Latest / philly has heART / Trotter Cole Advisory feat. Andrew Cole

Transcript

Trotter Cole Advisory feat. Andrew Cole · philly has heART

0:17
What'd you get into last weekend? Anything? Yeah,
0:20
I got to go to my first boujoulee. What's that?
0:26
Wine party. It's like this wine that only comes
0:28
out like the third week of November. And it was
0:34
Absolutely amazing. I got to actually meet people,
0:38
collectors in the city that are hosting artists
0:43
at their home over the next couple of weeks to
0:46
get the word out about them and to collect great
0:49
art. Amazing. Yeah. How about yourself? I did
0:53
nothing. Let's talk about the news. Love it.
0:56
PMA, Daniel H. Weiss, former president and CEO
0:59
of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. has
1:02
been appointed the new director and CEO of the
1:06
PMA. He will start December 1st and his contract
1:09
will ride until 2028. What a powerhouse to bring
1:13
us into our 250th anniversary. Let's go. We're
1:17
going to go to the Gustav Klimt sale. Let's just
1:21
acknowledge this and then we got to get out of
1:23
here. Okay. Yep. $200 million for the Gustav
1:28
Klimt. Did you know that I did a major project
1:32
on him in the Viennese succession during grad
1:35
school? A one -hour presentation on modern architecture
1:39
of the Viennese succession to a bunch of architecture
1:42
students. A class led by distinguished Dr. Richard
1:47
Etlin. If you know, you know. Can we also talk
1:50
about how amazing Lauder's collection and breath
1:54
of collection had then brought in half a billion
1:58
dollars. The opportunity to collect art through
2:01
your entire life and just love it so much to
2:05
end up you sell it for half a billion. Eat the
2:09
rich. All right, Robert, on to the conversation.
2:12
On to the combo. This is Robert Marsh and you're
2:28
listening to Philly Has Hard Podcast. In this
2:31
podcast, we sit down with the artists, gallerists,
2:34
educators, curators, and other creatives who
2:37
comprise the Philadelphia art world to discuss
2:40
upcoming performances, exhibits, and other events
2:43
and initiatives that are not to be missed. The
2:47
art scene in Philadelphia is so rich that it
2:49
can seem daunting. Consider this your weekend
2:52
cultural recommendation. With me always is my
2:55
producer, Lucinda Daggerland. Hello, hello. Joining
2:58
us today is Andrew Cole of Trotter Cole Advisory.
3:02
Welcome. Hello, everybody. Great to be here.
3:05
Thank you so much for having me. Of course. Today
3:08
I get to introduce Andrew, we decided, because
3:12
I initially met you back when you worked at Locke's
3:16
Gallery, which wasn't all that far back, actually.
3:20
Right. I was... in I think on a Friday evening
3:25
looking at the Robert Nguyen exhibition on the
3:29
first floor. I was looking at all of these pieces
3:32
of glass and mentally wondering how do these
3:37
get installed in a way where it honors the artist's
3:42
spatial thought. And you explained it to me.
3:45
You said that there was a template. Yes. So for
3:48
those of you who are not familiar with Rob Wynn's
3:51
practice, he is a multimedia artist and he essentially
3:57
is known for these beautiful like sprawling glass
4:01
abstractions so they are at most a quarter of
4:05
an inch half an inch you know thick but they
4:08
could range from one tiny little circle to what
4:13
almost looks like a paisley feel and they could
4:16
be imagine just a wave of cascading glass pieces
4:18
kind of fit together it's this amazing combination
4:21
of material but also with this abstract sense
4:25
that i think a lot of people find a little more
4:28
approachable of abstract painting, but it truly
4:32
is through trial and error. He actually threw
4:36
a piece of molten glass when he was practicing
4:38
glass blowing on the ground, and it created this
4:41
just, not shatter, but again, this splash. So
4:44
imagine that falling, that color, all of those
4:48
elements coming together, and he saw, oh, if
4:50
I just put this on the wall, I create this whole
4:52
new practice, and it is just... Absolutely phenomenal.
