Kai Regan is a photographer, director, and creative at ALLDAYEVERYDAY in New York.

How did you get interested in contemporary art?

I feel like being interested in contemporary art is part of understanding the who, what, where, and why humans try to communicate things about themselves and the attempt to speak to something bigger than us.

How has photography changed since you started working professionally in that field?

Digital has changed the way we devour images. Now we constantly are looking for something new vs. something good.  We can’t help that our minds are fed so many images they eventually start to lose potency. I see so many more photographers, but I don’t necessarily see better work.

We collaborated on an emerging artist portfolio for Blackbook magazine in 2005 with what are now some of the biggest players in the art world. Tell us a story about shooting Banks Violette or Dash Snow for that project.

So Dash was in LA at the time serving a community service wrap for doing some sort of graffiti. I flew out to shoot him in some crazy downtown LA loft where he was working on his collages.  We spent hours setting up the loft to look the way we wanted it. We wanted the portrait to feel like he was surrounded by all the things that inspired his show.  I think the photo achieved that. Dash’s work was always about “things” where he found a way to make them tell a story.  The details made him, him.

Portrait of Dash Snow in Blackbook

Dash Snow Collages

Do you live with any artwork at home?

I have a few of Dash polaroids at my house, and few other collectables through the years.

Dash Snow Polaroids

An upcoming show you’re excited to see?

Frieze in New York this year should have some really great things to see come May.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Fuck you, it’s magic.

Michael Nevin is founder & editor in chief of The Journal, an arts biannual, and also runs their gallery in Brooklyn.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I grew up in Park Slope and my parents would take me to the Brooklyn Museum every Sunday. At home we had a poster of a Hopper painting from the museum and it became burned into my memory. I think that my interest began there.

What have you learned from opening The Journal Gallery? And is it moving?

The gallery started more or less for the fun of it. I’ve learned to always keep the sense of chance involved, don’t be afraid to slip up, or else it becomes boring. That and being open to the ideas of others. I think that collaboration is important. There are currently some big and exciting changes happening at the gallery.

You do an artist book supplement with every issue of your magazine. Tell me how the supplement with Richard Prince came about.

I asked Richard in a letter if he would do something for the magazine. A week or so later, he sent work in an envelope wrapped with scotch tape. It looked sketchy, like a letter bomb, but it lead to the supplement What’s In My Library, which came with the journal 23. That was also the first supplement cover that Peter Miles (the journal‘s designer) did for the magazine.

Advice to newer collectors?

Buy what you can’t live without.

An artwork or two you live with?

We have a Rita Ackerman drawing from her “Fire By Days” series. She is an incredible artist and a great friend. I’m also quite attached to a Chris Martin Bread Painting, which was a gift from Chris.

Rita Ackerman, "Fire By Days", 2011, Enamel on Paper (Monotype), 36" x 27"

An upcoming show you’re psyched to see?

Urs Fischer “Beds and Problem Paintings” at Gagosian LA. I saw the paintings at his studio last week and they are insane.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Just do it.

Nicholas Farhi is a 24 year old artist living in Harlem who works with the OhWow Book Club in New York.

How did you get involved in contemporary art?

Probably building shoebox dioramas with my mom while she was in vet school and playing drums in a garage band for almost a decade got me interested.  I grew up in Ithaca, NY where I was surrounded by friends whose parents are professors at Cornell. I suppose all of the encouragement I got to toil with my bare hands kept my curiosity growing from an early age and now I am studying painting at the State University of New York. I miss my drum sets as of late. I guess my longing to exclaim and crescendo got me hooked into the contemporary side of art.

When did you synch up with the OhWow crew and tell us what the highlights have been from that experience?

Aw, man. Too many highlights to describe! I guess I got involved at first working for Rafael De Cardenas who opened my eyes up to architecture. His studio changed my life at the time and the way I work and he kind of tossed me to A-ron and we’ve all been family ever since.

"Untitled (Blue Painting)" by Lucien Smith

Please give us an idea of a few pieces from your collection.

When you come into my place, I have a lot of things sprawled out over my walls, so I guess running a store is similar kind of. So much like the work and stuff I do for OhWow currently reflects my love and thoughtfulness that I have put into my growing art collection. That’s a deepness I learned there. I got a Leo Fitzpatrick at half gallery last year that’s just breathtaking. And I also was given two paintings from Lucien Smith that are rich. I love these two zines that are intriguingly small from my friend Maggie Lee. I also have some favorite old books. I have a Ludwig Bemelmans “The Best of Times” published by Simon & Schuster in 1947; it’s a graphic novel of one of his pleasure tours of Europe. He was an illustrator for Conde Nast and his drawings light me up as much as his words do. His hand pours over the pages. And a few others that I’d like to keep a secret for now.

Maggie Lee's Suede's Slick Sad Swirld zine 2011

An upcoming show you’re excited to see?

There’s a show that my friend Stefania Pia is curating in the summer, and “The Printed Image in China, 8th-21st Century” coming up at the Metropolitan Museum, and a few more, too.

An untitled collage by Leo Fitzpatrick

Artist quote or words to live by?

My father read “The Eagle That Is Forgotten” to me, a poem by Vachel Lindsay, and it’s about living to live and love, and a line from it goes like this: “To live in mankind is far far more, than to live in a name.”

A chocolate painting by Farhi

Bibi Cornejo Borthwick is a photographer who was born in Paris, but now lives and works in New York.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I think growing up in New York City invites you to feel curious and interested by what’s current or “contemporary.” I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up in a family of artists who are constantly creating. I think everyone is interested in contemporary art in some way, even if we don’t necessarily realize it.

Can you tell us about an art-related project or two that you’ve been working on?

This year I’ve really taken time to focus on my photography. I always knew it was something I loved and was passionate about, but this year nothing really made sense unless I could photograph it. I launched my website and with that has come a few interesting projects. A lot of my work is based off of taking people’s portraits so that’s given me chance to sit down and have one on one time with people in a way that’s everything for me. Aside from my photography, my boyfriend and I relaunched his company, CNNCTD+. We’ve been working on a few creative marketing projects and our biggest project yet is a show we’re producing that will be on display at the New Museum in May. The show will be the audio of 100 people whom we think influence NYC culture. Each person’s audio will be recorded onto a Playbutton.

A show you’re really looking forward to?

I just saw Lola Schnabel’s beautiful show at The Hole, and I’m excited for Andre’s at Half Gallery, and I always look out for street art because I think that’s really where people can be free.

