Alternative art
in Utah has been gaining popularity over the past year, and a smaller gallery
has been making strides to get it a spotlight along side other forms. IAO
Projects has been promoting local and national artists our of its small space
for the majority of 2008, giving artists who don't fit into conventional terms
a chance to showcase their work in a bigger setting, bringing more of an
east-coast feel to the art scene in Utah. I got a chance to chat with current
Director and Curator Albert Wang about the gallery, its history, its current
showing at Acme Burger, and a number of other topics that came to mind. ---
Albert Wang
http://www.iao-gallery.com/
Gavin: Hey Albert, first off, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Albert: Honestly, I really am a
very private person. I hate to talk about myself and prefer an elliptical
manner when dealing with my personal life in the press. I'm no Paris Hilton;
that's for sure! Anyways, I am currently the gallery director for the
cutting-edge contemporary art gallery Iao PROJECTS located in the Salt Lake City area. I
went to Vanderbilt and then Yale. I moved to Salt Lake City
from Philadelphia
approximately 4 years ago for a new day job. I have enjoyed studying art, with
a particular focus on the contemporary era after 1950. In May 2008, Shadna, who
was the former gallery director of Iao Gallery, assigned me to become the
current director of Iao PROJECTS, which was an innovative idea that I had
proposed to him earlier in the spring. I had spent approximately a year
studying the art market particularly in the Denver
and New York City
areas and understanding how the conjunction among gallerist, artist, and
collector functioned. Also I am a huge fan of literature too. Big fan of Pessoa
and Samuel Beckett up to Stephanie Meyer. I really relish a man with various or
missing or pared down identities, a poet of the highest order who could allow
for a flexible use of personalities to express anything he desired. Geewhiz, if
only I could kill my addiction to reading too many back issues of ArtForum
within the restroom and obscure Italian poetry that isn't Dante...
Gavin: For those who don't know, what is the IAO Gallery?
Albert: Iao PROJECTS is an alternative,
avant-grade gallery featuring paintings, works on paper, photography,
sculpture, installation art, and video works that forge a new path within the
Utah and international visual art scenes. Currently we represent 25 experienced
and emerging artists who are based in all types of places ranging from Utah (of course) to Mexico City/Los Angeles to Cologne, Germany to Brooklyn.
The ultimate goal is to provide museum-quality pieces for the Utah and by extension, worldwide collector
base while offering a challenging curatorial experience to the public. Shadna
and I decided that the typical white-box huge space was not in line with what
was expected from the typical visitor who may check out other venues such as
Kayo Gallery or Phillips Gallery or Meyer Gallery.
Gavin:How did the idea come about to open up a gallery?
Albert: Iao PROJECTS is a
complete reboot of the Iao Gallery which Shadna had founded at the ArtSpace Bridge location. But the PROJECTS is a
mirror of an innovative micro-gallery setting transfers to the Salt Lake City location. I was inspired by
Andrea Pollan's 200 square foot space Curator's Office in Washington D.C.
as well as The Wrong Gallery (size about 1 square meter large) started up by
the famed art prankster Maurizio Cattelan and his posse. Of course, the gallery
has 108 square feet which has some mystical properties that only Shadna knows
about. I guess that I had the idea for Iao Gallery to host a contemporary art
space after this summer, its lease was up at the old space. After researching a
bunch of galleries in Denver and New York City, I figured that it would be
fabulous to extend the legacy that Kayo Gallery (and thus, Kenny Riches' ideas)
into a banner space that would signal Utah as an emerging art market for some
of the most innovative artworks to the world rather than merely catering to the
regional tastes that one can garner from back issues of Southwest Art.
Gavin: What drew you to the 9th and 9th area?
Albert: Shadna was going to be
ending his lease at the end of May 2008 for the original Iao Gallery space.