4:56
I find them very meditative, very lustrous, and
5:02
Rob is one of the sweetest, sweetest artists,
5:06
people, humans out there. Wow. I've always loved
5:09
working with Rob. But we're going to get back
5:11
to you, Andrew. So the way Andrew and I connected
5:15
beyond that day, which was, I think, serendipitous,
5:19
after that Friday, our marketing consultant,
5:22
Becca, actually went up to New York. And I had
5:26
mentioned the podcast to you. She went up to
5:29
New York for the weekend. I think it was a baby
5:31
shower or a wedding shower or something to that
5:34
effect. And she was talking to somebody who had
5:37
a nephew in Philadelphia who worked at an art
5:42
gallery. And Becca said, my friends run an arts
5:46
podcast in Philadelphia. Your aunt then texted
5:51
you. Yup. I don't know if it was on the spot,
5:55
but it felt like I had just met Lucinda, right?
5:58
I'm getting a text what again felt like less
6:01
than 24 hours after saying do you know Lucinda?
6:04
She has this art podcast. I'm trying to channel
6:06
my Amazing aunt who is generously hosting us
6:09
for Thanksgiving this week. I will be seeing
6:12
her in a few days, but yeah Small world make
6:18
it smaller because I think the week later we
6:21
ran into each other because we actually live
6:23
in the same neighborhood All right, bring us
6:29
to the Q &A, Robert. All right. Andrew, as we
6:32
do with all of our guests, we ask them to bring
6:36
us back through your journey. And so what brought
6:40
you to your role that you're in now, both big
6:43
and small? Sure. Let's see. I like to say that
6:49
art is the only interest of mine that has really
6:52
never waned. I've never... practiced it necessarily.
6:57
It's always sort of touched my life in one way
6:59
or another and I've been involved in it mainly
7:01
from a sort of inquisitive place. My grandfather,
7:05
who was a cop by trade, was a very talented photographer,
7:09
watercolorist, sculptor, so there was always
7:12
art in the house. My father also was a great
7:14
draftsman and he could paint as well, so I read
7:18
a lot of books, I learned a lot about it, and
7:21
by the time it got to me to... put, you know,
7:24
pen or pencil to paper. It just was not, it was
7:27
not hitting. I couldn't draw a straight line
7:31
with a ruler. I just, I loved it. I loved the
7:35
different perspectives. I love seeing evolution
7:39
and uses of color through art history. I just
7:42
loved how people explored different media and
7:45
created new movements and new ways to express
7:48
things that were either very personal or very
7:51
circumstantial, political. And I just thought,
7:55
wow, this is such a... at once personal kind
8:00
of interaction, but also personal expression.
8:02
So it's so amazing how it could create kind of
8:05
so many different things to so many different
8:07
people besides just an artist's original intent.
8:09
So I wanted to learn more and more and more.
8:12
And when it came time to figure out what I wanted
8:14
to do with the rest of my life, which I guess
8:18
I still kind of am. I wanted to at least be adjacent
8:25
to this field that, again, keeps me interested
8:29
and passionate. And again, because I never really
8:32
had the discipline or the drive to go down the
8:36
road as an artist, I found all these different
8:41
ecosystems, be it... the museum ecosystem, the
8:45
gallery ecosystem, the auction house ecosystem,
8:49
the foundation ecosystem, the philanthropic route,
8:51
and how all of those kind of intertwined. And
8:54
that was really instilled in me when I went back
8:57
to grad school for a master's in arts management
9:00
at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. And that was
9:03
a phenomenal, phenomenal art town. You have Carnegie,
9:06
the Warhol, the mattress factory, which is my,
9:10
I think, still... easily top five museums worldwide.
9:15
Wow. It is all installation art, so it really
9:17
is that, you know, kind of expression. And for
9:21
those who maybe don't have those classic chops,
9:24
you could see how you can, as an artist, really
9:27
express yourself in ways that will just kind
9:29
of change how someone will see the world. So
9:32
I think the Matches Factory was, is a phenomenal
9:36
experiment. Wow. Noted. Mm -hmm. That's good
9:39
to know. Yeah, so if you're ever in Pittsburgh...