A portrait of her father Mark Borthwick by Bibi

Work other than your very talented father’s photographs that you live with?

I have some work of Hisham Bharoocha, I have some drawings of my brother’s that I love, and aside from that, my boyfriend and I have designed our apartment with street signs, ATM machines, Polaroids all over, and letters my mom has written me.

If you could have any artist take your portrait?

Ohhh that’s a tough one! Aelita Andre, the four year old painter, is amazing.  I’d love to do anything with her haha! However, I think if I really had that choice, I’d choose to have been photographed by Richard Avedon, Robert Capa, or Harmony Korine.

Artist quote or words to live by?

If you love what you do, you shouldn’t work a day in your life.

Photo Credit: Filippo Brancoli Pantera

How did you get interested in contemporary art?

When I was 26 and in Milan, I created and directed a free publication called PelleNOLeather. Every month, the cover featured works by different artists (Dormice Lab, Guido Averna, Valentina D’Amaro…) in collaboration with several distinct Milanese art galleries including Galleria Cardi & Galleria Battaglia. That was a defining moment for me that led me to appreciate art on another level and scout new artists to collaborate with.

Stefania's art

As a child I derived my own art experience in an independent way since my courses were different than the usual. I was able to express myself on a more personal level. Soon paint collages, photography, and film became my focus. I have to say, I approached contemporary art through film, where watching everything around made me feel anything was possible.

Tell us about an artwork or two you live with?

I admire wall projections of short films from Joseph Cornell while creating my own soundtrack when I’m in the mood or project them on their own where they become silent, beautiful images that become a backdrop while I work or I cook.

An art show you are really looking forward to seeing?

“Images Rendered Bare. Vacant. Recognizable” at Stadium; Jeff Keen at Elizabeth Dee; I also can’t wait to see “Spies in the House of Art” at the Met; Kate Steciw, Letha Wilson, and Aude Pariset at Toomer Labzda; Corey McCorkle and Dan Graham at Murray Guy; and David Lamelas at Maccarone.

Stefania's apartment

Advice to a young artist trying to get their work shown?

I believe it’s a continual challenge and that a true artist doesn’t consume themselves with the pressure to show. They should produce art persistently with ardent discipline. Art is a personal sensibility and love of discovery matched with curiosity, which is a natural part of the process. When you’ve fully realized your goal, your artwork will talk by itself.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Everything you can imagine is real.” -Pablo Picasso

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” -Pablo Picasso

Andrew Roth is a dealer of rare books of art and photography from the 20th Century, publisher of art and photography books under the imprint PPP Editions and a curator/gallerist at ROTH on East 70th Street in NYC.

How did you first get involved in contemporary art?

Through the book. I’m interested in contemporary art and artists whose work is informed by and positioned within historical context.

You are a leading art book expert in America with your 101 list. Can you name a few titles you would add to this illustrious group if you were revising it today?

Though my interest has expanded to other areas of artist book production, not merely photographic, I would definitely add: Ilya Ehrenberg and El Lissitsky Moi Parizh (Moscow, 1933); Takashi Homma Tokyo Suburbia (Korinsha, 1998); Boris Mikhailov Unfinished Dissertation (Scalo, 1998); Mitch Epstein Family Business (Steidl, 2003); Robert Adams Turning Back (Fraenkel/Marks, 2005); Collier Schorr Jens F. (Steidl/Mack, 2005); Zoe Leonard Analogue (MIT, 2007); Ari Marcopoulos Directory (Rizzoli, 2011).

Please tell us about one or two artworks you live with.

An early, oversized photograph by Collier Schorr of Jens F. sitting in a tree, bare chested with red lipstick on, hangs prominently across from the bed in my guest room. A sanguine portrait of a warrior with broken nose by Leon Golub from his Gigantomachy series from the early 60s hangs in my living room on one side of a picture window, on the other side of the window there is a photogram of a primitive mask by Adam Fuss.

How did your Dash Snow “Movie List” project come about and is it still up at your gallery?

I always wanted to make a book with Dash. We flirted with several ideas. Neville Wakefield introduced us back when he was preparing for the Whitney Biennial in 2008. Last year, Dan Colen and Jade Berreau showed me the original zine material from the Snow estate. The only maquette that was never produced as a zine was “Movie List.” It was so compelling as an object that it seemed right to turn it into a limited edition book. It was also a challenge to figure out how to replicate the original in ink, and as a board-book. The exhibition I have up right now features the original “Movie List” maquette and highlights of Dash’s other zines, both original maquettes and the photocopies. It is fairly exhaustive and is up until Friday, January 13.

An upcoming show you are excited to see?

Well, of course it is the one we are mounting at the ICA in London of “In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955.” It will open on January 24th and run through March 25. It is a version of the exhibition we made to accompany the book I published and co-edited with the collector Philip Aarons, first mounted on the ground floor of the old DIA building on 22nd street at X-Initiative in the fall of 2009.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Write about what you know.” -Paula Fox.

Also, if there are any prints we have released that you liked in particular I’d be curious to know which ones.

Terence Koh’s “Big White Cock!”

Michelle Finocchi is a public relations consultant specializing in the engagement of contemporary art with fashion, entertainment, and consumer culture. Her clients and collaborators include David Zwirner Gallery, designer Cynthia Rowley, artist Richard Phillips, online art market Paddle8, design studio JF & SON, and online art magazine Triple Canopy.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

Growing up in the aura of Manhattan — aka New Jersey — afforded me lots of trips to museums and galleries. But I always had to get back on the school bus or train, and, like an addict, always wanted more New York. As a kid, I counted the days since my last visit and would have died to sleep over in the period rooms at the Met. The world’s coolest high school studio art teacher, Mr. Williams, would drop us off in Chelsea or SoHo and let us roam. In college at Columbia I wrote some semi-embarrassing criticism as the art editor of the school newspaper, reported for a radio program called “Art Attack” (no joke) and interned at Artforum magazine. My senior thesis, on the conservation of contemporary art, led to a brief stint at Vito Acconci’s studio — where he graciously allowed my partner and I to pour over miles of notes, meticulously typewritten on index cards, documenting his seminal performance pieces.

Do you live with any artwork at home?