Originally, he and I had applied to the BCollective located at 780 East South Temple and the gallery
application got rejected apparently by the board. So basically I had perused
the Craiglist's ad listing for commercial properties, and bingo! There was a
rather small space being offered at the 9th and 9th
District and I talked it over to Shadna. This was all before I was offered a
partnership into the Iao Gallery as well being called to become gallery
director of the forthcoming Iao PROJECTS. It's funny that the 9th and 9th
District rings off the tongue with a cultured metaphor, a musical tonality. I
like the sound of it. It's a happening place and it's too bad that there isn't
another gallery located around here (there's a few world gallery stores but
they are geared more for knick knacks rather than curated programs). It isn't
the East Broadway district where Kayo Gallery and Michael Berry Gallery and
Saans Photography and Signed and Numbered Gallery are located but it's a good start.
Oh, and Charlie Hafen Gallery is about four blocks south of us so that's all
cool and down with us.
Gavin: Was it difficult getting
set up or did things come together smoothly?
Albert: Yes, in terms of
getting people out there to recognize the gallery at first. It was easy to find
the space on a second try after the rejection from BCollective. Getting set up
within the 108 square foot area was challenging enough in that we lost some
potential space with two desks and a storage bookshelves for paintings, works
on paper, sculptures, and art magazines and files. However, these hardships
were overcome by a persistent use of IKEA's design philosophy about going
upwards when you can't go outwards. Got to love those Swedish designers there
with the Zen-like tips when it comes to thoughtful design work. The physical
attributes were not too difficult to surmount as we have expanded our artwork
to encompass some of the hall space where Brett Sykes' large-scale cellular
phone photography is being featured in addition to the Matt Glass piece the
Senator relished. Also with the blessing of Mr. Alan Ireland, the Iao: Acme
Burger Company gallery has allowed Iao PROJECTS to grow into a nearly 3000
square foot area that we originally could not have dreamed of. This completely
allowed us to peruse a less aggressive program with some stunning outsider art
executed by Jo Tuck or expressionistic figurative artwork by Jeffrey Hale.
Gavin: What were some of the first showings you had up?
Albert: Our first show for Iao
PROJECTS was online through "YOUTUBE SOCKS" (http://www.artslant.com/ew/events/show/21897-youtube-socks)
and it was quite a hit I believe. We had a few hundred visitors come through
online there and apparently it garnered enough attention that Michael Workman
invited us to Bridge Art Fair Wynwood and John Leo invited us to Fountain Art
Fair this year. I suspect a lot of people were not expecting this overwhelming
response that a project space would playfully consider the gallery
deconstructed as a virtual space but from a curator's standpoint, it allows one
to examine how much of our lives have become more reliant on technology to the
point where too many husbands are having sex with Blackberries rather than
their wives. I think that online, art has become a cool and subversive tool to
remind us how much we need to remain human against a world of cool indifference
and passionate obsession with false idols of imagery.
Gavin: Do you find it difficult operating as a small business in SLC,
especially when focused on the arts?
Albert: That's rather
fascinating. Yes, we may be rather small but we tend to carry a huge stick of
silent workings. It is difficult to operate in terms of growing the gallery
operations rather quickly despite our not-too-bad leasing costs but I think
that all arts organizations and commercial galleries have their share of
difficulties within the breaking into the Utah market. Still, I suspect that a lot of
the gallery owners who survive here have deep pockets and after all, since they
are catering more towards people's popcorn eye candy rather than challenging,
in-your-face, intellectually stimulating stuff. Ironically people tend to
behave as if galleries were all competitors rather than a collective trying to
achieve a common goal. I guess that perhaps I aim more towards a socialist's
view of the art world. I admit that the artists I have chosen share a common
thread. Yes, there are lots of other wonderful artists but it's a matter of
weaving them into a strong blanket of our curatorial program. It's like a person
who has to promote the whole fabric of what the gallery's mission is formulated
for. I think that the downfall of the current economy has cost people's
interest in the arts, particularly the speculative market but I suspect that
the tried and true supporters who desire works from the heart will be able to
come and experience the works from a much more contemplative rather than
lustful mode. Which is awesome because the communicative aspect rather than the
commercial transaction is emphasized.
Gavin: You have an impressive roster of artists. What's the process like
getting an artist involved? Do you approach them or vice versa?