9:41
Maybe we plan a trip to Pittsburgh. I'd love
9:44
to. Philly has heart on the road. Exactly. I
9:49
mean, I feel like, you know, I was there for
9:52
only two years, but because I had friends there
9:54
who stayed, you know, I would kind of go back
9:57
and forth sometimes from New York. And truly,
9:59
just like Philly, it has a small but very mighty
10:02
art scene. Wow. And I feel just like Philly loves
10:06
Philly. Pittsburgh loves Pittsburgh. Yeah. So
10:09
yeah, there's definitely a strong, you know,
10:11
strong institutional representation. A little
10:14
smaller in the commercial gallery, at least when
10:16
I was there, but take it to the road and let
10:18
me know. What was life post Carnegie Mellon?
10:24
So life post Carnegie Mellon was looking for
10:27
a job like any, you know, like any student does.
10:32
I really didn't know exactly what I wanted to
10:34
go into. I knew I wanted to be in the sort of
10:37
commercial side of the art world, because there
10:39
was kind of a divide between the non -profit
10:41
and the for -profit, for lack of a better word.
10:45
So galleries, auction houses, those were the
10:47
things I was kind of focusing on. And I really
10:48
wanted to do something that would get me as people
10:53
-facing as possible. I loved connecting with
10:56
the artists, connecting with the collectors,
10:58
connecting with people, like -minded people who
11:00
love... this stuff and with that I ended up in
11:05
the gallery world. I was at a gallery in Chelsea
11:07
and I started as an intern because the boss has
11:13
said, you know, we'll see what you can do. Was
11:16
this after law required you be paid as an intern?
11:19
I believe this was before, this was 2014. Was
11:23
this the free intern phase of the economy? I
11:27
think it was still the free intern phase. Yes,
11:31
for better or for worse, because a lot of people
11:33
have cut their teeth and, you know, but just
11:36
because the system is what it is doesn't mean
11:38
it's right. And just because you survived it
11:40
doesn't mean it's the thing that will benefit
11:43
the thing that it's trying to serve. Yes. You
11:46
know, so, yes. And now that I have a son... Over
11:50
my dead body But of course I'm sure my parents
11:57
said the same thing but I said, oh I can take
11:59
it and make it work and Without my parents I
12:02
did You deserve to get paid for your efforts.
12:05
Yeah, of course. I started out as an intern and
12:09
I Just worked my way up. I had two people who
12:13
were supposed to train me and one left kind of
12:16
in a blaze of glory. And another one ceremoniously
12:21
exited. And I was like, oh, I'm the only person
12:24
here, along with the ownership, of course. And
12:26
they said, you know, if you could open and close
12:28
a door and you could talk to people, you can
12:31
do this. So let's see what you could do. Wow.
12:33
And it turns out within like a week or two of
12:37
starting the internship, I... Sold my first painting.
12:41
What and that was incredible. Yeah, that was
12:44
very very exciting if I recall correctly Oh my
12:47
gosh, it was a South African artist called Gavin
12:50
rain who did these like Concentric circle pixelated
12:55
portraits of celebrities and political figures
12:57
and when you hold your phone up to them It just
12:59
snaps into place Wow Yeah, so that was Picasso
13:04
or Keith not necessarily You know, it was a milestone
13:10
and there definitely was a great market for his
13:12
work and people loved it They loved the interaction
13:14
with it. Yeah, you know the fact that it did
13:17
maybe unintentionally kind of fuse art with technology
13:22
because I feel like it's almost a Serendipitous
13:27
and that's how kind of things are going nowadays,
13:29
you know the way people are really Taking in
13:31
art on these kind of smaller tablets. So whether
13:35
or not that was Gavin's intent I think part of
13:37
it was but I don't know if anyone could have
13:39
thought the you know extent at which we consume
13:42
art on our phone, right? I feel like that has
13:45
Kind of shifted our attention towards certain
13:48
I would say figurative or more realistic art.