Most of the art on my walls or in my library are the works of friends or clients: Richard Phillips, Josephine Meckseper, Hannes Bend, Marc Hundley, TM Davy, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Emilie Trice and Michael Wang (whose solo show “Carbon Copies” – http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/michael-wang-foxy-production – is now on view at Foxy Production in Chelsea) among them. Some are original works, but at this stage I mostly collect signed artist monographs, limited-edition posters, catalogs, and Exhibition A prints — Che Lovelace’s “Roadside Fire” and Mark Borthwick’s “Rape Me, Nature Escapes Me” are a couple of my favorites. I just bought a hot pink and turquoise candlestick set from the “Sherry Shop” at Ann Liv Young’s show at Louis B. James, and a drawing by Moses Soyer, an Ashcan school artist, from a junk shop on the Lower East Side. One of my all-time favorite projects was working on JF & SON’s ready-to-wear collection with Amy Yao, “Another Masterpiece!!” The poster image, shot by David Benjamin Sherry and Michele Abeles in collaboration with Amy and Lisa Jo, hangs at home.

What is the challenge doing art PR versus fashion PR?

Both art and fashion have their unique structures for generating press coverage — with art, coordinating exhibition previews, listings and reviews, and in fashion, it’s market and re-see appointments, sample loan-outs for magazine shoots, etc. But I think there are more similarities than differences. Working with artists and designers is always inspiring and sometimes exhausting, in parallel ways. The mayhem of Art Basel Miami Beach rivals that of New York Fashion Week. What’s really interesting to me is where art and fashion overlap in the media. As the art world has opened itself to wider audiences via consumer brand collaborations, online sales, TV programming and other means of democratization, the number and types of publications covering art have broadened. Over the past few years, the landscape has really changed.

Any upcoming shows you are looking forward to seeing?

Doug Wheeler, who makes “infinity environments,” opening at David Zwirner on January 14. Some of my favorite works are those that create an encompassing space for the viewer, like Mike Nelson and James Turrell. Keith Haring at the Brooklyn Museum. The artist’s 1997 retrospective at the Whitney made a big impression on me. LA MOCA’s Land Art show in April. I’m a huge Michael Heizer fan. I always look forward to the Whitney Biennial.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Sleep when you’re dead,” by my musician friend Doran Danoff. Or Cynthia Rowley’s version: “Eat when you can, sleep when you can.”

The Hole’s Kathy Grayson is a curator and writer and painter who is now also an art dealer.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My mom was a tall bureaucrat who worked for the Department of Energy in DC in the 90s and she took me to the Hirshhorn, where they had this Charles Ray super tall lady wearing a bad 90s business suit (it’s called “Fall”). And my mom, who has no real relationship to art, loved this piece so much. She saw herself in it and her response to it made me see the power of art.

What was your experience of Art Basel Miami this year?

This year, sales in the booth were great, thank goodness. We got to do this fun conceptual booth project with two booths that looked exactly the same, staffed by identical twins. Then every night, we threw a huge awesome event. Salem at Delano, Salem, Neckface and Matthew Stone at Gusman Center, Matthew Stone outdoor sculptures and dinner at Mondrian, Kembra and Playboy on roof of the Dream Hotel. Seriously, we did so much and I was so proud of my team. I can’t believe we pulled it all off.

If Santa was going to give you art as a Christmas gift, what would you ask for?

I want this David Benjamin Sherry photograph of a fruit bowl and a cock and balls. It’s called “Touched By the Hand of God.”

What’s up at The Hole next?

Lola Schnabel opened her first painting solo show in NYC on December 16th, and we also opened a huge abstract painting exhibition with Sam Moyer, Scott Reeder, Matt Jones and Kadar Brock the same night.

Artist quote or words to live by?

If it’s fun, you never get tired.

A show you’re looking forward to seeing?

I still havent @#$%ing gone to see the Maurizio Cattelan show and he’s one of my favorite artists.

Walter Robinson is an artist who also happens to be artnet.com‘s Editorial Director.

How did you first get involved in contemporary art?

Reading Artforum in the Columbia University library, watching cute grad students like Anna Chave and Francis Beatty go into the stacks.

Did I just see a piece of yours at MoMA?!

MoMA’s film & video curator, Barbara London, is an absolute genius.

People are so fixated on the best of 2011, but what will be best of 2012? Predictions, please.

Larry Gagosian will open a new gallery; I guarantee it.

How does art criticism operate differently online as opposed to more traditional print media?

Print is dead!

Do you live with any artwork at home?

I have a black thumb. Everything I plant dies.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Come over to the winning side.” -AA slogan

Cheryl Dunn is a documentary filmmaker and photographer who has spent her career documenting the city streets, and the people who strive to leave their mark there.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I studied art history in college and have always made things. Whenever things got hard, I would go look at art and feel the eternal energy that emotes from works and knew that I needed to surround myself with art to be sane.

What was the first piece you ever bought or were gifted?

Of significance,  I suppose something from Alleged Gallery from back in the day, Ludlow Street. Whatever little money I had, I always tried to buy one  little thing from all of my friends’ art shows.

We bumped into each other at OWS and you were filming down there. Can you tell us a little about that project?

I was doing some additional shooting for a feature documentary about NYC street photographers called ” Everybody Street. ”  This film was a commission from a museum about a year and half ago and after the duration of the show, I decided to make it feature-length.  I just felt I needed to get the work — and words of the master in the field of street photography — out to a larger audience. Some of these artists are the foundation of the medium itself and thankfully have preserved our fleeting visual history of the NYC streets and its eccentric and varied inhabitants.

How has the New York art scene changed over last 10 years or so, as you see it?

It has always has been in constant flux, but as real estate prices go up and up, it’s kind of like the economy – no middle class. It’s either mega- or small-ish. Hard for anything else to survive. But artists keep coming and are driven to make work more than ever.   It’s just not in a concentrated zone. Galleries are just spread all over so it’s hard to have a handle on a whole scene like you could in the past.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Get away from the computer, grab the camera, and go have a dance around the block.

Harmony Korine is a writer, filmmaker, and artist whose credits include “KIDS,” “Gummo” and most recently “Trash Humpers.” He lives in Tennessee with his wife Rachel and daughter Lefty. Last week, it was reported that his next movie “Spring Breakers” will star James Franco and Selena Gomez.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

After watching that TV show “Hard Copy” with Cady Noland… and also meeting Al Jolson’s crippled son at a museum by my house. He was giving lectures.

Fair to say that Josh Smith is one of your best friends in the art world?

