(An abbreviated version of this interview appeared in the Huffington Post in November of 2011).
Mark Cooper: More is More, on view at Samsøn, October 21 – December 10, 2011
(Photo: Clements|Howcroft)
Many who love art and enjoy experiencing it at museums, galleries and non-profit art spaces have little idea that those experiences would not be possible without the efforts and contributions of curators, gallerists, art installers and others working behind the scenes.
This post is the first in a series I am informally calling "The Cultural Landscape Architects." They are art world professionals who play a role in connecting art with the public. They decide which artworks by which artists are presented, place the art in the contexts of both art history and current times, and help shape the cultural landscape.
I met Camilo Alvarez, the owner of the critically acclaimed and beloved art gallery Samsøn, because all my artist and gallerist friends in New York told me it was the place to see in Boston during my time there in 2007-2008. A friendly, "hip-but-unpretentious" fellow with serious smarts, Camilo traverses many worlds. In recent years at Art Basel Miami Beach, I have run into him at places as wildly different as the fancy rooftop bar where he was entertaining ICA/Boston board members and the crazy karaoke dive bar in the basement of the Shelborne. Equally adept at working with artists and collectors, he exhibits art that is challenging, serious and provocative.
Camilo Alvarez (r), during "Chain
Letter" at his gallery, Samsøn (Photo:
Justin Freed)
Julie Chae: Hi Camilo, when did
you decide to open a gallery?
Camilo Alvarez: I
can't recall the exact moment I decided to open a gallery, but I do remember
when I decided I wanted to work with art.
I was on a high school (Walton in the Bronx )
trip to the "Basquiat" show at the Whitney and I remember seeing how
activate d my classmates were.
JC: Bronx schoolkids on a field trip to a Madison Avenue art museum!
And what was going on?
CA: These were rough
and tough kids from the streets and "third" world countries,
awestruck by what they saw and amazed by the maker. Spontaneous conversations among timid teens,
hard thugs and well-heeled strangers?! I
knew I wanted to help perpetuate more reactions and situations like that.
JC: Is
this why you decided to go to Skidmore?
CA: Yes, Skidmore had
a great library and an ambitious art program.
I studied Art and Art History there.
I knew I wanted to get as much behind-the-scenes action as possible.
JC: And
what other kinds of experiences have influenced your thinking about art and
what you want to do in the art world?
CA: After college, I
went back home to work for artists, galleries, art delivery companies, museums,
including Exit Art and Socrates Sculpture Park, among other places. One of my favorite jobs, or positions rather,
was at an artist residency, the Skowhegan
School Skowhegan , Maine
JC: You
get a lot of respect from art world peers for your gallery's bold and original
program. Would you describe your vision for the art you're interested in
showing at Samsøn?
CA: The program, hmmm
everyone from the "art world" asks that. The viewer doesn't care about "the
program"!? I think it, "the
program," is constantly evolving as everything should. I would describe it as diverse, be it medium,
gender, background, ideas...kinda like the viewer. I go for what I would loosely describe as the
"transgressive accessible."
Showing work that discomforts, work that can relate to people outside
and inside of "the art world," because it is a strange place to be. Some
Machiavelli for you: "[T]here is
nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more
uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in introducing a new order of
things...." In a commercial gallery, a single exhibition
can deter a lot of future sales or incite a slew of people calling the gallery
to get removed from the email list. In
the grand scheme of things then, it makes you wonder if "the program"
matters.
JC:
Well, you definitely do not shy away from exhibiting art that could be construed
as “controversial.” Your second show with Gabriel Martinez is even more intense
than the first one you had.
Gabriel
Martinez, September 9 – October 15, 2011, Installation View, Samsøn (Photo:
Clements|Howcroft)
JC:
And so despite owning a commercial enterprise, you continue to show art
that is difficult, can confuse and can upset people. Last spring, you exhibited
a solo show of work by the fantastic Hank Willis Thomas, whose past solo shows
have had titles like “Branded” and “Pitch Blackness.” How did people react to
this show?