13:50
Yeah Yeah, because I think sometimes you'll see
13:53
something on the phone. It'll be you know, so
13:55
so sharp and amazing and then we see in person
13:57
it kind of softens a little bit it loses a little
13:59
bit of its edge potentially but also on the flip
14:02
side you'll see something on a flyer or at a
14:06
show or the announcement of a show yeah say like
14:08
oh it's not really for me but i am a staunch
14:11
believer in you have to check it out yeah i have
14:14
to experience it in person no matter what yeah
14:17
the business side of things i can be wrong i
14:20
love selling from a pdf but people like that
14:23
have developed an understanding and have not
14:27
just necessarily on a whim point and say, yes,
14:29
I'll take it. They have to know the artists,
14:31
the art, their aesthetic, and I'll get back to
14:35
that. That's part of why I like going this advisory
14:40
road. Yeah. So we left off where you were an
14:45
intern. Yes. Where did you go from there? Actually,
14:48
I stayed at this place, Unix Gallery, for about
14:51
five years. And then the pandemic happened. And
14:57
no one knew what was going on. Right. So, you
15:02
know, while I was at Unix, I also did some curatorial
15:05
work on the side. So I had a little by no means
15:08
is a fallout plan. I would not recommend anyone
15:10
having a side curatorial hustle as their backup
15:13
plan. But. with the gallery closing for the pandemic,
15:21
and let's see, and my wife, she was, my girlfriend
15:25
at the time, she was furloughed, she was working
15:27
for The Armory Show, an amazing fair up in New
15:31
York, and we were like... We don't know what's
15:36
happening. So we thankfully took a little bit
15:39
of time. I did some advising, some curating as
15:42
a lot of, I recall friends doing like big institutions
15:46
were closing. Galleries didn't really know what
15:47
was happening. So a lot of people were either
15:49
doing DIY or they were selling through PDFs,
15:53
which honestly some galleries, I think it was
15:58
like, let's see, 56 Henry down the Lower East
16:02
Side had a my understanding was like a banner
16:04
year from it because people really rallied behind
16:08
some of those smaller galleries that they, you
16:11
know, not small, not insignificant, just small
16:14
like footprint wise, because 56 Henry's program
16:17
is one of my absolute absolute favorites. We
16:20
were a little transient at the time and this
16:24
opportunity, it was while I was kind of curating
16:27
and reconnecting with collectors who I had met,
16:31
this opportunity at Locke's Gallery opened up
16:34
in Philadelphia. Ellie and I were in, we were
16:36
living in Brooklyn, and I said, what do you think?
16:40
She is a native, I say native Philadelphia person,
16:46
but she did grow up on the main line. But she
16:49
went to Friends Select. So she grew up in the
16:51
main line and knew the Philadelphia arts a little
16:54
bit better. And I said, what do you think about
16:57
me applying here? And I knew of Locke's because
16:59
of the Armory show. Yeah. And, you know, they
17:02
have built such an amazing program. And she said
17:04
it's the best gallery in Philadelphia. Wow. Let's
17:07
give it a shot. I applied and I got to meet Siyon
17:10
Locke, who is the ownership of the gallery. And
17:13
we started working together. And this was 2021.
17:19
So I moved down from New York to Philadelphia.
17:22
A little unsure about going from an art scene
17:25
like New York's to, I guess what some people
17:28
would call a more regional scene. But as Suyeon
17:31
has built up this amazing program, when your
17:34
regional scene is, because of this gallery, Linda
17:37
Bangaless and Pat Steer and Louise Fishman and
17:41
Louise Nevelson and, my gosh, who else? Edna
17:45
Andrade, Jennifer Bartlett, blockbuster artists.
17:50
So it was wonderful to work with that caliber
17:54
of artist with an operator like Suyeon who you
17:59
know has built up the program from where Marion
18:03
Locke started it in the 60s and it was very female
18:06
focus and actually that is something that I really
18:10
really appreciated about both Marion's initiative
18:15
and also Suyeon's taking that initiative and
18:17
really just ramping it up was the you know the
18:21
female focus and the sort of in certain circles
18:25
less or underrepresented artists that when I
18:30
kind of took stock I was like no these are some
18:31
of my absolute favorite artists. Right, yeah.
18:34
You know I definitely kind of had a little pinch
18:37
me moment when Linda Manglis called the gallery
18:40
and I got to speak with her. It was absolutely
18:43
wild. So it was a wonderful, wonderful place
18:48
to work, a wonderful place to learn. I credit
18:51
Sian for teaching me so much. Yeah. Oh, that's
18:55
an incredible journey. Oh, that's amazing. And
18:57
that was, yeah, 2021. So it's been like four
19:00
and a half nearly. It's going to like be five
19:03
years, would have been five years pretty soon.
