Anastasia Petrovskaia and Maria Korolevskaya, founders of The Art Partners, an art collection management office based in London and operating internationally, share their thoughts on the art world during the pandemic: on the struggles, opportunities and the future of the industry.

How did you start The Art Partners? 

When we launched The Art Partners five years ago our goal was to go beyond the ordinary art consulting business model and focus on the Family Art Office concept where clients receive tailored approach and exceptional collection management support. We understood the importance of an exclusive and niche enterprise to look after clients, not only during the purchasing process but for years to follow. It’s about creating conversation and building a community of passionate people. We organize private visits to artist studios, exhibitions, art fairs and museums.

How are art galleries in LA, NY and London dealing with shutdowns and other restrictions? Have many closed or will they soon close? While the answer seems to be overwhelmingly negative, is there any silver lining?

Yes, it’s been a difficult year for art galleries, and since March 2020 many shut for months. Even as restriction eased, galleries still can’t recover since social distancing measures allow a few clients inside a gallery. In the first half of 2020 gallery sales dropped 36% on average, according to UBS&Art Basel. Galleries rely on human interaction, and a major part of income comes from art fairs. As a result, the segment is hit the hardest, especially smaller galleries with turnover under $500,000 a year. Many galleries have laid off employees but thankfully only a small percentage of galleries have decided to shut down completely.

On a more positive note, galleries have made up for lost in-person and art fair sales by embracing online formats. Galleries use their websites, Online Viewing Rooms and third-party aggregators to sell art, as well as uniting efforts. For example David Zwirner introduced Platform, dedicated each month to a different city and offering other galleries to showcase artists. The current trend toward the digitalisation of gallery sales will continue in 2021 and beyond.

What about art fairs….?

By the end of the year, almost all art fairs switched to the Online Viewing Rooms model and adjusted user experience to meet client needs during the pandemic. Our favorite was Art Basel and Untitled, and recently Fiac had a great user experience. But, we still must see how the changes will impact art fairs: Which will survive?; Will there be fewer?; Will they be smaller in size? We hope the art calendar won’t be cancelled in 2021, but Art Basel HK already shifted its date to May, and September for Basel. 

What about collectors? Is the current market situation favorable to collectors? 
There has been a drop in the number of paintings sold at auctions compared to the previous year, according to published data. However, auction houses just released their end of year reports, and there are signs that give us reason for hope. Sotheby’s and Christie’s attracted new clients that account for 36% and 40% of total sales, respectively; these new clients were largely millennials. Sotheby’s private sales also increased by 57% (almost £1 billion) and Christie’s by 50%. Hence, the shift was of course for collectors to keep buying, though buying online. Without being able to visit auction houses in person, collectors were ‘forced’ to purchase artworks online. Therefore, collectors who were able to adapt to the new normal haven’t experienced any significant difficulties, auction houses have made it fairly easy to buy and sell artworks online. On the downside, this move towards digitalisation has negatively impacted the primary market and emerging artists. As collectors were more confident in buying artists they were already familiar with.

You mentioned that in 2020 auction houses saw an increase in new buyers, especially younger ones. There’s a stereotype that art investments are only for the mega-rich, so how can you explain this phenomenon during a global financial crisis caused by COVID? How wealthy does one have to be to start collecting art?

We advise clients to begin by investing comfortable amounts and increasing with time, if their financial situation allows. When you begin to collect art the key is not only your money but your time. Regarding why the number of collectors increased over the last year, one of the reasons is active digitalisation of the art world due to the pandemic, which has democratised the market, making prices transparent and more accessible too (so one can see that apart from very expensive pieces there are thousands of much more affordable works on offer). This has freed many from prejudice, as well as making collecting much less intimidating – to buy something online rather than going into the gallery. This is especially the case for younger generation. The market is no longer as exclusive as it once has been, it is no longer restricted to high-net-worth collectors who have good relationships with dealers, auctioneers and gallerists. We’ve also noticed that recently more new young collectors became our clients. Also, there are lots of interest in NFTs and digital art mainly from business and tech background individuals, not necessarily a  traditional type of collector who goes to the art fairs and biennials.

If the art market is more transparent and entry barriers are dropping, should an emerging art collector work with an art consultancy firm or any ‘middle man’? Will you be adjusting the way your company works? 

Our company helps with exactly that. We bring certainty to the client. Our expertise, knowledge of the art history and connections allow us to select and find the best works based on client’s taste and current trends. Furthermore, we understand that the majority of emerging collectors will be unable to dedicate the right amount of time to learn more about art and explore the global art scene. So we’re not afraid to become irrelevant in the future. Moreover, we’re gladly the bridge that unites new technology with the right audience. There are many interesting startups working with blockchain and AI in the art field and plenty of collectors haven’t heard about them. To be able to make a transition to a technology-run world we still need human recourses to do that. 

