors had. I try to reignite that in my work. What I love most about photography is being able to push the boundaries and unveil parts of reality we cannot see with the naked eye.

Bonus Question: What tip would you give our members about collecting photography?
We as humans are social creatures and storytellers. I would encourage members to collect works that have a story which move you personally – something that has meaning and is not just aesthetically pleasing. Anything can be photographed beautifully, but it’s often the story behind it that gives it true value. If you’re walking through an art fair or gallery and a photograph stops you in your tracks, I encourage you to ask more about the image and the story, as it might surprise you.

And this is why we love our “Get To Know Our Members” feature… we have so many inspirational members, whom we are so proud of, just like Jon! Please find more of his work here. Next month, we’ll select a new member to feature… it could be YOU!

Today we chat with Tina Ziegler, Director of Moniker Art Fair, who has been at the progressive forefront of the urban and new contemporary art scene since 2010. Having curated well over 100 exhibitions across countless countries, and in doing so introducing collectors and art lovers to thousands of artists, she acts as a leading authority within the scenes, heading Moniker as a hub for new art movements while continuing to operate on the fringe of the industry to ensure that boundaries continue to be pushed.

In 2018, she expanded the previously-London-centric fair to New York, introducing new context and a new dimension to the already-renowned, stylistically eclectic and trendsetting event.

First of all, congratulations on the 10th year anniversary of Moniker Art Fair! Can you please give us a quick version of the history of the fair?
Moniker started 10 years ago to fill a gap that was notably missing in the scene: a platform for truly pioneering urban contemporary art, and specifically art that had something to say; a message worth amplifying. We’ve grown from there to two fairs a year in London and NYC, additional smaller events throughout the year, and more international potential unlocking as we speak.

Why did you decide to take the London-based model across the pond to NYC and what will the similarities and differences be between the two fairs?
Like London, there’s a very strong collecting scene in NYC, and like London there’s an enthusiasm, a willingness to come out to something new or different. Having said that I think you can push boundaries more in New York, perhaps because it’s a key birthplace of urban art, so you can take each step forward in their stride. It also means you can start to engineer retrospectives of the city’s relationship with urban works, as we’ll be doing with WK Interact this year.

Similar to One Art Nation, you recognize the importance of creating transparency in the art market. How are you achieving that through the fair?
We’ve always tried to create strong open dialogues between the collectors, the artists, the gallerists and the fair itself, and that’s the crux of how we create the transparent environment, I think. We need to be honest with ourselves about the appetite for art, the way artists are treated and encouraged and actually the way collectors are treated and encouraged. All we can do in that sense as a fair is to listen to what the community needs and programme the fair around those needs. It’s not rocket science, but it’s notable how easy it’s been for the art fair industry to assume it can just do whatever it wants and collectors will hand over their money. We can think bigger than that; we should.

How is Moniker a truly unique experience for art-fair-goers, especially in a climate so full of art fairs?
Our installations are something particularly unique, I think, and that’s perhaps because of the lineup we curate each year. We’re working with hyper-relevant ideas, modern contexts, and crucially good art. Contemporary art has an almost unfair level of scrutiny to it because it’s not enough to provide striking social commentary, it’s not enough to be a good artist, it has to be both. And we provide that to a unique level – we listen carefully to the scene and bring the best of that emerging talent to the forefront, but we’re also connected enough to go to more established, critically acclaimed artists and say “what would you do if we gave you a lot of space to create something unique in?” They rise to the challenge astonishingly and it’s always gratifying to see our collectors and audiences react to the spectacle of the whole thing.

What role do art fairs play in the overall global art market today?
We have a lot more responsibility than I think many realise. Collectors want to take advice from the industry, they want to know who they’re buying and why, and not just because something is on-trend this year. We decide who they care about, and that means fairs are essentially kingmakers, so we need to be careful and thoughtful about who we’re putting to the forefront of the industry, and crucially who we could be missing. It’s why we take our curation seriously.

This month, our featured member is both an Art Advisor and Portfolio Manager from Barcelona based in London. Please meet Marc Sancho, whose life changed when a few months before enrolling in the army, a rugby injury led him to discovering Art and Philosophy. Since then, love – in all forms – has driven his career towards helping people manage their art collections. Marc expands on what he does, how he got there and what he would say to an aspiring art advisor.

What do you do in the art world?
As a Collection Manager, I basically love to help educate the tastes of collectors, manage the constant outcomes of an art collection and buy or sell on behalf of my clients to get the best deals (and returns). This work gives my clients the space to just focus on enjoying their art collections – I look after the rest. Through Art & Axia, every job I do is unique and depends on the needs of my client.

Did you receive any education, training or mentorship that has helped you excel in your career?
Indeed… I have two university degrees, several specialized courses (in arts and investments) and a Master in the Art Market up my sleeve.  But I don’t think I would be where I am today, if it weren’t for my mentors in the auction house that I worked at early in my career in Barcelona. My mentors taught me not just the ins-and-outs of the profession, but to read between lines.

What are the most interesting—or most challenging—aspects of your work?
I truly enjoy sharing my passion for art with my clients; most of them are as passionate as I. It is absolutely magic when (after months of scrupulous research, Excel spreadsheets full of numbers and graphics and dealing with international paperwork), we finally purchase a piece they love.

Any words of advice for emerging professionals trying to make it in the art world?
Being an independent art advisor means you are a One-Man-Band, so you have to prepare yourself in different fields. In addition to strong critical skills and sensitivity towards art, it is also necessary to have a deep knowledge of the laws, economics, languages, logistics, etc.

To help aspiring advisors with all of this and more, 1AN offers the Art Advisory 101 Program, created to guide aspiring art advisors on how to navigate the art world, set up a successful art advisory business and follow best practice. Already a practicing advisor? Then Art Advisory 201 will benefit those of you wanting to gain a deeper, more technical understanding of what it takes to run a successful art advisory firm.