19:05
So tell us about that. pivot to what you do now
19:09
in art advisory. Like, what was your inspiration?
19:13
How did you have the balls to go off and do something
19:16
on your own? Yeah. Well, the name of the advisory
19:21
that I am launching, Trotter Cole, I credit the
19:25
chain, the big important change in my life when
19:28
my son came into the picture. His middle name
19:31
is Trotter, and that's actually named after Trotter
19:34
Alley. here in Philly in Old City. And that's
19:38
where my wife's family was from. Wow. So we used
19:42
a name that was, you know, important to her family,
19:45
important to us and important to Philly. Yeah.
19:48
So that definitely got me thinking about starting
19:53
something new. And as I say, when people ask,
19:58
how's it going with my son, I say it is equal
20:01
parts exciting and exhausting. But that excitement
20:06
and that, for lack of a better word, that fear
20:09
of the unknown shouldn't be something that stops
20:13
you. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's not going to stop
20:15
me from, you know, doing everything I can with
20:17
this kid, for this kid. And so I thought this
20:21
was kind of a serendipitous time to start to
20:25
build something on my own. That's incredible.
20:27
Yeah. So what does your role look like as an
20:32
art advisor? It's... A few different things and
20:35
that's also one of the aspects that I do like
20:38
Working in galleries, you know is tremendous
20:42
and I feel like it carries a certain cache Which
20:46
is fantastic and that's why you have these galleries,
20:50
you know, like locks like David's Werner like
20:54
paste that are just like household names, right?
20:56
And it's kind of cool that they you know, people
20:59
have that in mind and it builds Trust for collectors
21:04
and artists and so the more you built on that
21:07
the sort of more you attract But some people
21:10
could see it in a very Almost one lane way As
21:15
we talk I may find another Word to describe it
21:19
because I by no means I want to see make it seem
21:22
like it's anything of a detriment But you focus
21:26
on you know your roster and rosters change, but
21:28
it just it's sort of one component of And I feel
21:33
like, as an advisor, you get to establish relationships
21:37
and champion certain galleries that you love.
21:39
And also get to know certain artists that you
21:43
know, collectors that you work with with love
21:46
that may not necessarily be in your roster as
21:48
a gallerist. And so there is that, you know,
21:52
if someone is saying, well, thank you very much
21:55
for, let's say, for example, this Rob Wynn. But
21:58
I'm also looking to take my collection this way.
22:01
your focus can't go as deep as say maybe they
22:05
would want to. So I feel like it's a way to sort
22:12
of give your energy and work to rise all of these
22:17
parties. As opposed to you have to keep the gallery
22:21
as the premium or you have to keep the artists
22:24
say that you're a studio manager as the premium
22:27
or if you're... only working with one specific
22:33
client or foundation, like their mission is the
22:35
premium. So this allows me to sort of touch each
22:39
of those sectors in equal measure and I think
22:43
get me to just learn a little bit more and kind
22:45
of see through conversations of where artists
22:48
are going, what other galleries are doing, where
22:51
collectors' moods are changing, where trends
22:56
are going in the overall. you know, art market
22:59
and how it all kind of weaves into itself. It's
23:02
always been more of a winding, you know, intermeshed
23:07
road for me than of like straight ahead, this
23:10
is the thing. Do you find that you are, you're
23:15
balancing more collectors than artists themselves
23:19
or do you believe that you have a Great cohort
23:27
of artists that you are pushing towards collectors.
23:31
It depends I would say if I'm understanding the
23:35
question correctly, it's less the Cohort of artists
23:39
because it really is if I'm working with a collector
23:42
its base, you know, it's really their focus They're
23:46
driving it right and so for example I'm working
23:50
with a couple that a big focus for them is contemporary
23:54
but also Jewish themes the Jewish diaspora Jewish
23:58
artists, right? Yeah with this Clint that went
24:01
for 247 million Gustav Klimt Were you the bidder
24:15
on the phone? Hardly, hardly. No, no, sorry.