Josh is great… we started buying up abandoned parking lots across the United States. He just bought a great one in Kentucky; it was a crime scene and he got it for a discount.  I bought one in Delaware with transluscent parking lot curbs.

What was your experience of Art Basel Miami this year?

I saw a redheaded artist get run over by a Hummer the first day.  He seemed to like it.

Art show you’re looking forward to seeing?

The J.B. Murry retrospective at the African American Folk Art booth at the Nashville Tennessee fairgrounds in conjunction with the local community college for the blind.

Favorite artist quote?

“I’m addicted to Altoids. I call them ‘acting pills.’” – Harrison Ford

Aron Morel is, by our estimation, the best independent art book publisher in England today, having released titles for Terry Richardson, Craig McDean, Ryan McGinley, and Corrine Day. He also plans to become a chocolatier.

When did your interest in contemporary art begin?

Not sure… I remember reading Dante when I was 15, which took me through a few circles – around Rimbaud over Eliot and down to the Pompidou Centre for a Francis Bacon show. I suppose it just branched off from there… Art is a great way to communicate about the everything and nothing that we are!

How did you come about to publish art books?

I was idle in a limbo state and trying to publish poetry booklets. Somehow before the poetry books ever came about they branched out into my other passion in the visual arts. For a number of years prior to this, I had an obsession with collecting poetry and photography books, so I just applied myself to what I liked and understood.

Do you live with any artwork at home?

I have a few pieces from people I’ve published – Asger Carlsen, Corinne Day, Craig McDean, etc. and would love to be gifted more! I also have a small collection of stones – a prehistoric flint tool, sea fossils I found in a desert, meteorites, cobblestones from around the world (New York, London, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, etc.). I like these stones a lot. They are simple testimonies to cosmic history (4 billion years of history), culture, and Man’s intuitiveness. I enjoy having the flint tool next to a computer – two awesome tools crafted from the pulp-based wizardry of Man’s cranium.

I like to consider them art or are they just artifacts?

Ryan McGinley once called you a poet. Do you have a favorite artist quote or words to live by?

That’s a tough one… I don’t think I can live by one axiom – I like flux and change. Just to tick this part of the form, though, how about: “Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” -A. Ginsberg

Some art books you have ready to release in 2012?

There’s a lot for 2012, starting with Aurel Schmidt, Asger Carlsen, David Armstrong, JH Engstrom, Antoine D’Agata, and a few major surprises, but I wouldn’t want to spill all the beans yet!

A recent gallery show that really stayed with you?

I really enjoyed the NOFOUND fair during Paris Photo; it’s not really a gallery show though. It was their first year and I think they did a spectacular job with their selection of galleries – from the Haunch of Venison to smaller galleries. I also think the few galleries that showed also did an outstanding job at presenting their work. It’s probably the best fair I’ve ever been to!!!! As for specific gallery shows, I’ve seen pictures of Terry’s exhibition at the Half Gallery and Ryan McGinley also described it to me. That’s one show I wish I would have been able to go to!!!!!

Photo Credit: The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Self Portrait (Adam Lindemann), 2011

Adam Lindemann: private investor, influential collector of art and design, art columnist for the NY Observer and author of Collecting Contemporary and Collecting Design (Taschen), + more!

What is your favorite art biography or who is your favorite art writer?

In order to sound extra smart I’ll say Charles Baudelaire, bien sur! Did you know he was only paid to write about art because no one wanted his poetry? “Les Fleurs du Mal,” his most famous book of poetry, was published posthumously! I like my own writing, too. I think it’s fun to read and has a lot more information than the reader realizes; there’s always a lot between the lines. I read everyone else too , or try to. I don’t like to feel out of it.

If you could update your “Collecting Contemporary” book now, how has the landscape changed from the time when Taschen first released it?

Wow, in 2006, everything was so much about shiny and perfect, like Koons’ celebration sculptures and Hirst’s pill cabinets. Today, I think fresh art is a bit ugly, rumpled, and sad. That’s why I liked Urs Fischer’s work several years ago, and I’m interested in beautiful ugliness today. If I did a new book now, it would have to be a “Who’s NOT Who,” or a “Who’s of Tomorrow”…but I plan on publishing my NY Observer columns early next year , with plenty of trash talk inserted under the title “Behind the Scenes of the New York Art World.”

You mentioned to me at one point wanting to inject more finance terminology into your New York Observer art columns. Can you explain that impulse and cite an example or two?

Years ago, I worked for two years on a Wall Street trading desk where we used terms like “pump and dump,” “front running,” “dead cat bounce,” and “averaging Down killed more Jews than Hitler.” The art market involves trading and promoting, as well as dumping. I don’t like to follow the hypocritical way people refuse to deal with prices;  the art business likes to act as if money isn’t to be discussed in public, and that’s absurd .

We discussed briefly the ascent of Jacob Kassay and new minimalism in general as a quest for the automatic. Is this an ongoing trend and what is the appeal here?

I wish I knew, but something’s happening here, so I’m not arrogant enough to dismiss it. The idea of an exploration into automatic “process” art is interesting, because it’s not personality driven. Let’s see where it goes from here…

Will you go to Art Basel Miami this year and what can someone really hope to get out of it by attending?

I probably will. Hopefully I’ll go to some good parties and talk to at least one interesting person I didn’t already know.  Miami Basel is pretty embarrassing at this point. It’s a trashy town sweep that uses art as an excuse to drink and get ugly.

An upcoming show you’re looking forward to seeing?

Chamberlain at the Guggenheim will be great, Llyn Foulkes at the Hammer, and I hear Piotr Uklanski will do a show in St. Barth’s for Christmas. That’s fun.

Artist quote or words to live by?

I still like Damien Hirst’s line: “Art is about life, the art market is about money.”

Diane Roka is a Philadelphia-based artist and writer. She is a contributor to the online music magazine “Perfect Sound Forever.”

How did you get interested in contemporary art?

I went to Rutgers in New Brunswick for art school, so it was a short train ride to NYC. We had to write papers for our seminar classes on what we were seeing in the galleries, but a lot of what was out at that time was this very austere, minimal, conceptual art, and I just didn’t get it. My friends and I would go up to Soho and goof around in these very posh galleries and go back and write papers where we’d throw in words like “juxtaposition” and “simultaneity.” We thought it was all a scam, the “Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Then, one time I went in by myself and I saw Rauschenberg’s “Glut” exhibit at Leo Castelli. I was the only one in the gallery, and I remember that when I walked in, I felt like I was in the middle of a tornado, or a car accident. I was walking around, the twisted car parts and crumpled street signs were in the air everywhere, and I thought, “This I get.”

