Just in time for the fair! Meet Art Basel’s Crowdfunding Manager Jessica Hodin

JESSICA HODIN
Crowdfunding Manager, ART BASEL
Photograph: Holly Haffner, Fred Marcus Studio

ART BASEL OFFERS THE ART WORLD THE MOST CELEBRATED AND ESTABLISHED MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART FAIRS TODAY. ORIGINALLY FOUNDED AND HELD ONLY IN BASEL, ART BASEL HAS EXPANDED: MIAMI IN DECEMBER AND, LAST MARCH, A VERY SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH IN HONG KONG. AT ART BASEL IN MIAMI BEACH, DECEMBER 3rd to the 6th, 267 LEADING GALLERIES FROM NORTH AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA, EUROPE, ASIA AND AFRICA WILL EXHIBIT SIGNIFICANT WORKS THAT RANGE FROM MODERN MASTERS TO CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS TO THE NEW GENERATION OF EMERGING LUMINARIES.  PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE, INSTALLATIONS, VIDEO, AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY ARE CAREFULLY VETTED FOR EXHIBITION IN THE MAIN HALL; LARGE-SCALED MONUMENTAL WORKS, FILM AND PERFORMANCE ENRICH THE CITY’S OUTDOOR LANDSCAPE AT COLLINS PARK AND SOUND/SCAPE PARK NEAR THE CONVENTION CENTER.

Art Basel
The Miami Beach show
December 3 – 6, 2015

IT IS AN ENORMOUSLY WELL-ATTENDED WEEK, A SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL WHIRLWIND OF EVENTS, SATELLITE FAIRS, PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS AND LECTURES, ALL PROVIDING AN ENORMITY OF ART-RELATED CHOICES FOR COLLECTORS, BOTH NASCENT AND ESTABLISHED, AND THE GALLERY AND MUSEUM WORLD. COLLECTORS, MUSEUM CURATORS, AND AUCTION SPECIALISTS TRY TO ATTEND ONE IF NOT ALL OF THE SIGNIFICANT INTERNATIONAL FAIRS TO ANTICIPATE AND IDENTIFY THE PULSE OF THE MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET.

ART BASEL HAS LAUNCHED AN EXCITING NEW CROWDFUNDING INITIATIVE TO GENERATE SUPPORT FOR CAREFULLY SELECTED VISUAL PROJECTS WORLDWIDE PROPOSED BY NON-PROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS. IT REPRESENTS, IN MY VIEW, AN EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF MODERN PATRONAGE AT A TIME WHEN PUBLIC FUNDING OF THE ARTS HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY LIMITED.

Art Basel
Hong Kong

I AM EXTREMELY PLEASED TO POST JESSICA HODIN’S GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO THE LRFA BLOG IN ANTICIPATION OF THIS YEAR’S ART BASEL IN MIAMI. JESSICA HAS AN EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN THE ARTS IN BOTH ADVISORY AND CURATORIAL CAPACITIES AND NOW LENDS HER EXPERTISE TO ART BASEL’S CROWDFUNDING AS THE MANAGER OF THEIR INITIATIVE.

JESSICA, HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN ART? WERE YOUR PARENTS COLLECTORS OR DID YOU START, AS MANY OF US DID, WITH A DESIRE TO JOIN THE CREATIVE SIDE OF THE ARTS AS AN ARTIST?

Actually, neither, Leslie. It should be noted I have zero artistic abilities and even though, having grown up in New York City, I quite literally had the museums and galleries as my playgrounds, my parents did not collect. 

During high school, I became a total art history nerd after my first paper assignment on the subject “what is art” and writing my first art historical report on the great Fernand Leger. I perceived a grandeur and glamour in the nostalgia around the Impressionist and Modern era that fascinated me and developed an equivalent sentimentality for the Renaissance, Rococo, and Dutch Masters periods that all completely drew my curiosity. I was always amazed by the strong parallels that could be drawn between the art being produced in a certain time period and place and the living history, politics, and sociology of that same context. They are so intertwined. It wasn’t actually until graduate school that I really discovered Contemporary Art, the dynamic nature of the “arts business” and its accompanying “art world”.

UNLIMITED
Art Basel Switzerland

WHAT IS YOUR ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AND HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT IT HAS HELPED IN DIRECTING YOU TOWARDS YOUR CURRENT ADVISORY ROLE AS MANAGER OF ART BASEL’S CROWDFUNDING INITIATIVE?