Albert: There is no magic
formula for determining which artists ought to belong on the roster of a
certain gallery. It is a long and treacherous process that involves working
through delicate legal paperwork as well as committing the artists towards the
overall, broad goals of what a gallery is meant to achieve for their careers.
Unlike most commercial galleries, we emphasize a strong bond between the artist
and gallery owners as well as collaborative work among our artists through the
Flatfiles programme as well as the collaborative artwork, particularly with the
Kurtz Peng conceptual art project. It's a two-way street. We had a lot of
artists submit portfolios online. At first, Shadna and I chose to use
Craigslist as a way of discovering up-and-coming artists who are completely
unknown. For example, I was able to discover the works of Boston-area
printmaker Mark Phelan through this venue. He is represented also by Aeon Logic Art Gallery
in Brooklyn as well, which we have encouraged.
Phelan is an extremely solid mixed-media printmaker whose private imagery and
fantastic surrealism caught my eye with its rather postmodern storytelling
similar to a novel by John Barth. I recommend the viewer to catch his work to
see what I mean in that respect. Craigslist is rather unorthodox but it allowed
Shadna and I to view new work that may not be seen in typical online venues
such as Artists Space or the Drawing Center.
Albert: Some of the artists were found by complete accident or the touch of
immediate fate. For example, I found the work of Circlegal (or Michelle Kurtz
as her real name is) when I saw her rather large-scale graffiti stick figures
on the billboard at Sixth and Main near the TRAX stop. It was tough but I had
to do a reverse search using Myspace to find who she really was. Last summer,
qi peng and her began to document the way she painted the billboards, which I
later incorporated into the YOUTUBE SOCKS exhibition. It was astonishing that
their partnership has been rather fruitful in producing intrusive, in-your-face
street installations to random crazy drawings to rudimentary photographs of
their temporary work. Circlegal also has an extremely strong body of solo work
and Kurtz peng plan to strike again in New York City
during late December and Las Vegas
during early January. I really admire their willing to take large risks as well
as anticipate flexibility to sneak their artwork into public spaces without any
qualms just like the way that Banksy threw some of his own work into major
museums. No kidding, those brave gimmicks are the only way that emerging
artists are forced to enter the art world game by being noticed. After all, an
angry mob is more likely to respond to the unexpected art rather than people
who are completely indifferent to it.
Gavin: Is it difficult keeping everyone on board organized and displayed
equally?
Albert: Yes. I guess that if I
were a cold-blooded capitalist rather than a progressive Marxist like Che in my
economic politics then I would base the shows and press releases on who sells
the most. However, I am extremely democratic in my approach to promotion of our
artists on our roster. Both the established and emerging artists have an equal
shot at exhibiting in both group and solo shows here at either Iao PROJECTS or
Iao: ABC. Organization can be tough especially in getting the press releases
out on time and negotiating with Mr. Ireland on which artworks will get
displayed at the Iao: ABC location. However, too much seriousness and
organization can be detriment to one's own enjoyment within the art world. I
think that a certain amount of play (in terms of the Magister Ludi novel by Hesse) is necessary for people to want to escape the
everyday trappings of normal perception into this alternate universe where
reflection and thoughtfulness is encouraged. This is why I enjoy mixing it up
for the crowd in terms of being able to have each artist put their best foot
when time comes up for their show when they need to shine. I try to create a
continual stream of well-planned exhibitions that grows the direction of the
gallery's curatorial projects so that Iao PROJECTS can become a more respected
venue for the bridge between Utah
and international artists.
Gavin: Tell us about the showing at Acme Burger and what you've got on
display.
Albert: The current show at
Iao: ABC is the solo exhibition for our Seattle
artist Eric Osborne entitled "Sk8ter Kickstand."