Please tell us about some artwork you live with.

For years I had no money at all, but I found a way to buy some art. I was a part-time art teacher for 3-5 year-old kids at an arts preschool in Philly called Moonstone, and Shelly Spector’s daughter Nola was one of my students. Shelly took me under her wing a little bit and let me show at one of her Red Dot shows where everything sells for under $100. My drawings were alongside work by the Space 1026 artists, and it felt great because I knew they were doing really good work. I bought prints by Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Thom Lessner, and Randall Sellers, and I bought a little art book by Thom Lessner and Lori D. and a little accordion book by Heather Rae Morton.

Later on I started to show at B Square Gallery, and I continued to buy from the other artists that showed there. I bought a few monotypes by Romy Burkus, an encaustic by Heather Bryson, and a mixed-media piece by Bruce Glider. Artist friends like Le Anne Lindsay and Dominique Messihi gifted me with prints, and Barbara Schaff gave me a beautiful landscape painting as a thank you for curating an exhibit of her work.  My brother Bill is a really talented artist and I have one of his paintings of a Mexican prison in my kitchen.

Shelly Spector curated a show of Jim Houser’s work a few years ago for The Painted Bride, and I worked up my nerve and bought one of his paintings.  It was my first expensive (for me) purchase.  Recently I bought a Duncan Hannah collage from Half Gallery featuring a movie still of the actress Silvana Mangano in Bitter Rice, and her glamorous stance in the rice field is inspirational.

What is your favorite art moment in your hometown of Philly?

My brother works at Penn, and one day he e-mailed me at work and said, “I just saw a show at the ICA that you would really like. It’s this artist named Karen Kilimnik and she has your sense of humor.” So I met him there on my lunch hour the next day, and we were the only two people walking around this huge space, looking at the show. I’m not always a fan of installation art, but she had created this dark, funny world in there, and I felt like I was taking a tour inside the brain of someone twisted and great.

What’s an upcoming show you’re really looking forward to?

Thomas Campbell at Half Gallery and Zoe Strauss at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Artist’s quote or words to live by?

I studied drawing with Emma Amos and she hated a fuzzy line. She called it “wishy washy.” She would say, “Use a strong, definite line, and you can get away with a lot.”  And “Don’t erase your mistakes; they make it interesting.”

Joshua Leonard is a Los Angeles based actor and filmmaker whose projects include “The Blair Witch Project,” “Beautiful Losers,” “Humpday,” “Higher Ground,” and, most recently, was both director of and actor in “The Lie,” an adaptation of the T.C. Boyle story. “The Lie” opened this weekend at The Village East Cinemas in New York City.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My folks were creative, so there was always stuff to look at when I was a kid. But it wasn’t until I moved out to LA in my early 20s and made friends who were already collecting that it became a larger part of my life. Galleries like New Image in LA and The Luggage Store in SF were showing artists from our peer group. The familiar context and lack of pretention were really inspiring to me.

A piece or two that you live with?

The two pieces I come back to the most are a Leigh Ledare photograph of a prostitute curled up on her child’s bed and this Dan Attoe painting of a woman crossing an empty street in an empty town. Both break my heart in just the right way.

What shows are you looking forward to?

I’ve had my head in the sand making this movie for the past year and a half. It’s pathetic how out of the loop I am. I hear Raymond Pettibon’s show at Regen Projects is great. I look forward to seeing that when I get back to LA.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Art offers the possibility of love with strangers.”  -Walter Hopps

Cultural Curator at CORE: club since 2006. Formerly from the publishing world, having worked as Americas Bureau Chief for Wallpaper* Magazine, and all Wallpaper* Group magazines.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

Through osmosis, really. You could say it was a combination of pure curiosity and the fact that I have several friends who are important collectors. Their collections and passion for art helped spark my interest and curiosity. I have a strong appreciation for various creative disciplines, the visual arts being one of them.

As the cultural curator at CORE: club what have you learned from the many art lectures you’ve held there?

Wow, that is a difficult question to answer. Honestly, there’s so much I’ve learned and I’ve been inspired by so many artists. I’d have to say Bill Viola, Nan Goldin, David LaChapelle, and Gregory Crewdson really moved me, among many others. I love learning about an artist’s inspiration and process. After our recent conversation with Gregory Crewdson, I was inspired to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind again. It’s such a source of inspiration for him. Marina Abramovic also blew me away. She has this unique perspective and way of seeing things. I’m a big fan!

Do you live with any art at home or work that really stays with you?

I recently renovated and pared down my apartment to its bare essentials. So in homage to my skateboarding days growing up, I currently have the Marc Jacobs collection of skateboards and a Richard Prince x Supreme skateboard on my walls in my living room. I also have a second Richard Prince x Supreme skateboard on my “inspiration wall” behind my desk at work, along with a ton of mementos from the various experiences I’ve curated.

An upcoming show or art talk you’re looking forward to?

I’m dying to see the Carsten Holler and Maurizio Cattelan exhibits and Tom Sachs’ exhibit at the Park Avenue Armory next year. Now, if I can only muster up enough energy to deal with the crowds!

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” -Steve Jobs

Photo Credit: Michael Worful

Jason Polan is drawing Every Person in New York and is a founding member of Taco Bell Drawing Club and The 53rd Street Biological Society.

How did you first get involved in contemporary art?

I have been drawing since I was little and have always been a fan of a lot of different artists. Some of the earliest work I got was by comic book artists. I bought a little drawing by Jack Kirby about 15 years ago that I still enjoy and think about. I have been lucky that I have been able to trade work with a bunch of artists I like a lot.

Tell us about a piece or two in your collection.

I have a piece by Richard Renaldi that I like a lot of a smashed water tower. I also have a couple by Jason Fulford. His work is so good. One is a photograph of a library bound Ed Ruscha book. I have a drawing by Gabrielle Bell that I recently hung on my wall that I like to look at. Some other favorites from Rich Jacobs, Kiki Smith, Mike Mills, Katie McDonough, Amy Stein, Basil Wolverton, Jason Murphy, Derek Erdman, Michael Worful, Jane Mount, Marcel Dzama, David Shrigley, Jay Ryan, Hugo Guinness, Bill Thelen, Tucker Nichols, Eric White, and Gary Panter.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Support artists you like.