I did the AP Art History track as a high school-er in New York and then majored in Art History at Dartmouth College. I then did my Masters Degree in Art Business at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York. The best thing about this program was the exposure it brought to all sides of the art market. I knew I loved the art world but before going into the program I had no idea what roles out there were available and which ones I would like or even be good at. The Sotheby’s program gave us a very holistic view by bringing in all types of guest speakers who spoke from their real life experience in galleries, auction houses, art fairs, art storage and shipping, art insurance, art law, art appraising, and the artists themselves. It had the benefits of doing a short internship in every field. After experiencing the very corporate side of the art world working for an appraisals firm and then also experiencing the very entrepreneurial side, running my own gallery, I decided I wanted to be somewhere in the middle – I was trying to find that intersection between art and commerce, between academic curating and outright branding, something having to do with creative collaborations and also something connected to the art-making side of the art world. Art Basel’s Crowdfunding Initiative covers all of those aspects and more!

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, JESSICA WILL INFORM US OF THE SCOPE OF HER CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONAL HISTORY. SHE HAS SO MUCH TO SHARE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER PRESENCE AND ASK AWAY!

THANK YOU ALL!

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery: contemporary art in the global marketplace

Mark DION
Trichechus manatus latirostris
2013
plastic skeleton, tar, found objects in steel and glass case
72 x 40 x 176 inches

 

INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE IS CRUCIAL FOR ARTISTS IN OUR GLOBAL CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET. MANY GALLERIES NOW SUPPORT MULTIPLE VENUES, MAINTAINING SPACES WITH STAFF AND YEAR ROUND EXHIBITION SCHEDULES NOT ONLY IN NEW YORK BUT ALSO IN LONDON, HONG KONG, BEIJING,  PARIS AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL CITIES TO REACH THE SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF GLOBE-TROTTING CONTEMPORARY COLLECTORS WORLDWIDE , TO EDUCATE THE ART COLLECTING PUBLIC AND TO INTRODUCE THEM TO THE WORK OF NEW AS WELL AS ESTABLISHED ARTISTS.

TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY, WHILE LOCATED IN CHELSEA IN AN EXPANSIVE DUPLEX GALLERY SPACE AT 521 West 21st STREET, HAS ESTABLISHED, IN ITS TWENTY YEAR HISTORY, AN IMPRESSIVE TRACK RECORD FOR BRINGING THE WORK OF THEIR ARTISTS TO INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES AND INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE WORLD. http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/

FOR EXAMPLE, ERNESTO NETO WAS SELECTED TO REPRESENT BRAZIL AT THE 49^th VENICE BIENNALE IN 2001, SARAH SZE’S TRIPLE POINT INSTALLATION DOMINATED THE U.S. PAVILION AT THE 2013 55th VENICE BIENNALE, TOMAS SARACENO PRESENTED A MAJOR INSTALLATION AT THE 53^rd VENICE BIENNALE IN 2009 AS PART OF THE GROUP EXHIBITION, Fari Mondi/Making Worlds, AND MORE RECENTLY CREATED A SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION FOR THE ROOF OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, WHILE OLAFUR ELIASSON CREATED THE NEW YORK CITY WATERFALLS IN 2008, A MAJOR PUBLIC ART PROJECT THAT TRANSFORMED THE BRIDGES THAT SURROUND THE CITY.  THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY INTERNATIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS THAT THE GALLERY ARTISTS RECEIVES.

Sarah Sze
360 (Portable Planetarium)
2010
mixed media, wood, paper, string, jeans, rocks
162 x 136 x 185 inches; 411.5 x 345.4 x 469.9 cm
Gallery Installation

TODAY, GALLERY DIRECTOR, RENEE COPPOLA, SHARES HER PERSPECTIVE ON THE GALLERY’S INTERNATIONAL SCOPE AND INFORMS US OF A WONDERFUL NEW EDUCATIONAL VENTURE THAT TANYA BONAKDAR INITIATED THIS YEAR.

RENEE, HOW DOES THE GALLERY SUPPORT AND SUSTAIN SUCH A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ATTENTION FOR THEIR ARTISTS WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL STAFF THAT INSTALLS AND OVERSEES TEN EXHIBITIONS A YEAR IN NEW YORK WHILE EXHIBITING AT THE NUMEROUS ART FAIRS THAT PROVIDE PIVOTAL EXPOSURE FOR THE GALLERY ARTISTS IN THE CURRENT ART MARKET?