What do you think about artists? How are they coping professionally and psychologically with COVID and not being able to live and work as before?

This past year has mostly affected artists personal projects and exhibitions, which were cancelled or postponed. Museums have struggle a lot, but it’s a different topic. Speaking about artists’ work, they could continue as before and perhaps, more effectively with less pressure from intense art fair calendars and overexposure. Besides, they are supporting one another through great initiatives, such as the Artists Support Pledge. Of course it has been more vulnerable for emerging artists as they  are only on the stage of earning their recognition, although social media channels and popularization of online sales were quite helpful. 

What are your plans for the future? 

Our digital collection management platform, the Art Vault, is nearly complete. It is going to be our first tech product, which will allow our clients to keep all of the information on their collection online and easily manage it. In the future, we will aim to expand our business and move further outside the art world. We want to spread the message and to influence a synergy of art with the fields of science and technology; together with reaching wider audiences, developing our artist residencies, improving our work with clients and engaging in new exciting collaborations. 

A few days before our current viral madness and global lockdown, I was fortunate to have the chance to meet up with with a talented artist and interesting personality from Moscow, Yuri Ulyashev. His art works are in private collections in Russia and the USA. He’s been displayed at the International Art Festival in New York, the Texas Contemporary Exhibition in Houston, Margo Gallery in New York, the Russian Art Museum in New Jersey, and the Moscow Skolkovo Business School.

I previously only knew Yuri’s works from group exhibitions — he was last shown in Manhattan in November, at a large art festival in Chelsea. While touring that exhibition, my saturated eyes easily gravitated to Yuri’s painting, “Chimpanzee Music Lover”.

While Yuri was not at that opening night, little did I know that a few months later I’d have the chance to meet him in person when a friend let me know that Yuri was on his way to New York in early March. 

Yuri is a former advertising executive but has always had a love and talent for art. I wanted to know Yuri better, so we took a nice walk around Chelsea in New York City. This was on the eve of the national emergency. His words, especially about slowing down to appreciate the world around us, are eerily prescient to the madness that we now find ourselves in.

When did you decide to become an artist?

I’m an artist at heart, so I probably made this decision at the time of my birth. This desire has long matured in my soul, and I consciously came to being an artist at the age of 38.

What inspires you as an artist?

Usually very unexpected things that rush into my surroundings: a bright color spot, a bright beautiful decoration on a woman; a beautiful dress or an interesting combination of colors on something. Inspiration comes from absolutely different places; sometimes it’s just something bright against the background of something standard and classic.

What is your philosophy?

The world of the artist is a world of something real and non-invented. Something that can stop us on our course of life and make us think. If we talk about craft or philosophy, I do not want to provoke anyone, I want to use color in relation to the thoughts and events that surround me. Every day we run around, and don’t have time to look around and see what’s beautiful. Art is a way to freeze a moment in life, and experience and appreciate the essence of life. As urban residents, we see thousands of images a day. Our senses are oversaturated. I want people to understand that it’s important to stop and enjoy a moment’s beauty.

In this age of conceptual art, why is color still important?

Through my artistic vision and my exquisite use of color, I like to bring out the essence of an object. I want to create something that people will appreciate and enjoy. There is a moment in an artist’s life when you simply want to enjoy the beauty of a moment. Take Monet who painted many different versions of the sun over the Thames. He didn’t want to make a philosophical statement. He wanted to capture a moment of beauty.

What is the role of the artist in society?

The artist is a person who looks at things from a different angle and he does so within the framework of his transformative vision to convey to people important ideas that surround us in everyday life.

What do you think of New York?

New York is a city of contrasts. There are luxury boutiques and then in front of the window might be a homeless man sleeping. Lots of dirt, but lots of people well-dressed. You feel like an ant amid the skyscrapers. A person doesn’t really feel a part of the city, but rather a unit in this city. New York has grown naturally and there are many buildings from older periods and you see this in the architecture. 

What artists do you like?

Oddly enough, my favorite artist is Vasily Kandinsky. I really love his work because he knows how to distinguish something important from a series of ordinary things. He knows how to demonstrate the energy that he puts into his works by using a combination of colors. And, of course, I really like the works of Van Gogh, Monet and Yakovlev.

My final thoughts:

Our conversation ended. Yuri and I finished our lunch at a cozy French restaurant in Chelsea. Around the block were some of the leading art galleries. We popped inside a few them. As usual, the selection on display was mixed. Some were gems; otherwise left you incredulous, wondering how and why they were even on display. Nevertheless, outside a storm was brewing and we had little idea how intense it would get. And that it would shut down the entire city and the world for 2 months. Once this is over, we all need to heed Yuri’s advice, and find the time to appreciate the beauty and finer things in life. 