One of the most valuable aspects of a curated museum exhibition is the accurate and logical perspective a visitor can gain from observing both the artwork on display and its comparison to similar categories and painterly styles in art. In fact, from an educational point of view, the old saying “the more you look the more you learn” certainly remains appropriate, particularly in the world of art. If you want to eventually secure your own opinion about contemporary art and receive an art appreciation education on your own, it is necessary to be an assertive private investigator of sorts, making evaluations, judgments and finally an informed analysis of overall quality and originality. Scholarly essays most often generate the most truthful and intellectual outlook with analytical reporting and assessments from art history that seem appropriate. The most satisfying reviews of an exhibition need to offer the reader a clear stance on what the artwork is all about, a detailed description of mark-making and the evolution of the artist’s technique and a factfinding report on how their work fits into the historical timeline and how it compares with similar art forms. Because of the concentrated grouping of works in a museum show, it is by far more educational and valuable (and private) to evaluate paintings there with a common denominator of methods and attributes than to sift through an entire art fair for hours, discovering hundreds of artists in a variety of mediums both new and old.

The current exhibition by Jill Krutick at the Coral Springs Museum of Art not only is a glorious show to visit in South Florida, but it affords a visitor with a close-up and personal display of an individual’s superb practices and recognizable style. Through this magical display we can perceive a lot about how creative pioneers set the developmental stage for other talents to follow. It’s been said that America has two distinctive forms of culture that we can call entirely our own. Abstract expressionism and American jazz (abstracted music), which were permanently, completely and uniquely stamped “Made in the USA!” These still retain the value of inventiveness and a revolutionary spirit but with a fresher approach and the thrill of something new to ponder. By the excellent reception Krutick has received to date and the sheer natural abstract beauty of her large-scale non-narrative “action” canvases, history not only is on her side, encouraging and persuasive, but she actually has added another exciting, singular chapter and dimension to important advances in contemporary abstract expressionist-infused color field painting. This certainly is a valuable opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about competent professional picture-making on a grand and provocative measure.

One of the most anticipated museum exhibitions of the season in South Florida, a dazzling display of works by the New York and Miami based artist Jill Krutick, recently opened at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.

Within the impressive grand space of the museum’s main gallery, Krutick has put together an engaging and provocative show that demonstrates a professional commitment to exploring post-abstract expressionist theory. Large-scale canvases confront the viewer with a recognizable common denominator of an energetic visual spirit often punctuated with twisting swirls of paint accented with delightful shades of pastel colored backgrounds, some of which are supported with a foundation of molding paste, gloss and enamel that is gradually built up, resulting in brilliant spatial illusions and a composition that is free-flowing and pleasing to the eye.

Jill Krutick enthusiastically has traveled this eminent and original expressionist avenue through a keen perspective on art through the past and a devotion to securing her own distinctive voice that is evident in this compelling exhibition. Krutick certainly has assimilated a variety of standard elements important to the abstract expressionist/color field movement characterized by her signature gestural brushstrokes and spirited mark-making with a confident measure of necessary intellectual ingenuity and spontaneity. She has managed through vigorous investigation and diligent studio work to formulate her own identifiable take on the on the recognized components of abstract expressionism.

Krutick became interested in art at an early age, and like Hans Hofmann, she also studied piano, which seems to have implanted a subtle subconscious ambulatory rhythm in many of her works. A good example of the inherent illusionistic movement in her paintings is Moonstone, a rich impasto on canvas in which homemade textured surfaces contribute to an easy breezy composition of delightful repeat swirls and tunnel-like circular shapes. These disparate gestures could almost serve as a meteorologist’s aerial map of the Atlantic, forecasting the chance of a brewing high pressure system that could develop into a powerful storm of rich blues built on a foundation of white-capped waves and circular currents. Krutick reiterates this painterly mystical ocean voyage in an appropriately titled work called The Journey, which is a carefully crafted configuration of ribbon like-forms that are spiraling in a condensed perimeter as if looking for an opportunity to escape. The Journey is starkly spare in textured shades of azure, making it a task artistically but also a particularly powerful piece despite its lack of colors.

Krutick says that “Painting is a highly emotive form of self-expression, providing an outlet to embrace my spirit, untangle my thoughts, and connect with others. Upon finding the balance of shape, movement, light and hue, I unlock new discoveries about the world around me; fresh insights about myself; and embrace viewers willing to embark on a journey of self-reflection and critical thinking.” She continues to describe her methods: “I select a few colors and a base texture, then use a layering technique to reveal the topography of the piece. By this process, I capture the movement by blending and building color in order to create depth or subtle touches on the surface. I am spontaneous when I paint; the element of chance stimulates my creativity and allows me to interpret my world through a tactile experience.”
Judging by this ambitious show, Jill Krutick has mastered the essence of lyrical abstraction when it comes to evaluating the difference between a moderately acceptable picture and a truly engaging and exciting composition that’s full of rhythm and blues. Of course, not all paintings take on the tints of the ocean and many of these new works seem to take a cue from the earth’s surface with deep color combinations with tones of gold, tan, ochre and burnt umber, all accented with a purely harmonic blend of natural organic hues. In a work titled Rainbow Fish, Krutick demonstrates her ability to merge standard elements of land, sea and air in an uplifting festival with a literal rainbow that delightfully spans the color wheel spectrum in all its glory. In two particularly vibrant works titled Phoenix and Dance of the Caterpillars, she has employed a similar palette (if not the same mixing board) to produce a bountiful harvest of floating forms and interconnecting lines that could be attached to some rare plant life from another world. Although most of the works have no narrative components, both of these suggest a covert title. In The Journey, one might perceive the frozen aftermath of an Olympic skater’s icy track, swirling in a curvy poetic motion that stays visually quite comfortably within the parameters of the skating rink. For Krutick, an obviously talented and serious artist, painting is a conscientious occupation showing indelible signs of significant pictorial achievement that also is built on the intriguing history of women artists who took on the bold quest to make innovative paintings on an unequal playing field while celebrating their independence and permanently engraving their own personality and signature style for all of us to interpret and enjoy. Jill Krutick clearly has become a member of this exclusive club.