CA: It was revealing to show Hank, an African-American
artist who predominantly deals with the depiction of color in advertising, in
very white Boston. The younger generation, the students, grooved with it
and were completely familiar with the racial tropes, whereas others were leery
of it. That space in between is where
the magic happens – a slight discomfort. The viewer wonders if they're missing
something or if they can believe what they see.
Hank
WIllis Thomas, Scouring the Earth for my Affinity, Installation View, Samsøn
(Photo: Clements|Howcroft)
JC:
I was impressed with the Thomas exhibition and equally thrilled to get
your announcement about Samsøn’s participation at zonaMACO with works
by Victoria Fu, Carrie Mae Weems, Francesca Woodman, Alix Pearlstein,
Summer Wheat and Adrian Piper. These are not artists that regularly get seen
in a lot of commercial galleries outside of New York and LA in the U.S.; I hope
you get a chance to exhibit their works in Boston, as you did with Thomas.
CA: Yes, I curated the booth at zonaMACO in
Mexico City this year. Exhibiting abroad is always intense; from dealing
with customs and shipping to making sure you pace yourself for a long week.
It’s a gambit that can be edgy and economically smart. Most of the works were photographs or videos,
so multiply available, but then I don't represent most of those artists so
there is always a chance people will go elsewhere for the work. I enjoy
mixing generations; seminal artists like Adrian Piper and Carrie Mae Weems
along with emerging artists Victoria Fu, with whom I had never worked
previously, and Summer Wheat, whom I just started showing.
Summer
Wheat, Bone Breaker, 2010, oil and acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inches
JC:
Mixing generations is a wonderful way to contextualize art. What’s a
particularly special exhibition in which you were able to do this?
CA: I recently exhibited the entire Woodman
family: Betty, Charlie, Francesca and
George. They had never shown together. Betty is a sculptor, Charlie
does video, film and performance, Francesca photographed and George has been
painting on photographs recently. George
and Betty met in Boston and have been showing for decades! Betty is one
of the few living artists to have had a retrospective at the MET. It was
predictable some wanted to talk about Francesca's suicide, but most viewers
noticed how the thread of family can run through the work. The exhibition
was installed so it was as if you were listening in on the family's
conversation. It’s a wholesome subject that is considered perhaps hokey,
but this first social structure is necessary and incredibly important.
Betty,
Charlie, George & Francesca, December 10 - February 26, 2011. Installation
View, Samsøn
(Photo: Clements|Howcroft)
JC:
From an exhibition that addresses issues involving the fundamental human
social structure to the summer event “Chain Letter,” which looks like it was a
grand, fun, free-for-all. Can
you say something about "Chain Letter," the event/exhibition, that
you had in July this past summer?
CA: Chain Letter was more of a community building exercise. The summer is
usually dead for the art world, so this was a word-of-mouth experiment.
The real part of the “exhibition” happened with the moment you [the
artist] received the letter of admiration and then forwarded it on. The 1200-plus
objects that arrived at the gallery served as documentation of that
interaction.
Chain
Letter exhibition/event at Samsøn (Photo: Justin Freed)
Chain
Letter exhibition opening, outside at Samsøn (Photo:
Nancy Fulton)
JC:
Because Samsøn serves as venues for projects like “Chain Letter,”
curated video screenings and arts performances, your gallery has always been
extremely popular with local artists who crave more exposure to cutting-edge
art. Now you have found another way to support local artists – by providing a
residency program that allows a chosen artist to work out of a studio beneath
the gallery. Why did you decide to do this and how does it work?
CA: Ah yes and sübsamsøn, the residency. I miss that direct interaction with the artist
that I’d had when I worked at Skowhegan, which as you know is one of the
premier US residencies. The details: the artist pays rent here. I get them professional experience: studio visits, exhibition opportunities,
sales. Pretty clearcut, kinda. They are
artists based in New England, "local" artists with no representation.
I find them from looking around. We are
basically in it together so I decide who gets in.
