“The gallery owners are very aesthetic people”
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This Week
💦 soft suburban aspirational-class sand-salmon-coloured aesthetic returns
💦 Oli Epp defends jiggling dough ball
💦 spittle’s drink of the summer announced
Events
Time to get a life losers! Pretty much no events this week other than Sarabande Foundation’s Summer Group Show on Thursday - yes, you guessed it - 6-8pm, and a group show opening at Shipton this Friday, 6-9pm, with a performance by Salomé Wu to boot. Chic! x
An interview with Seat4ArtBums
Who hasn’t found themselves, mid-Art Fair, lingering over a Pierre Jeanneret lounge chair on a random booth, floored by the design choice perfection of adding a touch of mid century modernism to an otherwise unremarkable selection of paintings? If you, like us, can’t stop wondering ‘WHY SUCH NICE CHAIRS?’ and aren’t satisfied with explanations like “The gallery owners are very aesthetic people” then iconic niche instagram account (278 followers at time of writing) @seatforartbums is for you. We sat down (pardon the pun) with SFAB account admin to get some answers, asking Why are art people so obsessed with Jean Prouvé?
spittle: We’re curious - what do you do day-to-day? Are you in the art world or the furniture/ design world…
SFAB: My wasted potential is my greatest strength and my parents greatest disappointment. I cultivated the skills of observation and critique at university, but I did not have the artist's talent of being able to transform what I saw into a visual medium. I have bummed about (true to my name) since leaving university, attempting to commit myself to a myriad of pursuits: gallerina, ski bum, curator, finance bro, illustrator. Now, rather than sticking to one career route, I follow the projects and opportunities that are of interest, with no one month the same - galleries, art fairs, asset management, writing and the slopes.
spittle: What drew you to create seatforartbums?
SFAB: When I was at Frieze London a couple years ago, I was so entirely compelled to prattle that I started art bums on an impassioned whim. There were so many galleries that had fostered such an engaging environment (e.g., Sadies Coles - exhibit a) while other galleries that had been so needlessly unthinking in their presentation (e.g., White Cube - exhibit b). I needed a forum to celebrate the successes and critique the prevalent injustices committed by galleries. I am far too emotional to be a journalist and too lazy to be a gossip columnist. So yapping on Insta to friends and foes working at other galleries while we waited out the closing of each fair seemed a spiffing way to spend my free time at fairs.
spittle: Have you ever had any responses from the galleries that you critique?
SFAB: It is quite a mixed bag. I mainly want to entertain the gallery assistants and light a fire under the arses of the gallery directors - although it is much easier to entertain my peers than encourage change from directors. Some galleries leave me unread, some bite back and others playfully engage. The team at Timothy Taylor have had a great sense of humour following my write ups of their booth over the last few fairs with a marked improvement that I adore (although change is not necessarily attributable to my blathering).
spittle: Beyond practicalities, what is the importance of furniture for galleries showing at art fairs?
SFAB: Galleries are service the artists they represent and the community of collectors that they work to connect with. It is important for galleries to cultivate a space that encourages this connection. This means creating a space for gallerists to orbit and share information with collectors about artworks; the use of reference books, press sheets and business cards is essential for a fruitful outcome.
With the bigger galleries, so much of the artwork is often sold before the VIP preview or in the first two days. But the point of a gallery is not only to sell the works from the booth for that one show, but to cultivate the right collectors, place the works in the right homes, and also share the journey of the artwork with collectors newly discovering an artist and lay the groundwork for future collaboration and sales. There is still work to be done, even if the booth has sold.
spittle: What makes a great art fair booth furniture set up?
It is challenging to be prescriptive when defining a good booth, but…
😏Complementary seating arrangement
📚A ton of books
🤓Accessible information on the artworks and artist
⚖️ Harmonious curation of differing works (esp. in a group show)
What makes a bad one?
It is not a challenging call…
👎Little stools
🤮 Transparent plastic furniture
😭Seats that cannot be sat in
😵 Over reliance on QR codes and PDFs
🌷Flowers
spittle: A lot of young galleries read us - many doing their first art fairs where furniture by Prouve and Perriand is well out of budget. What is a chic yet super accessible set up?