The exhibition at the Coral Springs Museum of Art (2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33065, T. 954 340 5000) continues through May 18, 2019. For more information: https://coralspringsmuseum.org/3326-2/. About the artist: https://www.jillkrutickfineart.com/

Drew Watson, Vice President, Art Services Specialist at U.S. Trust, Bank of America and course instructor of our Art Wealth Management Program shares the experience he gained from Christie’s, how collectors are making art part of their broader wealth strategy and how art loans can generate liquidity.

Tell us how your professional life first intersected at art and finance?
My first experience working at the intersection of art and finance was at Christie’s in New York. One of my responsibilities as a business manager for five different art sale departments was running a P&L and structuring consignment deal terms for live auction, private sales, and online sales. Auction houses employ a variety of deal structures to land consignments. These include enhanced hammers, guarantees, and auction advances, the latter effectively functioning as bridge loans to provide liquidity to the consignor leading up to a sale.

In your opinion, is art an investment asset? A financial asset? Both? Please explain.
Traditionally, collectors have acquired art primarily for aesthetic reasons. The aesthetic enjoyment is still the leading motivator for most collectors, but many are now also seeking a financial return. Our view is that art is a capital asset that can represent an important portion of a client’s balance sheet. Collectors are increasingly considering art as part of their broader wealth strategy by factoring it into their charitable giving, accessing capital by borrowing against their art, and using art to minimize estate taxes and capital gains taxes.

How can borrowing against their art collections be beneficial for art collectors and investors?
An art loan can allow collectors to unlock capital from an illiquid asset while still maintaining both ownership and possession of the art. We see many different strategic applications of art loans as a source of liquidity. Some recent drivers have been hedge fund and private equity principals unlocking capital from their collections as part of an arbitrage strategy. We have also seen developers using an art loan as a real estate development line, and business owners using an art loan as a working capital line for their business. An art loan can also generate liquidity needed to pay estate taxes, or even help accelerate an acquisition strategy to buy more art.

Find out more about Art Finance Solutions in Wealth Management and Estate Planning with Drew Watson. Enroll in our Art Wealth Management Program today!

For more information, contact U.S. Trust art services group at 646.855.1107, or visit ustrust.com/art. Neither U.S. Trust nor any of its affiliates or advisors provide legal, tax or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions. Credit and collateral subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. Programs, rates, terms and conditions subject to change without notice. U.S. Trust operates through Bank of America, N.A., and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation. Bank of America, N.A. and U.S. Trust Company of Delaware (collectively the “Bank”) do not serve in a fiduciary capacity with respect to all products or services. Fiduciary standards or fiduciary duties do not apply, for example, when the Bank is offering or providing credit solutions, banking, custody or brokerage products/services or referrals to other affiliates of the Bank.

Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. © 2018 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. | AR9L3LFN | 08/18

This month, our featured member is well versed on both sides, as an artist AND a collector! Please meet Enrique Chiu who lives between San Diego and Tijuana. As an artist, his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America. He is the creator behind the “Mural of the Brotherhood” at the USA / MX border wall. But today, we learn more about Enrique-the-Collector!

Have you purchased art before and if so, tell us about the first piece you acquired?
Yes, I generally buy at auctions. I have about 200 works by both well-known and emerging artists. I purchased my first piece from a gallery in Long Beach, California in 2003 by Raul Anguiano – a lithograph signed on both sides from 1974.

What work of art do you wish you owned and why?
I would like to own a Basquiat, a van Gogh, a Modigliani, a Botero, a Picasso…. Something to continue my art collection and share it with generations to come.

We see you are a fairly established artist as well, so you are really on both ends of the story! How do you describe your art to people who’ve never seen it before?
I have been an artist for 20 years, and I have found a market in the United States, Mexico and throughout Europe. Finding collectors is more difficult when they do not know you, but my artistic work addresses the most relevant topics in life and history, as well as social matters and the phenomena that are experienced daily in our world, in a colorful, positive, surreal and abstract way that anyone could enjoy.

How does being an artist influence your collecting style?
As a collector, I think it is important to know the story of the artist and their work in order to understand the value of the piece. Knowing the history and trajectory of artist makes a purchase easier.

With so many inspirational members, 1AN has decided to feature one per month to share their thoughts on and experiences with art. One common thread we’ve found so far… every one of them loves art! That’s why we all get along! We start this feature off with Toronto-based criminal lawyer and art collector, Daniel Rechtshaffen, who shares why he loves art, how he got his first piece, and offers up a tip for emerging collectors.

How did you come to love art?
Back in 2002, a friend from law school introduced me to a photographer friend of hers and we hit it off immediately. That friend was my Art Mentor when I was first getting into this scene. Through her I met more and more artists and that amplified my interest in contemporary art. Living in that world made me fall in love with the artists as much as their art. I really prefer to buy work from people I love.

 
What was the first piece you ever acquired and how did you go about it? 
It was a Joshua Jensen Nagle photo shot on expired Polaroid film. Josh and I met at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair and I bought the piece out of his studio.
 
Do you have any advice for emerging collectors out there?
Buy what you love. If a piece of art appreciates in value then that’s a bonus, but you have to live with it every day. Make sure that investment hanging on your wall stirs something deep in your guts.

Steven Schindler of Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP and course instructor of our Art Wealth Management Program discusses which laws protect art collectors and investors, what to do if you acquire a fake and three must have protections in a buy sell agreement.

How did you get into art law?
Although I have always had an interest in art, I never thought I would be an “art lawyer.” I spent the first part of my career as a business litigator, representing clients in complex commercial disputes. When I was asked fifteen years ago to represent a large art gallery in a dispute over the ownership of a work by the Italian baroque painter, Guido Reni, it seemed like a natural fit. That engagement then led to others, appointments teaching “art law” at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and NYU, the creation of Schindler Cohen & Hochman’s Art Law Group, and the launch last year of The Art Law Podcast.