(http://www.artslant.com/ew/events/show/27583-sk8ter-kickstand) It was a
difficult show to curate as Mr. Ireland
was not too persuaded about the existential tenor of the artist's emotional
voice. However, I was able to discuss with the public about the rather
startling vision and personal history that remains coded within the mixed media
technique and the motifs of hidden violence and its tension with hard-fought
love. I think that it is a rather optimistic show despite its upheavals being
depicted within the sculptures. However, the show is up now and it looks rather
fascinating especially when mixed up with the cinematic works of Matt Glass or
the anti-globalization paintings of Barry Wolfryd. Everyone is going to have a
different version of their private iconography which speaks from their entrails
and I seriously do try my hardest to place the artist's true sense of humor and
exploratory trails into the context of the restaurant as a conceptual project
of a contemporary art museum. So the demarcation between the idea between solo
and group shows can be blurred like a set of bad optical lenses. Definitely
cool when the Jenga goes down there. Eric Osborne is a skateboard mixed media
artist as well. I think that his ability to act as a postmodern shaman who can
transform the garbage and leftover pieces of both life and physical objects is
incredible. There are inklings of a personal history that remains a complete
riddle in a different light. However, I feel that it is important not to argue
with what he has decided to leave intact, to try to keep people from unraveling
the Legos a little too much there. I just hope that people don't mix up Osborne
with Kurt Cobain just because he is from Seattle,
you know. He is really fabulous guy and very laid back with a certain profound
sense of existential hope and despair all bundled up within layers of a Zen
koan.
Gavin: Why did you choose Acme instead of a more traditional setting?
Albert: Wow, I think that
particular question could be one of the most difficult ones to have me answer.
I have always been a huge of Alan Ireland's gourmet hamburger restaurant Acme
Burger Company and it has been a rather posh place over there. I saw the
offbeat purple exterior mashed up with the industrial look and it really looked
out of place with the somewhat predominant pioneer or Grecian architectural
styles of downtown Salt Lake City.
I thought that the shape reminded me of this elongated art museum (particularly
Donald Judd's pad in Marfa,
TX) and envisioned about
rechristening it as such. Mr. Ireland
and I have been good friends and in fact, we came from the same borough of Queens, New York
City. I feel that this kinship, even though I have a much more radical view of
what art ought to aspire to, could be in line with what we are trying to
achieve with fulfilling what the artists desire. Mr. Ireland
used to run a gallery space up in Boston
(don't know which one honestly) so it was not too difficult to develop our
partnership in having our Iao PROJECTS and Iao: ABC artwork being featured
there. It is an irregular space for mounting large-scale work but as one can
see, it has worked in its special way.
Gavin: Do you know what the employees and customers think of the
gallery?
Albert: Well, overall the Acme
employees have had a positive response or indifferent look to the artwork which
we have presented. I had one waiter there who disliked everything except for
the Barry Wolfryd paintings. I didn't mind that because at least, he was
responding to the overall program whether or not he dug the underlying ideas.
Honestly, indifference is the worst enemy of the art world, which is why
controversy must be injected into the system to keep the people awake rather than
cultural zombies. Customers rarely look at the artwork which is rather
disappointing. Until we can magnetize the huge collectors to come and fly into
Salt Lake City or christen new Steven Cohens and Beth DeWoodys here in Utah, I
don't know whether Iao: ABC is going to be on the strongest footing yet. But
it's a matter of time and I had a face-to-face discussion with a potential guy
who owned a sports car and wanted some interior decorating of his flat but I
never heard from him again in terms of follow up. Again, it will be a matter of
time.
Gavin: A little state-wide, what are your thoughts on the local art
scene, both good and bad?
Albert: I probably won't want to be too direct on this question since I
prefer not to burn my bridges here. I think that a lot of artists are too
obsessed with technique at the expense of the conceptual drive of the piece(s).
A lot of it derives from the rather perfunctory academic art training that
predominates at both BYU and University of Utah where the professors tend to focus
more or less on five drawings classes in progressive style. Skillful handling
of paint and the pen cannot substitute for poor executed and engineered ideas
because it provides a false crutch for which the artwork can serve to throw a
challenge to the normative ethics of society.
Gavin: Is there anything you feel could be done to make it bigger or
better?