Although we have many very active artists who show internationally, as mentioned the 35 artists are divided between four gallery directors.  This helps to lighten the load when dealing with major exhibitions.  Plus, most of these very significant shows like the Venice Biennale or the rooftop installation at the Metropolitan are years in the making so the planning is slower than that of a gallery exhibition or art fair.  But the great strength of the gallery’s staff is its collaborative nature and teamwork.  All of us, from our Preparators and Registrar to our Archivist and the Gallery Assistant work on the art fairs and the exhibitions together, so if one director is particularly focused on a major exhibition, the others help to balance out the workload.  This flexibility is a plus.  Not to mention, after 20 years, Tanya has a very streamlined system at work.  The yearly schedule is generally understood in advance and well considered. 

CHARLES LONG
UP LAND
Gallery 1
September 11 – October 18, 2014

THE GALLERY RECENTLY INITIATED A SERIES OF DISCUSSIONS TO COINCIDE WITH ITS EXHIBITION SCHEDULE WITH THE GOAL OF EDUCATIONAL AUDIENCE ENRICHMENT. TELL US ABOUT THIS PROGRAM, HOW IT CAME INTO BEING AND WHAT IS INVOLVED?

E/I: Saturday Discussions is a year long series of talks between gallery artists, curators, critics, artists, writers, and intellectuals.  The series takes its title from communications industry parlance, in which E/I stands for “educational and informative.” On Saturday mornings, the Federal Communications Commission mandates that commercial broadcast stations meet a quota of E/I programming, with the goal of educational audience enrichment.  Like their namesake, the E/I talks at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery provides the public with an opportunity to hear more from the artist whose show is currently on view as they discuss and debate the ideas behind their new work.  In general, the artist lectures are held on the first (and sometimes second) Saturday morning after the opening. http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/talks/

Charles LONG
Aue
2014
patina on bronze
78 x 23 x 23 inches

IN REVIEWING THE GALLERY NEWS ON THE WEBSITE, AT LEAST 15 OF THE 30+ ARTISTS YOU REPRESENT ARE CURRENTLY EXHIBITING AT MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES AROUND THE WORLD. THIS ALSO ENTAILS A GREAT DEAL OF COMMUNICATION AND PLANNING WITH MUSEUM CURATORS AND REGISTRARS. HOW IS THE GALLERY STRUCTURED IN TERMS OF HANDLING THE GALLERY EXHIBITIONS AS WELL AS ALL THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS THAT ARE ALSO TAKING PLACE. WHAT IS THE EXHIBITION SCHEDULE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD?

As mentioned, it is helpful that museum exhibitions have a long planning schedule, which provides a lot of room for discussion and research about the best artwork for the show. Our upcoming gallery exhibitions include:

Tomas Saraceno [Galleries 1 & 2]

March 26 – May 2, 2015 

Rivane Neuenschwander [Galleries 1 & 2]

May 9 – June 20, 2015

IN WHICH FAIRS DOES THE GALLERY PARTICIPATE? HOW DOES THE GALLERY DECIDE WHAT TO EXHIBIT IN AN INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR BOOTH AS OPPOSED TO A SOLO GALLERY EXHIBITION?

Because of the number of artists that the gallery represents, we generally mount a solo exhibition of an artist’s work roughly every 2 years.  Within that time, the artists are naturally working on other projects, starting new bodies of work, exploring new ideas.  Art fairs give us the opportunity to show the most recent work by these artists, whether or not they have had an exhibition at our gallery that year.  

RENEE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE LRFA BLOG AND SHARING THE MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE GALLERY ARTISTS WITH US.

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL OF FINE ART AND DECORATIVE ART IS A CRUCIAL COMPONENT IN SO MANY ASPECTS OF COLLECTING AND DONATING ART. APPRAISERS WORK WITH PRIVATE AND CORPORATE ART COLLECTIONS AND PARTNER WITH COLLECTORS, ATTORNEYS, ACCOUNTANTS, MUSEUMS, FAMILY FOUNDATIONS AND INSURANCE CARRIER TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION AND EVALUATION OF ARTWORKS THAT SPAN CENTURIES AND MEDIUMS.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, I AM VERY PLEASED TO INTRODUCE BETTY KRULIK IN HER CAPACITY AS PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN APPRAISERS ASSOCIATION.  BETTY IS A SEASONED DEALER WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED HER EXPERTISE ON AMERICAN ART IN AN EARLIER LRFA BLOG AND NOW HAS GENEROUSLY AGREED TO DISCUSS THE ART OF ART APPRAISAL.

WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS AND INQUIRIES. I LOOK FORWARD TO POSTING THE AAA BLOGS AND TO HEARING FROM YOU.

MANY THANKS!