What are the main legal risks that art collectors and investors need to be aware of before getting into the art market? How can a collector or investor do due diligence to make sure they don’t buy a problem work?
The two main areas of risk relate to ownership of the work and authorship of the work. Fine art is generally only as valuable as it is authentic. Meaning the true identity of the artist is essential to its value. It is very difficult to be 100% sure you are buying an authentic work of art unless the artist is still alive. But with a deceased artist there are many things a collector/investor can still do. The first is to ask for a full provenance history of the work and make sure that the provenance makes sense.

The second would be to ask an expert to inspect the art and comment on its authenticity. This can be costly and many experts are hesitant to offer these opinions formally, but may do so informally. The most important and easiest thing a collector/investor can do is to work with a reputable art dealer that has a track record for honest dealing and who will be around and motivated to assist if something goes wrong down the line, even if they are not legally obligated to do so.

As for the ownership of the work, it is important to make sure the work of art is being sold free and clear of all claims and liens by the true owner of the work. A buyer can run a UCC search to see what, if any, liens exist on the work and can also get representations and warranties as part of any sale documentation attesting to clear title.

Are the legal risks different for different types of transactions (e.g. buying and selling at auction, through a dealer or privately)?
Yes. In general, buying from an auction house is safer because auction houses are regulated and have the staff and incentive to do a lot of critical due diligence on works of art prior to sale. They will also take work back within 5 years of sale and provide a refund if the work is found to be inauthentic.

In a private sale, the type and depth of due diligence done on a work prior to sale will vary by dealer or seller. It may be challenging to find the dealer or seller down to road or recover from them if they disappear or go out of business, or simply lack the liquidity to refund the payment. Unlike an auction sale contract, the law provides a buyer a right of rescission within four years if the work if found to be inauthentic.

Learn more about Legal Aspects of Art Transactions and Risk Factors in Art. Enroll in our online Art Wealth Management Program today!

Note: This interview is not intended to be a source of legal advice for any purpose. Always seek the legal advice of competent counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

Katherine Wilson-Milne of Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP and course instructor of our Art Wealth Management Program discusses which laws protect art collectors and investors, what to do if you acquire a fake and three must have items in a buy sell agreement.

Which laws protect art collectors and art investors?
The Uniform Commercial Code, which regulates the sale and transfer of goods, and common law contract, fraud, mutual mistake, and negligence doctrines are some of the legal protections.

State laws such as the New York Cultural Affairs Law may also provide added protection for collectors and investors when purchasing works.

By far the easiest way to be protected is to have a sale contract with representations and warranties from the seller and to have done due diligence prior to acquiring the work.

What recourse does a collector have if they have acquired a fake, or overpaid for an artwork?
If a collector acquires a fake, she can sue the dealer for breach of the warranty of authenticity under the Uniform Commercial Code or the New York Art and Cultural Affairs law. Because the 4 year statute of limitations begins to run at the time of the sale, and the discovery of the fake often occurs years later, that remedy is not always available.

If there were representations made under a purchase agreement, the collector can sue for breach of that agreement, where the statute of limitations is often longer.

If the collector and dealer were both mistaken about the work’s attribution, the collector can sue for “mutual mistake,” and ask a court to rescind the purchase agreement, requiring the collector to return the work and the dealer to refund the purchase price.

If the collector has reason to believe that the dealer knew he was selling a fake, the collector may sue for fraud, among other claims.

We understand that every art transaction is different and that it’s difficult to generalize, but what are the 3 must have items that you would recommend collectors and investors include in a buy or sell agreement?
There are, of course, more than three important items in any agreement to purchase art, but the ‘must have’ items would include:

• A representation and warranty by the seller that he has clear title to the work and that the work is free of any liens or encumbrances;
• A representation and warranty that the work is “authentic”; and
• An agreement by the seller to indemnify the purchaser for any claims made by a third party relating to any of the seller’s representations and warranties, but particularly the two listed above.

Learn more about Legal Aspects of Art Transactions and Risk Factors in Art. Enroll in our online Art Wealth Management Program today!

Note: This interview is not intended to be a source of legal advice for any purpose. Always seek the legal advice of competent counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

The program is an introduction to the art market from an investment perspective

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards will provide three hours of continuing education credit that counts toward CFP certification for a new online art wealth management course.
The program, created by New York-based Tang Art Advisory and online art community One Art Nation, is an introductory course on the art market from an investment perspective. It is the only active continuing education program that focuses solely on art wealth management, according to Mary Kay Svedberg, director of education at the CFP Board.

“There’s a lot of misconception on art and how different it is from the financial market, so we wanted to make a program for financial managers to give them an opportunity to learn what the art market really is,” said Annelien Bruins, chief executive officer of Tang Art Advisory, who is also acting as the lead for the new program.

It’s a market that has grown substantially. Sales in the global art market reached $63.7 billion in 2017, up 12% from the previous year, according to a 2018 study from Art Basel and UBS. The U.S. made up the largest share, accounting for 42% of the sales by value….Read more

Enroll in the new online Art Wealth Management Program today!

Mary Buschman, President of ARIS Title Insurance Corporation and course instructor of our Art Wealth Management Program explains what title risk in art transactions mean, the four categories of risk and how art title insurance works.

Can you explain what title risk in art transactions means and why it is so much more complex than for example, in real estate?
The art market title risk crosses all genres and periods and impacts all industry participants. Buyers and their advisors routinely cannot find out who owns the art or collectible offered for sale. Historically, the art market has always considered this information to be confidential, and the true owner is generally not the art dealer or gallery offering the work for sale. Because buyers often do not know who owns the work, buyers cannot begin to manage the ownership risks. A licensed art title insurance company has the unique expertise to underwrite and assume legal title risks for art and collectibles.