Upcoming show you’re excited to see?

Alec Soth at Sean Kelly Gallery early 2012.

Your greatest art world moment…?

Raymond Pettibon did a drawing of me after I did a drawing of him, which I was very excited about. I also got to meet Robert Rauschenberg a couple years ago and I think about the things he has made a lot.

Juliana Balestin works for the graffiti artist André at his Chinatown studio. She also writes for Purple Magazine and its online blog. She has previously worked at Metro Pictures with artists Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I was an art history student at NYU.  By chance, I took an internship at Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea and it got me really excited for the art world and to work in galleries. During my senior year of college I heard Metro Pictures needed a gallery assistant so I lied and said I had already graduated in order to get the job. It was a little nuts going to school and working there but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to work for the gallery that shows Cindy Sherman, Martin Kippenberger and Jack Goldstein. I also met Olivier Zahm around this time who encouraged me to go see shows and think critically about art.

Tell me about an artwork you live with.

I’ve been lucky enough to receive some artwork as gifts from artists like Robert Longo and Sterling Ruby. I really treasure those pieces and try to give them a good home!

A show you are looking forward to seeing?

The young American artist Brock Enright will open a show on the 4th of November at Kate Werble Gallery in New York. He’s the future of art and once you see his work you’ll never be the same.

The favorite artist interview you’ve ever done and why?

Banks Violette. His artistic practice is extremely intelligent. I appreciate an artist who acknowledges and understands his place in the greater context of art history. We also have a mutual love for the late artist Steven Parrino so I got to hear some wonderful firsthand stories from him. My favorite part of any interview is hearing artists speak about their mentors and contemporaries. It’s a completely unique perspective from dealers and critics.

Photo credit: Arthur Eisenberg

Annika Connor is a Contemporary Romantic painter whose watercolors depict a fascination with beauty and decadence.  In 2006, Connor founded Active Ideas Productions as a means to explore ideas outside of the studio that involve the intersect of art and business. Today Active Ideas Productions is an innovative artist run organization committed to the education, distribution, and development of emerging artists and the art community.

How did you first get involved in contemporary art?

As a little kid I was always drawing and lost in my imagination. I first started painting in oils when I was 9 years old and under the instruction from my father’s friend Joyce Burlingham, an impressionist styled landscape painter, who had a studio near my family’s house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. From the very first lesson I was hooked on painting. I have not put down a brush since, and in many ways my paintings are still influenced by the sunshine and flowers I painted then.

In 2002, I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I studied painting and philosophy. Since then, I have worked professionally as a painter in New York and London and participated in numerous national and international exhibitions.

Though I adore painting, I have a head for business and my ideas often spill out of the studio. To allow for that to happen most effectively, in 2008, I launched Active Ideas Productions, an emerging corporation whose mission is to serve the artistic community by facilitating the presence and publication of young talented artists and educating the public about their work. AIP is primarily funded through my painting sales, and the company organizes pop up shows, lectures, publications, panel discussions, and events.

In addition to my own work in the arts, I am also heavily involved in sustaining the art community in which I create. I believe artists have an obligation to support the art they admire, so I donate an average of one painting sale a year to a various arts organizations which inspires me.

I am a Young Fellow of the Frick Collection, on the Guggenheim’s Young Collectors Council & Acquisitions Committee, a member of the American Ballet Theatre’s Junior Council, and on The Roundtable and the Fashion Committee at the National Arts Club.

I am a member of: the National Arts Club, Screen Actor’s Guild, Emerging Leaders of the New York Arts, Arts & Business Council, and the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Painting by Annika Connor, documented by Devon Banks

I was part of your panel discussions at General Assembly but missed the conversation with Richard Phillips. What other speakers do you have lined up?

The panel discussions are still a work in progress as the Art as Entrepreneurship series is a relatively new idea for me and my company. Due to my love of strong espresso, I often move quickly on my projects and this lecture series is a classic example of that. I thought of the concept in July, pitched it to General Assembly in August, and had my first panel discussion in September.

The September talk, which you mentioned, was the one with artist Richard Phillips. The theme was Art Outside the Gallery and the other panelists were: Interior Designer and Gossip Girl Set Decorator Christina Tonkin, Gagosian employee, curator, and co founder of AD Projects Jill Murphy, and Carter Cleveland Computer Science Engineer and creator of Art.sy: The Art Genome Project.

I am still in the process of establishing the November and December line ups but as it stands, the November 16th talk is themed The Fusion of Fine Art and Fashion. So far we are excited to have famed photographer Patrick McMullan speaking. He will discuss his work in fashion and art, his show years ago at Gavin Brown’s former Passerby space, and he will address the overlap between Fashion and Fine Art he has observed through his years working on the scene. We also have designer Austin Scarlett who is just launching his own line of formal wear and wedding dresses and best know for his role on Project Runway and Project Runway All Stars, which will be airing in late 2011-2012. Scarlett will speak about Fine Art and it’s influence on him as a designer as well as give a brief talk on fashion history and the long tradition of Artists collaborating with Designers.

The December talk is themed Curating Your Corporate and Private Collection and we will be bringing together both dealers and designers to talk about how interior design and art collecting can work together to create an inspiring living or working space. So far the panelists confirmed for this talk are Art Advisor Heidi Lee who formed Heidi Lee Art Advisory Ltd in 2002, which provides art-consulting services for Fortune 500 companies, private collectors and art institutions. She specializes in Modern and Contemporary Art and will be giving concrete examples of names to know and good buys for new collectors. Also on this panel is Sarah Connolly who is the creative director of Cavern Home, a boutique wallpaper company that specializes in hand screened prints and artist collaborations. I am very excited to be working with Sarah on my own line of wallpaper and upholstery for Cavern, which will launch in 2012. Cavern’s Artist Edition line features also works by Tom Slaughter, Panamanian artist Miguel Fabrega, photographer Jordan Donner, and others. The Artist Edition papers are installed in Creative Time’s office, the Charleston Museum in England and numerous residences, and have been featured in over a dozen magazines including Elle Decor, House Beautiful, and Country Living. Connolly will discuss things to keep in mind from a design perspective when decorating a home or office, and how wallpaper, paint, upholstery, and other design elements can be used to enhance and highlight an art collection.

Tell us about an artwork or two from your own collection.