24:19
I put my ceiling at $213 million. It's an easy
24:24
number. No, that was wild. Absolutely wild. But
24:29
I mean, it's the Lauders collection. I mean,
24:33
it's just the Lauders collection. I mean, yeah,
24:35
they are. And that is a powerhouse. I had the
24:41
chance to meet Elizabeth Sancer who is I think
24:44
still running their collection and They have
24:47
built some they have built some that rivals most
24:50
museums, correct? I mean most like half a billion
24:53
countries Did they have an advisor that helped
25:05
them build this over time Um, to my knowledge,
25:10
yes. Yeah. Yeah. And so it'd be really cool to,
25:13
I mean, that's a, you know, you need a lot, a
25:15
lot of capital. Yes. To do something like that.
25:18
It helps for sure. But you could also build something
25:20
that is just as meaningful. Right. And so again,
25:23
this, um, these particular collectors, Jewish
25:27
kind of contemporary. And so you want to introduce
25:29
them to things like, you know, kind of younger
25:33
contemporary artists, you know, obviously someone
25:35
like Louise Nevelson. you would know, and Marc
25:38
Chagall you would know, but artists like Austin
25:41
Wiener, who's an LA -based artist, she's mainly
25:45
abstract, and while there isn't, you know, that
25:48
kind of distinct symbology, I feel like from
25:53
the research I've done on her and seen her practice
25:55
grow, it would fit the collection. Who else?
25:59
Someone like Paige Bieber, also another abstract
26:02
artist who, you know, Big big fan of but you
26:06
know again This is also thanks to Instagram where
26:08
you do a lot of your research, right? So you
26:10
get to learn a little bit more about the artist
26:12
and you can kind of Show a collector that hey
26:15
just because this doesn't have the same iconography
26:19
as say Chagall doesn't mean it won't fit in your
26:23
collection or accomplish the goal that you're
26:25
doing and when you can do it for Someone who's
26:28
more of a merging to mid -career artists. Yeah,
26:31
I feel like that's really wonderful. Yeah How
26:34
do you do your research, right? Because you can
26:38
go from such a wide breadth of artists and gallerists
26:42
to then stay on top of the changes or the trends
26:48
or find that emerging person these days. Well,
26:53
I would say going to different galleries, going
26:56
to different museums. But as I said... Instagram,
26:59
social media, for sure. Change the game. It completely
27:03
changed the game. I mean, more and more, it's
27:05
funny, there was that, this is maybe three, four
27:09
years ago, there was an article that was, I think
27:12
the kind of hero image of it was just an iPhone
27:15
and it's like, Instagram, this is your new gallerist,
27:19
dealer, what have you. And it definitely, you
27:23
know. technology by no means is going away. And
27:27
art and tech are very much finding, I think,
27:30
are continually finding happy places to settle
27:33
and then feel disrupted and clash. But I know
27:39
certain artists who have said they've sold, not
27:41
necessarily having gallery representation, but
27:44
they've just sold 30, you know, dozens of works.
27:47
Through people who say oh, I like this. How much
27:50
is it right for certain? for certain collectors
27:53
if it hits For the eye and the heart and then
27:58
the budget works. Yeah, then you kind of ticked
28:00
everything and it's a no -brainer and again It's
28:03
great you then you could go from seeing an artist
28:06
directly on Instagram to then paying them directly
28:09
on Venmo, right? Yeah, and it's all going to
28:12
the artist. Yeah, that's fantastic. Also word
28:15
-of -mouth. That's another thing that I'm kind
28:17
of enjoying about this new kind of route that
28:20
I'm going down is just the reconnecting with
28:23
certain artists or gallerists, friends, just
28:28
kind of keeping that network going. It sounds
28:32
hokey, but community is huge. It's all relationship
28:36
-based. It's your aunt in New York. Correct.
28:40
It's absolutely crazy. Absolutely crazy how that
28:42
happened. What do you look for in artists? Or
28:47
should the question be, what do you look for
28:49
in collectors to work with? You can answer either.