Risks generally fall into four categories:

• Contemporary and Historical Theft
• Import and Export Defects
• Liens and Encumbrances
• Illegal or Unauthorized Sales

In the real estate market, legal title must be transferred by a deed and recorded at the County Recorders or Recorder of Deeds office where the real estate is located. Abstracts of title are created which include the condensed history of the title for a particular parcel of land, including a summary of the original grant, all subsequent conveyances, encumbrances affecting the property and a certification by the abstractor that the history is complete and accurate. In the United States, the abstract of title furnishes the raw data for the preparation of a policy of title insurance.

Are there categories in the art market that are more susceptible to title risk than others (i.e. Contemporary vs. Old Masters)?
The art market affects all periods of the art and collectibles market in various ways. Objects created prior to the end of WWII can be affected by all of the risks noted above. The Post-War market can be affected by all risks except historical theft. The historical theft risk not only includes WWI and WWII but also Russian Revolution, African colonization and Spanish colonization just to name a few.

Financial liens and encumbrances often impair clear legal title to contemporary and primary-market fine art. Common scenarios include: a creditor claiming a security interest in the art because the seller used the art to secure financing but did not pay back their debt to the lender; the seller failed to disclose a right-of-first-refusal clause in the bill of sale between the first dealer and the first buyer, either intentionally or because the seller did not know that the clause existed; or, the seller entrusted the work of art to a dealer or gallery for sale and the dealer sold the consigned artwork without paying the seller the proceeds.

How does art title insurance work?
The ARIS Art Title Insurance policy has a one-time premium for lifetime of ownership until the insured object is sold or donated. The policy automatically extends to heirs-at-law. Coverage includes indemnity plus defense costs. That means that if a party came forward with a claim of ownership on the insured object, the insured would be covered for all legal defense costs. If the claimant won, then the insured would be paid the full value of the limit of liability. So, for example, if the insured lost in court and was required to relinquish their $1 million art object, ARIS would pay out their $1 million. The insured’s legal costs and full investment in their artwork are covered.

The ARIS Art Title Insurance policy not only covers fine art but also rare books and manuscripts; rare stringed instruments; music, sports and movie memorabilia; museum quality jewellery; ancient objects and vintage automobiles.

Learn more about Legal Aspects of Art Transactions and Risk Factors in Art. Enroll in our online Art Wealth Management Program today!

Jacqueline Towers-Perkins, Specialist, Post-War & Contemporary Art at BONHAMS and course instructor for Art Wealth Management explains the idiosyncrasies of this fragmented market, how to go about collecting art and her excitement for contemporary works.

Tell us how you came to be an art expert and why you love the contemporary art market.
I have always been drawn to Contemporary Art because it is so dynamic and progressive, which keeps both my job and the field I work in hugely interesting.  Not only are the artists and works they create exciting, investigative and challenging, but the market itself – the key players, prices achieved, the fast pace and constant change of patterns and trends – remains fascinating.

If a collector wanted to invest in contemporary art, how would you recommend to get started?
Firstly, I would advise someone to discover what it is that they like, what they are interested in and what they have a drive for collecting or investing in.  A passion for an area of the market will endure any transitory trends or patterns.  Once they have identified an area, I would recommend that they educate themselves. Visit auctions, art fairs and galleries to see and understand how the market works and what themes are changing and emerging each season. Lastly, create and build relationships with industry professionals in order to learn from them.

What would you consider the main benefit of investing in art? And the biggest disadvantage?
The main benefit is the pleasure and privilege of being able to enjoy a work of art while it appreciates. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to look at, enjoy, live with and learn from an individual work or a larger collection over time. If you have acquired a work of art because you love it, then it is a huge bonus if it appreciates in value during that period. No other investment provides such rich intellectual or physiological dividends. Arguably however, this lack of monetary dividends and illiquidity traditionally requires art investment to be seen as a long term, which can be a challenge and a disadvantage to those seeking short-term results.

What is the main difference between the art market and the financial markets?
The greatest different I have found between the markets is the highly specialized expertise and knowledge required to invest in art and navigate the art industry.  Unlike the financial markets, which are open to all and are required to be transparent, the art market, and particularly private sales from galleries, can be notoriously opaque.  Because of this, a strong knowledge and experience of how the market works is essential.

Learn more about how the art market differs from the financial markets. Enroll in our online Art Wealth Management program today!

One of the most talked about exhibitions in Palm Beach County this season was “Drawings for Sculpture,” produced by artist Hubert Phipps for the Gallery of the Center for Creative Education set in the historic neighborhood district of Northwood in West Palm Beach.

If you were not prepared fully in advance, you likely would be pleasantly surprised upon entering the main gallery to be confronted with one of the most bold and inventive black and white charcoal drawings that I have ever seen. This huge work on paper certainly lives up to its title Mystique, as it definitely is enigmatic and oddly spiritual at the same moment, and for many viewers, mesmerizing. This sensitive composition fits perfectly within the drawing parameters of Phipps’ show, as most of the studies could be compared to an architect’s blueprints where the sketches are eventually transferred to clay and then finally cast into bronze sculpture. So, it was quite provocative to view a totally conceptual picture, drawn and then erased, re-drawn and then “polished” over again by the artist (often with his feet and hands!), with other edges sharpened or toned down and some areas brightened and elongated, and yet this magnificent charcoal composition retained its integrity and mystery. This adds significantly to the visual drama of this handsome conceptual piece, which could almost be mistaken for a surrealist smoke signal rising from an Egyptian incense stick.

The handsome gallery, a former roller rink built in the 1950s, still retains some of its original wood flooring, and the tall exposed ceilings and iron support beams introduce yet another dimension to what is considered the best show of the season. Visitors were welcomed into the first exhibition space, which displayed Mystique next to a black baby grand piano that was a perfect match of form and function. A second “mystical” drawing, titled Dreamscape, was placed above the piano, which curiously built up an exciting visual energy and, forgive the pun, a sounding board where all the objects in the room seemed to work together in harmony.