The Armory show, one of New York’s premier contemporary art fairs, opened today with an extraordinary assortment from across the globe. Fears of the coronavirus couldn’t keep people away, and the VIP opening was packed with thousands of art connoisseurs and creative professionals. The social scene’s buzz was almost as dazzling as the art works on display.

With 183 galleries from 32 countries, Armory brings together the leading players on the global contemporary art scene. Entrance, however, is pricey — $55 for general admission. 

Below is a sampling of art works that struck my fancy for various reasons. As you know, art is highly subjective, so I will refrain from saying that these are “the best” works at the fair. They simply touched me and I can relate to them, not to mention that they are also clever and visually appealing.

Curro Gallery from Guadalajara, Mexico, has a solo exhibition by Alejandro Almanza Pereda, and it stopped me dead in my tracks. The artworks in his series, “Horror vacui” (fear of empty space), are so incongruent and jarring that many others instinctively gravitated towards it. We all were captivated by the bizarre juxtaposition of classical art and brutal modern concrete. Pereda’s art ponders the interdependence between art and architecture, as well as the violent relation between modern humans and the environment, and our tendency to want to build structures seemingly everywhere.

Moving on, San Francisco-based Christine Wang has a biting satirical work that must have ruffled many liberal feathers at the fair. “Feminist” (2020) is an unflattering critique of modern-day feminism, an ideology that has gone far beyond its noble roots and is now heavily weaponized in the North American political realm.

David Reimondo, a brilliant artist from Milan, had his New York debut with his massive and thought-provoking “Etimografia.” I just happened to see this art work about five years ago when it was still a work in progress. “Etimografia” is an intellectual tour de force, and by far the most cerebral art work at the fair. Artists often like to say that their goal is to create their own visual language. Well, Reimondo has done that, literally. The art work is his years-long research into language, and it features dozens of ideograms, pictograms and glyphs. Each has its own sound and meaning. They’re not letters, but rather concepts; something more like hieroglyphs.

At Dittrich & Schlechtriem Gallery (Berlin) there’s a joyful art work by Alfredo Aceto (“Laughing Window II”), juxtaposed with a surrealistic work by Robert Lazzarini (“Police barricade”), which is inspired by the ubiquitous New York Police Department barricades. The art work seems to be a challenge to authority, perhaps a protest again police brutality, which is sadly quite common in the USA.

The Armory Show’s central piece is Edward and Nancy Kienholz’s spectacular installation, “The Caddy Court”, made about 35 years ago. Featuring an early 1980s vintage American car, it occupies the largest amount of space at the show, and is a hit with social media influencers.

Forsblom Gallery from Helsinki provides a sophisticated touch with its subtle dialogue of two artists: painter Heikki Marila (“Flowers”) and sculptor Emma Helle (“The Faun and the Frog”). Both works are a contemporary twist inspired by the Rocco style of the late 18th century.

Finally, Anna Zorina Gallery has a wonderful solo exhibition by Dominic Chambers, an African-American artist from St. Louis, doing his MFA at Yale University. Utilizing a rich and varied color field Chambers’ paintings explore moments of contemplation and meditation through reading and leisure. The young artist certainly has a great future ahead of him.

The Armory Show runs until March 8, and is located at Pier 90 and Pier 94 on the Hudson River, (Manhattan’s West Side, by 50th Street). For more information: https://www.thearmoryshow.com

I made a repeat visit to East Harlem last week, this time to see a fantastic exhibition by New York-based artist, Roland Gebhardt, who was making his debut at David Richard Gallery.

“New Work – Floor and Wall Sculptures” is his solo presentation of new studio works included 14 wall-mounted sculptures produced from 2017 through 2019 in a variety of materials, including zinc, aluminum and paper. 

With their angled cuts and undulations from the various materials, these art works have the appearance of floating on the wall, a nod to the notion of illusory space. 

Untitled (Plates 0018). Aluminum

“Gebhardt creates an internal tension within his wall sculptures that successfully suggests the possibility of a three-dimensional structure in a two-dimensional plane,” said the gallery in a press statement.

The main art work, however, is the debut of a new installation piece comprised of 49 vertical wooden columns with slices removed in Gebhardt’s usual serial fashion that explore “various permutations of cuts and orientations on different faces, each placed on the floor in an array.” 

The columns are arranged in linear arrays as floor pieces with wide spaces between each that invite the viewer to walk in and around the installation.