28:54
I mean, the cynical answer because, you know,
28:58
this is, we are all trying to make our way in
29:00
the world. The bigger the budget, the like, but
29:03
you know, yep. What she said, you have to understand
29:05
your budget. That's a big thing. It's kind of
29:07
when you have someone who says, oh, well, I have
29:11
a... 20 foot high ceilings and I want to fill
29:14
it with this humongous thing and you're like,
29:16
okay, that's based on that, based on the size,
29:19
the artist that you say you like, you're gonna
29:21
be at least upwards of $100 ,000. We're like,
29:24
oh, oh no. And it's like, well, that's why we
29:28
have these conversations. And that's why when,
29:30
as a gallerist, it's more like, well, then if
29:34
this is the thing we're showing and obviously,
29:37
you know, you try to... show them whatever you
29:39
can but it's more the as an advisor you could
29:42
kind of manage those expectations and walk them
29:45
through find what the right thing would be yeah
29:47
and do you ever walk into a space and maybe your
29:52
collector says i want something to fill up this
29:56
wall do you ever walk into the space and say
29:59
actually maybe you take this approach and you
30:02
do it I don't know, a triptych or... Oh, absolutely.
30:05
Look at me with my words. I like it. No, absolutely.
30:09
I feel like there's no wrong approach to it,
30:13
in my opinion. Robert, to answer your question,
30:16
when I look for an artist, and I'm going to try
30:19
to dovetail kind of back to this, something that,
30:22
for me personally, I love material. I love something
30:26
that is kind of tactile. You know, that's probably
30:28
why I love Rob's practice. Rob Wynn. There's
30:31
an artist that I fell in love with when I was
30:34
first starting out at this gallery named Tom
30:36
McFarland. Oh, we've heard of him. He was doing
30:40
these amazing rope deconstructed canvas paintings
30:44
where he would add paint and joint compound dripping
30:48
down these little twines within the canvas. So
30:51
it was all the elements of a painting, but it
30:54
was like deconstructed, almost looked like a
30:57
Ava Hess element. Wow. I was like, I love this.
31:00
I love that. tactility, that materiality, that
31:03
you could kind of go into it. But I also love
31:07
something that makes a statement. I love something
31:08
that's uncomfortable. I love something that's
31:11
a little weird, because again, learning about
31:14
art the way I did, my approach to it, wasn't
31:16
as formal, I don't think. So it was like, show
31:19
me something that grabs my attention. I think
31:22
it's John Deitiger. Might be wrong, German artist.
31:26
We worked with him, I worked with him for one
31:29
show, but he made these It was a sculpture of
31:32
birds that had a sound component. What? Yeah.
31:37
Wow. And the collector just had this one space
31:42
that was a perfect, it was a little strip of
31:47
wall kind of going up a staircase. It was as
31:50
you turn a corner to go up a staircase. And it
31:53
just kind of fit perfectly. And I think a lot
31:55
of people think, you know, I have this space.
31:58
what painting is gonna go there, what photograph
32:01
is gonna go there, and who makes, you know, 10
32:06
foot by 18 inch canvases, not a lot of people.
32:11
But you have sculpture that you could put, you
32:14
could put a pedestal there, you could put birds
32:18
that are attached to a timed loop of bird noises
32:24
and... That's wild. Yeah. You have to find that
32:29
opportunity. Exactly. And are you advising on
32:34
more of a project base or are you sticking with
32:37
a client for a longer term to maybe not fill
32:43
a blank canvas but to help them curate their
32:48
art collection over time? It's both. Okay. You
32:52
know, you ideally do want to grow with Kind of
32:56
one collector at a time to kind of really get
32:58
their vision because then you could find something
33:01
and you see these Opportunities that you don't
33:04
want right necessarily pass them by But also
33:08
if someone has a really fun project that's you
33:10
know, it's gonna be a one -off. Yeah, why not?
33:13
Oh, that's great. Yeah. No, definitely Well,
33:16
Andrew, this was this is absolutely amazing.
33:18
Where can our audience find you online? You could
33:24
find me on Instagram We'll link you in the show
33:26
notes. Excellent. Excellent. For as much time
33:28
as I spend on there, I should know that instantaneously.
33:32
But yes, that's the best way to find me. And
33:36
if it's about art, please find me. We'll move
33:39
into our rapid fire questions. Could you describe
33:43
the Philly art scene in one word? Eclectic. A
33:52
slept -on Philadelphia artist that people need
33:55
to know about now. I would say emerging Tess
34:00
Way. I also locally love Quilisha Wood. Okay.