Thousands of years ago, there is evidence of primitive humankind developing an affection for sculpted objects, oftentimes crafted out of wet clay or mud in all sorts of shapes, some of which were decorative and others simply utilitarian, such as a vessel for liquid or grain or even an earthen square brick that when multiplied would assist in building shelter. Later, as craft became more sophisticated and artists began sculpting forms in stone, it was more efficient to begin this long development process by carefully sketching out the object first, whether it be human or animal or organic, long before the actual construction of a sculpture began. Its important to note that legendary artists like Michelangelo would judiciously outline a sketch on a block grid that would serve as a blueprint for a much larger and ambitious final result. A good example of his early exploratory drawings is the figure studies for David, the 17-foot carved white Carrara marble statue still standing in Florence. The idea of beginning a project of this complexity without the initial studies, instead starting from scratch with a hammer and chisel, would be sheer madness.

So, the concept of creating drawings for sculpture was an accepted practice that became particularly popular during the Renaissance. The sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci are quite remarkable, as they not only included memorable charcoal studies for portraits that would be completed in the future, but in this case, served as a valuable collection of sketches for da Vinci’s inventions, from the concept of a helicopter (Hubert is a certified helicopter pilot) to a submarine. “If you could draw it, then you could make it,” became a kind of mantra for aspiring artists who wanted to breakout from conceptual drawing of objects to letting only the limits of their imagination guide them into prominence.

In what is considered a type of golden age of modern bronze sculptures, which began at the turn of the 19th century, many of the greatest artists of our time began to be recognized as historic innovators, whose influence continues to this day. Although the emphasis on Phipps’ exhibition certainly was on his preliminary and conceptual studies, the artist did present a modest overview of recent sculptural works, which offered an informative and satisfying comparison to the variety of drawings on display. Even on a moderate scale, the bronzes as shown in this exhibition were strong, interesting works that made a delightful comparative demonstration. These bronze sculptures of Phipps remind me of other works that have an arm’s length connection to many of the three-dimensional pieces on view at the CCE. Jacques Lipchitz, Figure, 1926 (MoMA), has its powerful beginnings in compelling sketches, as well as Henri Laurens’ La grande sirène 1945, a particularly delightful image of a bronze mermaid where you can sense the laborious test studies that shaped a masterpiece. I’m also reminded of Alberto Giacometti’s bronze Table (La table surréaliste), 1933 (Le Centre Pompidou), which relates to Phipps’ inventive stacked stainless steel pair of twin-like sculptures, Pieces of Six, 2015, and Pieces of Eight, 2016, that were among my favorites. For this handsome series, he decided to acquire bits and pieces of weathered metal geometric-shaped foundry fragments and then cast the pair of sculptural works into stainless steel, utilizing energy from the inventiveness of taking found objects and turning them into something expressive and convincing, which reminds me of Pablo Picasso’s bronze Woman with Baby Carriage, 1950 (Musée Picasso Paris), where the father of Cubism gathered pieces of junk metal that form a recognizable composition of a standing figure and a baby on wheels. Picasso loved discovering found objects, and like Hubert Phipps, could recognize at once the delicious possibilities at first glance. As a connective side story, Pablo and his girlfriend, Françoise Gilot, were known to wander around Paris pushing an empty baby carriage that he would fill with whatever promising bits and pieces of abandoned items that he responded to during their daily walks. Picasso’s most famous found object sculpture, Bull’s Head, 1942, was fashioned from a bicycle seat and handlebars that were highly abstract, but like Deborah Butterfield’s complicated found steel fabrications of life-size horses, these artists seem to create magical illusions with superior vision and ingenuity.

“Drawings for Sculpture” had its own magical presence at the Gallery of the Center for Creative Education, where Phipps mixed together the best of historic influences and the inherent grace of charcoal lines that seemed to develop a life of their own on the exhibition walls, exploding in character and individuality when placed next to the final evolution of drawings-into-three-dimensional objects.

For more information on the artist, please visit: www.hubertphipps.com.

Photography can be seen at any contemporary art fair these days. And it’s unlikely you’ll visit a well-regarded contemporary gallery that doesn’t include at least one photographer among their roster. Photography is also increasingly present at auctions as an important investment. Yet collecting photography remains daunting for many.

So we asked photography expert, Stephen Bulger about his tips for new collectors on navigating the market for photography.

Is collecting photography a good entry point to collecting art in general?

What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to collect photography?

What are the common misconceptions about collecting photography?

What role does photography play in the current art market?

What are your five go-to tips for collecting photography?

January 24, 2018 was an intense, immersive and inspiring day: an existential linking of 13TH by Ava DuVernay, best known for her 2014 Best Picture nominated Martin Luther King drama Selma, at the New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting, and the opening of Derrick Adams’ Sanctuary at the Museum of Arts and Design. The State Bar Meeting is a good source for mandatory CLE credits and the morning session I attended was informative and useful, dealing with current issues in estate planning after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and an insightful and humorous presentation on the wills of the rich and famous with the ten pitfalls to avoid. This entry, however, is not about advising artists on the estate planning and the preservation of a legacy. Read here for information on artists’ estates.

In the afternoon, I attended the Presidential Summit: Race, Slavery and Mass Incarceration, hosted by Sharon Stern Gerstman, President of the New York State Bar Association. The Summit featured 13TH, its title drawn from the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. DuVernay has stated her interest in the topic was visceral before intellectual: police officers were symbols of fear rather than safety.

When the 13th Amendment was ratified into law on December 6, 1865, it abolished slavery, with one key caveat: “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” More than 150 years later, that exception has proven much more than a mere footnote to history. More African-American men are incarcerated, or on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, and the United States, which accounts for 5% of the world’s population, counts nearly a quarter of the world’s incarcerated people. According to the American Bar Foundation, half of those imprisoned are parents. There are about 3 million children in the United States with an incarcerated parent or a parent who has recently been released.