Albert: Well, this would be a thorny question. Since I am not on the
board of the Salt Lake Gallery Association, I really don't have any input on
the decision making process of how Gallery Stroll can be conducted. However, I
do enjoy it although it is difficult to go through the galleries through the Salt Lake Valley as they are
dispersed everywhere from 500 West to 1300 East. People like me without a
vehicle have a hard time to engage with the variety of galleries that are here
so perhaps an "art bus" could be a good way to encourage people to
want to peruse each exhibit in a line up. We are extremely happy that the
Gallery Stroll incorporates contemporary art venues such as the Pickle Company,
Salt Lake Art Center, and Kayo Gallery. After all,
Shadna and I are always open to new ideas about how Gallery Stroll can promote
a more progressive world view similar to what NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance)
and the WGA (Williamsburg Gallery Association) have been able to achieve during
the past few years.
Gavin:What are your thoughts
on Gallery Stroll and how its developed over the years?
Albert: I like Gallery Stroll in concept although Shadna and I have
noticed how much people are more into the wine and boozing and hobnobbing that
predominates the Utah
art scene here. Needless to say, I am skeptical about whether these social
activities enhances an art dealer's ability to focus an artist's career.
Perhaps the main thing is that it humanizes the artist rather than presenting
the person as a gallery's commodity. I have been to the stroll for 4 years and
pretty much it has been the same with fairly little expansion except for new
players such as Kayo Gallery and the new Palmers' Gallery location near Tony
Caputo's.Hopefully, the Gallery Stroll here will encourage galleries to gather
together rather than compete and to focus on collaborating to do mutual group
show that are well-curated and focused on developing new ideas rather than
rehashing some of the hackneyed themes that consistently appeared all too often
Gavin: What can we expect from IAO over the next year?
Albert: Well, Iao PROJECTS is
going to be running fast and busy during the upcoming year. Apart from the
collaboration with Acme Burger Company, we are trying to coordinate some
out-of-state projects with The Conference Room Gallery which is run by my good
friend Daniel Gellis over there in Los
Angeles. He also represents Barry Wolfryd who is
having a solo show there in January. Also, we are focusing our attention on
getting some investors on board to fund more ambitious projects. So if you know
of anyone who is willing to help us in this endeavor, then feel free to contact
us to help us to obtain a larger white box gallery space and some start up
capital as we broaden the horizons. For example, I will be flying around to
search for people to help us out to fund expensive ventures such as the Miami art fairs, etc.
Expect us to have our artists busy to deliver some of the most political,
philosophical, provocative artwork during 2009. No one can stop us now as we
gain momentum for having a stronger curatorial program and to demonstrate that
Utah can have a consolidated forum where people are not looking just at the
artwork but perhaps inspiring discussion and criticism and perhaps even death
threats (hmm...) for the artists just to boost the visibility of the Utah art
market. I just don't think that indifference to our art environs is the best
solution because in that case, wallpaper could have been just as easily
procured.
Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote? Albert:
Well, okay, here are some shameless shout-outs for the gallery itself on the
Internet. IAO Projects in general.Plus Gallery (Denver),
Glowlab (Brooklyn/Soho), Anna Kustera (Chelsea),
DCKT Contemporary, NurtureArt and Black Dragon Society (Los Angeles). And finally, importantly,
people who aren't Iao PROJECTS but whom I wish to give props to: The Conference
Room Gallery run by my friend Daniel Gellis, the most important art fair in the
world, Art Basel, Our favorite independent art fair Iao PROJECTS got invited
to, Michael Workman's Bridge Art Fair we got invited to as well, an awesome
resource for curated artist run by my friend David Alan Frey, a selection of
awesome contemporary online art resources one time for your mind, Gavin's
Underground blog so awesome and honest, The Awkward Hour, Ugallery, awesome
online gallery and finally, the most important art gallery alliance in the
world (not always but good enough), the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA). And by
the way, if you want to learn HOW to collect art, read Paige West's book called
The Art of Buying Art: An Insider's Guide to Collecting Contemporary Art
published by Collins Design. Don't be scared to buy art just because you don't
understand it. This is the only addiction that is highly recommended, seriously.