“Gebhardt is known for his minimalist sculptures that he has been producing since the early 1970s. This particular presentation highlights current and new works and focuses on his ongoing exploration of space, or better yet, voids,” the gallery said in a press statement.

Roland Gebhardt was born in Paramaribo, Suriname 1939. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich and earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Art Academy of Hamburg. He is a sculptor working in a variety of media and exhibits internationally.

The exhibition is on view from January 26 – February 21, 2020 at David Richard Gallery located at 211 East 121 Street, New York.

Meanwhile, down in TriBeCa… I popped into The Journal Gallery (45 White Street) to see a small exhibition by Marco Pariani, an Italian artist now working in Brooklyn, and who says that one of his goals is “to go to live on the moon”. Indeed, his art is out-of-this-world and an enjoyable visual feast.

Born in 1986 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Pariani received his BFA from the Academy of Fine Art of Brera in Milan. He works with several media — oil, acrylic and spray paint. His paintings certainly have an edgy street art feel.

“I really love spray paint I think that is really hard to use them and was a kind of challenge for me to learn from single caps and different brands. On canvas, spray paints are really important for me because I love the contrast with the acrylic colors,” said Pariani. “My style is a result of many years of work and I love to use contrasts between materials, like spray paint and acrylic, and colors, like green and pink, pink and grey and other colors that I love in particular inside my palette.”

“Metempsychosis,” a solo exhibition of works by artist Ola Rondiak now on display at WhiteBox-Harlem Art Center until Jan. 26, is one of the holiday season’s best unexpected ‘sleeper’ sensations in New York City.

This exhibition comes as a pleasant surprise in every way; well executed in every aspect — the quality of the art works, the atmospheric lighting, the edgy ambience, and the artist’s warmth and hospitality.

The thrill and delight begins as soon as you exit the subway in East Harlem. Stepping outside, you immediately feel you’re back in that edgy 1980s Manhattan, an era in the city’s history that was marked by both incredible freedom and creativity, but also lots of dodgy characters on the street. No reason to worry, however; unlike the 1980s, today the NYPD heavily patrols this neighborhood.  

Upon setting foot into White Box, the exhibition immediately becomes a silent feast for the visual senses — a large ‘motanka’ stands watch over the entire hall; the lighting is sensual and seductive, enticing you further into the exhibition space.

Born in Ohio and steeped in Ukrainian culture over the course of her upbringing in the USA, Ms Rondiak is a Ukrainian-American who moved back to Ukraine in the mid 1990s and stayed. Today, she finds herself as an artist caught in the tumultuous and often surrealistic times that define Ukraine and US relations. 

Walking around the exhibition, you start wondering: Just what does ‘metempsychosis’ mean? Turns out that this is a philosophical term from Ancient Greece that refers to transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. In recent decades, the term metempsychosis has been recontextualised by modern philosophers and artists.

Rondiak’s extraordinary artworks are inseparable from her own experience, which is expressed in her oeuvre that dazzles the public with her ‘art as historical conscience’.

Her art is folk-inspired and seems to challenge the widely-held belief that in order to be ‘contemporary’ one must entirely turn their back on the past; and that ‘proper’ and ‘sellable’ contemporary art must conform to the widely accepted ‘globalized-anodized’ body of works that we see in many major art fairs.

This brings us to question No. 2? What’s a ‘motanka’? These traditional Ukrainian dolls are meant to protect a child from evil spirits and to restore health. Ms Rondiak began to make her own when she discovered her grandmother’s miraculously preserved motankas, which she made while unjustly jailed in a Soviet gulag camp. Traditionally the motankas were made out of rags but Ms Rondiak has made them out of plaster of Paris, which of course is used to treat broken bones (casts); this symbolizes the element of healing after the war broke out in eastern Ukraine.

In these motankas Ms Rondiak sees the image of her grandmother’s feat of survival, and her determination to make something valuable and with healing properties out of practically nothing, despite being in a place of great terror and repression. 

Ms Rondiak seeks to honor and celebrate her grandmother’s accomplishment in trying to extend health and safety for her imprisoned comrades during the Stalinist era. And perhaps these motankas are bringing health and safety to her family today, as well as the exhibition audience, across space and time.

The exhibition in Harlem will run simultaneously with one in Ukraine; similar artworks of motankas will open on Jan 15 at the Kyiv History Museum, presented by the Revolution of Dignity Museum/ Maidan Museum.

Also, a live stream discussion panel will be held at noon on Jan. 11 in the office of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (New York City) and at the Maidan Museum (Kyiv) at 7 p.m.

Ola Rondiak, “Metempsychosis”

December 29, 2019 to January 26, 2020

WhiteBox Harlem, 

213 East 121st Street

New York, NY