According to the American Bar Association, “the reach of the criminal justice system extends even farther”. For every person in prison, America has two more people on parole, probation, or some related form of control. In actual numbers, that means that the U.S. has a total of more than 7 million people behind bars or subject to some kind of control that can land them behind bars.

Premised as a historical survey that maps the genetic link between slavery and today’s prison-industrial complex, 13TH begins with the depiction of black men as a threat to white women in the Birth of a Nation in 1917.

Juleyka Lantigua-Williams’ commentary in the Atlantic (Oct. 6, 2016) observed, “13th explodes the ‘mythology of black criminality’ as The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb at one point in the film refers to the successive and successful measures undertaken by political authorities to disempower African Americans over the last three centuries. The academic and civil-rights advocate Michelle Alexander, author of the 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, unpacks how the rhetorical war started by Richard Nixon and continued by Ronald Reagan escalated into a literal war, a ‘nearly genocidal’ one.

Other politicians in the film do not fare better: George H. W. Bush and his campaign attack against Michael Dukakis’s furlough program involving Willie Horton, Nixon’s “War on Crime”, Bill Clinton’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” Crime Bill and Welfare Reform Initiatives, and Hillary Clinton’s response to the perception that the Clinton Administration was “soft on crime”, including her 1996 remark on “super predators”.

Throughout the film’s trajectory, a single word flashes in giant white letters on a black background: CRIMINAL. Is it a condemnation of past deeds or an accusation aimed at everyone who is complicit?

Shocked by the enormity of the problem, I sensed a collective sense of despair in the audience. Fortunately, the breadth of experience among the distinguished panel, comprised of Hon. Darcel D. Clark, Bronx County District Attorney and the first African American woman to hold that post in the U.S., Chanta Parker, Esq., The Innocence Project, New York, NY, Jeffery P. Robinson, Esq., American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY, and moderated by Hilarie Bass, Esq., President, American Bar Association, provided a forthright exchange and a range of reactions to the issues of race, criminal justice and history raised by the film. Parker noted that African Americans in poor communities are presumed guilty until proven innocent, while Robinson stated “I’m angry because none of this is new…the criminal justice reforms being discussed, including bail and imprisonment for failure to pay fines and fees, will amount to so much ‘tinkering’ if the fundamental truth is not addressed about how today’s criminal justice system came to be and if we fail to acknowledge that we are a nation founded on the belief in white supremacy.”

The panel echoed the view of Ron Kammer, chair of the ABA Litigation Section, who stated in 2012: “As a nation, we have become addicted to incarceration. America didn’t behave this way. In the mid-1970’s, we made some disastrous choices that have taken a terrible toll. What we have come to think of as normal is anything but.”

It is not surprising that Agnes Gund, the well known philanthropist, art collector and patron, former president of MoMA and current chair of MoMA PS1, was moved to action in January 2017 to sell Roy Lichtenstein’s 1962 “Masterpiece” hanging above her fireplace for $165 million including fees after being inspired by Alexander’s book and DuVernay’s documentary. The purpose: to create a fund that supports criminal justice reform and seeks to reduce mass incarceration in the United States. The Art for Justice Fund, jointly administered with the Ford Foundation, began with $100 million from the proceeds of the Lichtenstein and has already received contributions from other art collectors.

Those who have already committed to the fund — and are being called founding donors — include Laurie M. Tisch, a chairwoman of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Kenneth I. Chenault, chief executive of American Express, and his wife, Kathryn; the philanthropist Jo Carole Lauder; the financier Daniel S. Loeb; and Brooke Neidich, a Whitney trustee.

The fund has begun this year to make grants to organizations and leaders who already have a track record in criminal justice reform — like the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala. — that seek to safely reduce jail and prison populations across the country and to strengthen education and employment opportunities for former inmates. The fund will also support art-related programs on mass incarceration.

Derrick Adams: Sanctuary at the Museum of Arts and Design

January 25, 2018 to August 12, 2018

Derrick Adams’ Sanctuary harks back to a more optimistic time.

The immersive and stunning installation is inspired by “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” a series of AAA-like guides for black travelers published from 1936 through 1966 and published by postal worker Victor Hugo Green. It is not surprising that the guide coincides with the Great Migration of African Americans seeking better opportunities in the North.

Over the years, the guides were used by drivers who wanted to avoid the segregation of mass transit, job seekers relocating North during the Great Migration, newly drafted soldiers heading South to World War II army bases, traveling businessmen and vacationing families.

“While the Green Book reflected the disturbing reality of segregation of African Americans, it permitted them to travel the non-segregated roadways and to feel American,” the artist said.

For transparency and full disclosure, I am a longtime follower and a friend of Mr. Adams and was privileged to contribute to the exhibition. Since about 2006, I have followed his amazing journey as a multidisciplinary artist exploring through video, performance, works on paper, painting and sculpture. Adams’ multi-layered, works reflect the complexity of the social, economic and political structure experienced by and African American artist.

Adam’s Sanctuary segues from the world of 13TH and transcends it.

In the Huffington Post article A Conversation With Derrick Adams Dec. 6, 2017, Marcia G. Yerman writes that “Adams spoke incisively about an integral part of his rearing — what he identified as the requisite need to acquire a “double consciousness.” He explained the lesson he absorbed as a young boy. It was the knowledge that “black folks had of themselves,” and the alternate view. That was, “The world looks at you as a monster — the other.” Adams gave the analogy of a young, black male child “skipping and then running,” only to have that simple activity construed as flight from an illusory crime. The need for an ongoing “dual identity,” as a means of survival for the adult black male, is a theme that repeatedly manifests itself in Adams’s work. Explored is a representation of an outer appearance in conflict with the truth of an inner psychology. Adams sees the majority of his work “residing in the idea of how outside influences impact the perception of self.”