Oh I love collecting, but I dread the idea of moving, as I know I will get in trouble for all the holes in my walls! At this point my house looks like my mind exploded and created a living room, maybe not the best designed look but I don’t have enough walls to hang all my art and the art I collect unless I hang salon style.

In my art collection, beyond that of my own paintings, there are two divisions. My concrete real collection, which is paintings I have bought and traded for and then there is my fantasy collection, which consists of all the amazing pieces I would have bought if I was a billionaire that I now keep locked in my imagination and longingly remember like one recalls a kiss from years gone by.

In the Realm of Reality, I own a fantastic Marcel Dzama, which I bought during the economic collapse instead of contributing to my IRA, a gorgeous and delicate Jennie Smith that I bought years ago from a show of hers I saw the Rena Bransten Gallery when I was out in San Francisco in 2006, and some fabulous outsider art by RA Miller that I bought as a teenager direct from the artist when I was visiting his house and studio in Rabbittown, Georgia.

I also have some amazing art by artists I am friends with and whom I have shown, studied, or worked with over the years. Among those pieces one of my favorites is a huge painting I bought in 2005 by Woody Shepherd. I discovered Woody’s work when I was up visiting my friend Micah Ganske at his 2005 MFA Yale open studio exhibit. Micah and I went to undergrad together and took advance studio painting classes together at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. When I saw Woody Shepherd’s work while touring the studios, instantly fell in love with it and had to buy one. From that day forward we became good friends and have since traded for other works of each others.

Woody teaches painting at Utah State University and he, Willy Bo Richardson, and I are currently searching for a space to host a spring 2012 exhibition of our works centered on the theme of color, painting, and Contemporary Fauvism.

In my Fantasy Art Collection I pretend I own: the insanely amazing pastel colored Frank Stella painting I saw last year in Miami Basel, a Rob Pruitt glitter panda bear, some Joseph Cornell boxes, an Yves Klein coffee table or better yet just one of his monochromatic IKB paintings, the portrait Alex Katz made of me (which last I heard he was deciding to sell to either in a collection in Korea or one in Chicago), a Tim Gardner watercolor – maybe one of his mountain scenes, and any thing from Peter Doig’s Blizzard seventy-seven book. I also want to one day own like Will Cotton to make a nude painting of me floating on a cloud of cotton candy or dancing in a land made of mint chocolate chip ice cream. This painting only exists in my head since I don’t think Will Cotton knows who I am as we have not yet met.

An upcoming show you’re looking forward to?

Well I am of course very excited for my own show Tuxedo Park which opens November 9th at Bungalow 5.

Bungalow 5 is a high-end contemporary furniture design company and they have been following my pop up shows for years and invited me to have my first solo pop up exhibit at their space this Fall. I will be selling my upcoming wallpaper line there in 2012 and this exhibition in their space is a great way to highlight the original art that the wallpaper patterns are based off of.

I am also really looking forward to the Maurizio Cattelan exhibition opening November 3rd at the Guggenheim. I can’t wait to see the show and go to the gala and after party where MGMT will be playing live in concert.

Oh and a little bird at the Frick whispered something in my ear last week about an upcoming Renoir exhibition that sounds great. His color combinations are rather extraordinary and he is a true painter’s painter. Sometimes I think he gets a bad rap in today’s art world since so many museum gift shops have overexposed his work on coffee mugs, but if you can get past that and really look again, you will see that the paint application and brush strokes are rather extraordinary and worthy of more up close attention.

Artist quote or words to live by?

I like to remember what Eleanor Roosevelt said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Smeyne

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I decided early on to try to find my way in the art world.  After college, I was desperate to work at an auction house as it would provide access to everything under the sun, from American Folk Art and Collectibles to Arms & Armour and Tapestries. My first job was at Christie’s East.  I spent all my time in dark, dusty aisles cataloging 19^th & Early 20^th Century European & American Paintings.  Though a great learning experience, after a few years I decided it might be more rewarding to work with living artists.

What has been the difference between running a gallery and working for a museum?

I don’t have to worry about keeping the lights on.  My diet is much improved.  And my sleeping quarters aren’t in a nook above the toilet.

Will there be another Rob Pruitt Art Awards this year?

We’re planning a springtime awards show in 2012.

What’s up with this MGMT/Maurizio event? Meaning how did they hook up?

Sam Brumbaugh and I imagined they would make a good pairing.  (We produce the live music events together.)  We arranged for everyone to meet, ideas and high fives (literally) were exchanged and it took shape from there. Here’s the band speaking on their own charming behalf: www.guggenheim.org/mgmt

Can you tell us about an artwork you live with?

I love a John McAllister painting I bought in 2009 from James Fuentes.  It’s a little poetic jewel I never tire of spending time with.  It’s also the first object of any kind I brought into the new home I moved into a couple of weeks ago. (Well, first I burned sage and then I brought along John’s painting.) I’m way out in Brooklyn now—heading toward the beach—and it’s a dream.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Occupy Wall Street.

Gabe Schulman lives on New York’s Lower East Side and works in midtown at a financial planning firm. He also does private consulting for TheStyleBlogger.com and is on the board of Rhizome Council at The New Museum.

How did you get interested in contemporary art?

I have always been a collector of things from G. I. Joes to baseball cards to clothes, sneakers, suits, and now contemporary art. I was never artistic in the sense of being able to create something through a traditional art medium. I think collecting things was always a subconscious attempt to express myself and curate my interests and passions and have something that was palpable. When I finished college a few years ago, from some success I had in my business I had a relatively quick path to having disposable income with which to pursue my interests.

Which Exhibition A print has been your favorite thusfar?

Unquestionably the new Rene Ricard.

Rene Ricard's Untitled: "Then Love Takes Us..." print in situ at Gabe's apartment

A show you’ve seen recently that you really liked?

Damnatio Memoriae at Greenberg Van Doren and Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools at the Whitney.

If money was no object what artwork would you like to live with?

I’d say Marc Chagall, Robert Longo and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Photo credit: Ana and Danko Steiner

Christopher Bollen is a New York-based writer and currently Editor-at-Large at Interview Magazine. His first novel Lightning People was published this September.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I was born into it. My mother is an artist as well as an art professor and a feminist art historian at a small Catholic college back in Cincinnati. So basically from an early age I could identify a painting by its modern master. What’s more, if that painting wasn’t by a woman but depicted one (which was often the case) I could raise the feminist polemic about the male gaze or identity politics even before I hit puberty. That got me started, certainly, and when I moved to New York, I ran to what I was familiar with: art. But, of course, as an adult, one finds their own relationship to it.