SFAB: Spending a small fortune on impeccably crafted wooden furniture is not necessary, and sometimes not appropriate. Affordable seating options can easily work in a space if they are responding to the work presented.
Piedres at Liste this year is a really good example of responding to the artist they are representing. They used the standard issue chairs from the fair organisers, but they painted their booth an intoxicating rouge, with lovely labels for the artworks, and provided meaningful information on the artist. These were all incredibly affordable enhancements which made them stand out in the roundel of the fair and exhibited the passion and regard with which the gallerist felt for their artist.
But in some cases, furniture does not have to be considered a decorative cost, but rather a curatorial or sales opportunity. For instance, in the case of Pace at Basel 2024, the gallery invested in fabricating a Dubuffet sculpture, which was then used as seating in their booth, and which they could then sell three editions. Cross market collaboration can be incredibly exciting. Taking the narrative of an exhibition and making it stretch into the curation of the space engages the audience, it builds a world where the exhibition is more memorable and meaningful.
The best example of world building today is from European fashion houses. Although galleries and fashion houses both exist within the creative space the same as arts, they have a much deeper understanding of commerce and strong conviction to execute on opportunities. Taking the core narrative of a collection and stretching it beyond the garment is an enhancement that galleries could learn and benefit from - examples including:
Margot Robbie’s separation from Chanel and opportunity presenting red carpet costumes reflecting different Barbie’s during the “Barbie” premiers
Raf Simons while at Dior curating the costume for Tilda Swinton's character in Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash
Rowing Blazers, which started as a photography series of rowing blazers across the UK and Europe in a coffee table book, which developed into a clothing brand eventually selling to Birch Creative Capital
Artists that have managed to succeed at world building and creating meaningfully memorable exhibitions have an extraordinary skill in communicating with their audiences. Interestingly these artists are largely independent and are not tied down by gallery representation - examples include Corbin Shaw and CJ Hendry.
So often galleries present artworks in a sterile, white booth with minimal character in an attempt to erase their presence and amplify the artist. However, without investing in the creative opportunities when presenting at art fairs, gallerists can appear disconnected from the art and uncaring of the artist. My only hope is that by illuminating aspects of booths exceptionally executed and fantastically fumbled that we might move towards a future where galleries take a more steadfast approach in supporting their artists.
Drink o’the Summer
Every year, as the sweet sweat of summer settles in, we find ourselves wondering; “what is thee drink of the summer?” – what delicious new concoction will we find ourselves sipping in parks, on beaches and in muggy European cities? Fear not, little spittlers, for we have the answer. We proudly declare that this year’s tipple of the season is; a cheeky little Picon Bière.
That’s right, beer with a refreshing little splash of orange liqueur to send your taste buds straight to the south of France, where, coincidentally, there’s an approximately 90% chance you’ll already be heading… as everyone and their mother seems to be this silly season. We don’t blame you, now is precisely the right time to go before Marseilles content fatigue sets in and it’s not so chic anymore, babes!
For those straight shooters who do not indulge in alcohol, summer also bears non-alcoholic fruits, largely in the form of… Pocari Sweat. We’re not sure if it’s the return of Art Basel HK these last 2 years, or if there are other forces at play, but we can’t stop seeing the appropriately named isotonic bevvy making the rounds on the streets of London. The taste is delicious but indescribable in the way that only sports drinks can be. spittle’s top tip? Cult lunchtime Japanese food store Rice Wine Shop on Brewer Street sells it for cheap – don’t all rush at once! xoxoxo
Parting Shot
Algorithms work in mysterious ways, we all know this by now. But self described Kunst Flaneur Yves Joris (collector and prolific instagrammer) surely could not have predicted the 1.2 million views (and counting) of his video depicting Harrison Pearce’s exhibition at Gnyp Gallery. Bulbous blobs bounce up and down on their individual little trampolines while visitors watch on – delightful.
Naturally, with such a large reach, the comments section was full of a plethora of interpretations, many of which would surely make Clement Greenberg stop and reconsider. Viewers made insightful political, social and religious readings from the work, and Oli Epp? He was just happy to be there x
xoxo