A cyclical narrative runs through Adams’ works, telling the story of someone who first entered the world knowing only pride and love for his heritage only to be confronted with a society which casts shame on this heritage. Adams examines the face of popular culture and the media on the perception and construction of self-image. The fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, formal arrangements of forms and space and a complexity of meanings recur throughout the exhibition. Adams’ prints and collages which feature simple shapes, bold color and contrast, and reflect not only a dialogue with art history, philosophy and contemporary art, but an engagement with autobiographical content and contemporary events remind me very much of the artist Robert Motherwell, the New York School painter. Just as key scenes of Motherwell’s work include a dialogue between European modernism and a new American vision, and between formal and emotional approaches to artmaking, Adams’ work engages contemporary art techniques and practice, the American modernist tradition and the vision of the African American experience as it encounters the social and political structure of its time. Nothing is obvious, as Adams with poetry and wit reclaims his identity.

When I asked Adams about a prior work that I found relevant to Sanctuary, he responded: “In my video work “Reality Bites: Storytime with That Cat Pat” a puppet I created reads an excerpt from Bell Hook’s chapter, Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice, from her book Art On My Mind. In the chapter Hook’s writes of a lesson from a high school art class where she was asked to imagine the house of their dreams. She did not think any decisions she made were political and that all thought related to the project was rooted in imaginative fantasy. She made a list of all the things in a house she found compelling. In my video I juxtapose this narrative read by the puppet within a backdrop animating a rural forest landscape or wildernest scene occupied by a puma. The intention was to explore the diverse notions of environment and home as it relates to individuals.”

In the Bomb Magazine article Transforming the View: Derrick Adams Interviewed by Monica Uszerowicz Jan. 5, 2018, Uszerowicz asks: ‘In dealing with cultural representation, you’ve spoken about maintaining a double consciousness of yourself, as someone seen as an ‘other.'”

DA: I’m a black artist—and I’m also just an artist. I’m American and educated, but I come from Baltimore, an urban space with various socioeconomic groups of black people. For me, this work is much more complex than a television show, or something that can be condensed into an hour-long program. It’s about understanding the complexity of black people as much as people understand the various ranges of socioeconomic structures of white people—which is equally as contrasting.

While growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s, he was visited frequently by relatives driving from Virginia or New York. “My great-aunts would wear these very particular pants outfits and driving gloves and little driving hats. It was very sporty, unlike the domestic look of the women in the house,” he recalled. “It was about travel culture, and it created in my mind a representation of liberation.”

It comes as no surprise that Adams has acknowledged Jacob Lawrence as a major influence, describing the migration series as a powerful depiction of the mass movement of hat wearing, suitcase carrying African Americans relocating north for industrial jobs, educational opportunities and freedom– perhaps with a green book in the pocket.

Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series (1940–41), a sequence of 60 paintings, depicts the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North between World War I and World War II—a development that had received little previous public attention.

The series was the subject of a solo show at the Downtown Gallery in Manhattan in 1941, making Lawrence the first black artist represented by a New York gallery. Interest in the series was intense. Ultimately, The Phillips Collection and New York’s Museum of Modern Art agreed to divide it, with the Phillips buying the odd-numbered paintings.

Dexter Wimberly, the executive director of Aljira, a center for contemporary art in Newark, organized the show with Shannon Stratton.

As Wimberly told me, “Curating Sanctuary allowed me to explore a little-known aspect of American history that had a tremendous impact on how we live today. I’m still shocked that I was not aware of The Green Book prior to organizing this exhibition. However, my research for the show revealed to me that it was an extremely important publication, that for many was literally a lifesaver. My mother and father were born in the rural south in the 1940’s and 50’s. The Green Book is a reminder of the world they grew up in and the courage it took to live a full life and to pursue the American Dream.”

The road that bisects MAD’s gallery space follows a path up, over and down the sides of free-standing wooden doors. Visitors must pass through them to traverse the road. “I’ve thought a lot about barriers, and accessibility, and obstacles, and perseverance,” explained Adams.

Adams states, “The project is really timely, considering all of the conversations and issues surrounding immigration and racial tension,” he said. “Things are happening that echo what the Green Books were trying to prevent. If anything, I want people to know how important it is to have freedom to go where you want to go.”

13TH and Sanctuary have in common the message that freedom is a struggle that requires our constant vigilance and understanding of the roots and underpinnings necessary for each of us to make the journey.

“You hear stories from older people about how far they had to drive to get gas or stop. Some would have to keep gas in their car when they traveled. And a pot in their trunk,” Adams said. “I’ve thought a lot about the freedom people must have felt from the Green Books, not worrying about where to stop and what’s going to be on the other side, pre-Yelp.”

As Meredith Mendelsohn writes for the New York Times article How an Artist Learned About Freedom From ‘The Negro Motorist Green Book’ Jan. 19, 2018: “altogether, the show is a highly visceral experience, channeling some of life’s more underappreciated privileges: the freedom to stop at a diner, or to insert a key into a humble motel doorknob after a long day of driving.”

At this moment in time, the positive resistance and programs instituted by the New York legal community and the commitment of the artist community in which I participate are a beacon of hope. Collectively, the road we are traveling is a difficult one with barriers along the route but as communities we can act to remove those barriers and enable others to travel the path safely.

For information on upcoming events related to Derrick Adams: Sanctuary, see: http://madmuseum.org/exhibition/derrick-adams-sanctuary

Barbara T. Hoffman. Barbara T. Hoffman is a preeminent international art lawyer with an undergraduate degree in art history. She has been a passionate follower of the contemporary art scene for years. She has written frequently on law, art and politics for a variety of publications and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics as well as the attorney for AICA USA. She serves on the Board of Performa, the visual Performance Biennale, found the Washington State Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and is on MoMA’s Contemporary Arts Council and Friends of Education. She serves on the board of several artist endowed foundations and advises museums and artist foundations on issues of governance, including board development and conflict of interest. She began her career as a civil rights lawyer. www.hoffmanlawfirm.org