JC:
Sounds like a good
deal for the artist who needs to pay rent for his/her studio anyway, whether in
a separate building or in a corner of the apartment, it’s a cost of making art,
like materials and supplies. In return the artist gets constructive feedback
from you, business/career/strategic advice, introductions to critics, curators,
gallerists, collectors, a residency program to add to their resume, and a
professional to take care of any sales?
CA: And the $357
monthly rent is more of a token commercial relationship. Let’s not talk about
the packages we send out for the resident artist, the exposure to “First Friday”
crowds, the projects I get them. It’s all good.
JC:
Since it sounds like
the residency application/acceptance is an informal process, do you want to
share the story of how you met John C. Gonzalez, your current sübsamsøn artist?
What did you see in him or his work that you thought was interesting or
powerful or promising?
CA: I first saw John's work in a Museum School (School of the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston) sale. It was one of those
funny/weird, army/lego-looking prints. And then I saw the name: ‘Wow a Latino – sweet.’ I then re-met him at a project he and some
other Museum School folks were doing in Dorchester called “Lufthansa.” I
did a communal studio visit with them. Then I find out he's Puerto Rican and Irish? Nice combo.
Then I find out he was in residency at Skowhegan. Then I find out he did a residency in Wyoming
where he came up with his own cattle-branding iron? I think there's something about artists that
can comment in many or any media on contemporary subject matter; it takes skill
and bravery.
John C. Gonzalez, Self Portrait (Anonymous mail-order painting artist hired to paint an image of him or
herself) 2009
JC:
You're from NYC and you once told me you moved to Boston "for
love," which is adorable, you know? Having met your wonderful wife, I have
to agree it was a terrific decision.
CA: Yes, love is the answer! Everyone
should leave their hometown. Unplug the umbilical. Alexandra, my wife,
left her hometown of Boston
JC:
Well, I know people in Boston and in NYC that love both of you, so let’s
discuss those places. New York is a magnet for the arts, but other communities
have locals that love art too, including Boston. And you are constantly
demonstrating you are committed to engaging in a serious dialogue about art and
culture with the community there.
CA: I love NYC
and I visit often, but it has changed. It's not what it used to be. I feel the worship of money is fraught with
problems. Opportunities that were once at the fingertip are now lost,
misused or unavailable to most. It’s like that everywhere, but it's just
in your face and fast in NYC.
Boston is an
interesting city. Much more subtle and
low-key, and it’s physically easier to leave than NYC. There has been a historical
rivalry between the two places, which is funny; there's no need for it. There
are a lot of students in Boston – young sponges ready to spring and spread upon
the world. I don't feel that to
contribute to culture you have to be based in a place anymore. NYC taught me that and Boston extended it for
me.
JC:
So, Camilo, care to make one last statement here of your own choosing about art?
CA: Obscure and
opaquely intellectual art for its own sake is highly problematic for me.
It seems people who need an inbuilt social situation to satisfy an
existence is pathetic. Why such self referentiality? I hate
cliques. I got into art because my curiosity and need for
knowledge is insatiable. Art for me encompasses everything. We are a
species ... not American, Thai, or New Yorker. Fucking reflect, y'all! If art is
made and isn't seen, does it exist?
Camilo Alvarez is the
owner (and drector, curator and preparator) at Samsøn (founded as Samson Projects in 2004) in Boston,
Massachusetts. Camilo was born in
1976 in New York City to Dominican parents and lived in Santo Domingo for 7
years. He received a BA from Skidmore College and is currently studying to
receive a Masters in Museum Studies from Harvard University. He has worked at,
among other places, Exit Art, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Whitney Museum of
American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, MIT’s List Visual Art Center and the
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. Samsøn’s programs and exhibitions
have been reviewed by, among others, ArtForum, the Boston Globe and Flash Art.
Gallery artist Gabriel Martinez just had his second solo show in September, and
currently on view at the gallery is Mark Cooper (October 21 – December 10,
2011). See http://samsonprojects.com for more information.
---
An abbreviated version of this interview appeared on the Huffington Post in November of 2011. This post is the first in a series by curator Julie Chae in
which she provides commentary on the process of disseminating art to the people
and profiles art world professionals involved in that process. You can find more
at http://juliechaeprojects.com.