34:05
I love Quilisha Wood. She's represented by Pippi
34:07
Halsworth over in London, so I wouldn't say that
34:09
she is slept on, but... Philly sleeping on her.
34:13
Not all Philly, because there are some major,
34:18
major... collectors here in Philly, and that
34:21
was also a very fun, interesting introduction
34:23
to this city. Wow. The amount of top 200 collectors
34:27
that call Philly home, which is very, very cool.
34:30
Set the scene. We are heisting a piece of art
34:34
of your choosing. Cole's three. What are we going
34:38
after? We're heisting one and one only. One and
34:41
one only. Oh my gosh. From anywhere in the world?
34:45
No limits. No limits, okay. Well, bring a forklift
34:48
because we are stealing a... Oh my gosh. We're
34:53
stealing Richard Sarah. We are stealing, I think
34:56
it's called, three sheets by Richard Sarah from
35:02
the Nassau County Art Museum, which is my local
35:05
art museum growing up. Love it. Love it. I believe
35:08
that's the tale of it, but it's these three amazing...
35:11
Metal Sheets by Richard Serra in this bowling
35:14
kind of hill and when you come upon it like on
35:19
the grounds you see one and then you take a little
35:21
walk and you see the other three emerge and and
35:23
it truly changed what I it was besides y 'all
35:28
Miro It was the next touch point of art can do
35:34
this. Yeah cheesesteaks with whiz or without
35:37
without answering outside the question, without.
35:40
Okay. I like Provolone. Yeah, that's right. And
35:43
I like Long Hots. Oh, nice. But I also want to
35:46
honorable mention Pastrami on Rye from Famous
35:49
Fourth Street. Oh, okay. A delicious, delicious
35:53
sandwich. Favorite art museum outside of Philadelphia
35:57
and New York? And Pittsburgh. The Rodin Museum
36:01
in Paris. Favorite Philadelphia neighborhood?
36:03
Shadow Queens Village. Nice. If you could have
36:07
any artist in history produce a portrait of you,
36:10
who would it be? Alice Neal. Well, Andrew, thank
36:12
you very much for your time today. The conversation
36:14
was amazing. Come back and meet with us soon,
36:17
yeah? Yes. It would be an honor again. Robert,
36:21
listen, thank you so much for having me. This
36:23
was incredible. Buckle up, and if you are in
36:36
town for the holidays, oh boy, do I have plenty
36:40
of thoughts of how you can fill this weekend
36:41
free of Black Friday shopping. But first, do
36:45
you want to tell our listeners about our event
36:47
on December 2nd? Everyone check out the Emerging
36:50
Collectors Preview at the Printing Center. It's
36:53
going to be an amazing event starting at 5 p
36:56
.m. There will be drinks. And there's going to
36:59
be great opportunities to speak to the artists
37:02
about their pieces and be able to purchase those
37:07
for the benefit of the print center as they celebrate
37:09
their 100th and 10th anniversary. But also, no
37:13
pressure, guys. This is mostly an educational
37:15
opportunity to learn about caring for art and
37:19
how to form a collection. Let's kick it off.
37:23
For this weekend, Yannick Leeds Sibelius runs
37:27
from November 29th through the 30th at the Kimmel
37:31
Center. Speaking of orchestras, tickets to Philadelphia
37:35
Young Artist Orchestra on November 30th also
37:38
at the Kimmel Center are available. Drew Leshko's
37:43
Amor Fati wraps up at Paradigm Gallery on November
37:46
30th. Pi Gallery presents Tapestries by Nina
37:50
Hans for the month of November. A usable past,
37:53
Reflections on a Nation and Its Inheritance,
37:56
opened on November 7th at the Museum for Art
37:59
and Wood and is ongoing throughout February.
38:02
An exhibition by Jeet Weinstrein -Klanker is
38:05
ongoing at Works on Paper Gallery and is nearly
38:08
sold out. Under a hundred, under a thousand,
38:12
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens -inspired works
38:14
by Philly artists is ongoing at Magic Gardens.
38:18
group show titled Materiality is ongoing at Bridget
38:22
Meyer Gallery. And with that, Philly has heart.
38:25
And art. And no more studio time today.