You name-checked Ed Ruscha in your book and have also written for ArtForum. What is the relationship between art and literature these days?

I don’t think there is enough of one, to be honest. Historically, poets have seemed to have had a closer connection with visual artists in the last seventy years than novelists, at least in terms of crossing disciplines. That might be for the obvious hurtle that novelists rely on narrative and plotting. It’s hard, for instance, to imagine Frank O’Hara as a novelist while still having the same effect on the Abstract Expressionists. That said, there have certainly been some exciting convergences. The novel by Bernadette Corporation called “Reena Spaulings” which came out in 2004 is one excellent, unconventional, example. Personally, many artists I know are brilliant writers and would be great at applying their skills to books, they just aren’t encouraged to do so. Literature is by in large still a rather conservative arena in terms of experimentation. In my novel, I describe a rather extensive, bizarre installation piece involving insects that I made up, which I’m not sure is a wonderful or terrible idea for a piece in the real world.

An upcoming exhibition you’re really excited about?

I’m always a fan of Aleksandra Mir so I’m interested to see her upcoming show at the Whitney, “The Seduction of Galileo Galilei.”

Do you live with any art in your apartment?

Yes. I have a few things I managed to acquire from friends like a small, early X artwork by Wade Guyton from almost a decade ago when we lived in the same tenement building in Williamsburg. Right now, above my sofa in my living room, I have a still by Kenneth Anger of a set of owl eyes from his film “Invocation of My Demon Brother.”

Artist quote or words to live by?

“When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can’t make them change if they don’t want to, just like when they do want to, you can’t stop them.” –Andy Warhol

Meredith Darrow is an art advisor and independent curator.

What was your earliest memory of experiencing artwork?

One of my earliest memories was making spin art, I loved doing it, who would have thought I’d be seeing similar works later hanging at White Cube.

How did you get involved with contemporary art on a professional level?

I studied painting at Columbia and had a teacher named Jutta Koether, a super cool artist who lives and works in New York. She noticed my preoccupation with the art world more so than my interest in spending time in the studio.  She suggested I intern at Petzel Gallery.  My first day there Richard Phillips came in, I was already a big fan of his, he hired me as an assistant.  Later that week we went to a Jeff Koons opening at Sonnabend and after that I was hooked.  I loved galleries and wanted to look at art and work with artists.  Being a sales director was the result of loving what I was surrounded by.

What was the first piece you ever bought or were given?

The first piece I ever bought was a Matthew Brannon print that reads “Country Club Upset”.  It’s still hanging in my bedroom and is still one of my favorites works.

Who is an artist you think more people should follow?

I think more people should follow Alex Katz.  He’s a great American artist, and the show Gavin has up right now are his best paintings in 30 years.

I think more people should follow Harold Ancart, a really interesting young conceptual artist from Brussels.  He had did a 2 person show with Jacob Kassay last Spring.

Are there any upcoming shows you’re looking forward to?

I’m really looking forward to Wade Guyton’s mid career retrospective at the Whitney.  He’s a superhero of the younger generation and I also had the pleasure of working with him at Petzel.

Do you have an artist’s quote or words to live by?

Warhol “Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, “so what.”  That’s one of my favorite things to say, “so what.”

Born in 1971, Peter was raised with his twin brother in Hudson Valley, NY, lived in NYC for 17 years. He is a poet, photographer, filmmaker, DJ/remixer, curator and proud owner of cats Luna and Little Gray Bear.

How did you first get involved in contemporary art?

I studied art and photography at university. Most of my adult life I have been surrounded by artists: painters, musicians and writers. The big trigger happened when I was at Art Basel Miami to DJ in 2009. Rather than DJ-ing gigs and the club life, I found myself consumed in the paintings. When I went to my friend Francesco Clemente’s show, “The Heart in Three Rainbows” held by Jeffrey Deitch and designed by my hero, Bill Katz—that was it! I felt the power and beauty from the paintings, the curating, the perfect space—it was great execution. I went to Art Basel Miami as a DJ and left wanting to become a curator. When I returned to NYC I told John Newsom, a very old friend and painter, that I wanted to organize a show. He said, “I think you have the goods, let’s do it.” He was the epicenter of this manifestation. He introduced me to many of his peers and mentors. John brought me to the inside world of painting. It was an amazing feeling. He recognized my natural, pure enthusiasm and excitement, as did all of the artists and others who helped prepare my first exhibition ‘In Dialogue’, which was at Anonymous gallery on Bowery and Delancey.

Tell me about this show at the Bowery Hotel you put together.

What a trip! It’s a collaboration of energies, artwork, people, atmosphere, and a cool subterranean gallery brought together to create a vibe. The works in the space are a catalyst for a lyrical kind of knowing. I saw the space below the hotel one day when I was touring around with Sean Macpherson. My jaw dropped. I fell in love immediately. It was raw power. It was outlaw-ish. It was a secret venue that no one had used for anything aside from building furniture. Well, after a year and a half of pining, thanks to Eric Goode, Sean Macpherson, and Richard Born, who understand and appreciate art and new ventures, I was able to see my dream become reality. Once again, I asked Joseph from Anonymous Gallery to help structure my concept .He said yes. I am a very lucky man. Also a big shout out to the Bowery crew, Mike G, Oscar S for making this place look amazing!

Do you collect art personally? Can you give us a highlight or two?

I have paintings from artists/friends such as Ross Bleckner, John Newsom, Lola Schnabel and Kika Karadi. I love the work of all the artists I’ve had in my shows. I also collect art you can find at flea markets, the streets of NYC, or Estate Auctions online, etc. My last purchase was an oil painting of a little blonde boy hitchhiking with two six shooters, a lollipop, and a tear in his eye. A huge passion of mine is textiles, which I collected before paintings. I’m fascinated by the color, pattern and shapes- steeplechase and Pennsylvania dutch star quilts, Navajo and Turkish rugs, embroidered Peruvian wall hangings, Tibetan prayer mats, checkered dishcloths—it’s an obsession.

What’s your advice on curating a group show, which on some level is what we all do with artwork in our homes?

Pieces should lift each other up and give the needed particular emphasis like counterpoint in music. Know what you like and use that gut intuition along with observation, imagination and personal experience.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“If you want something just ask for it. The worst answer you can get is no.”
-Ross Bleckner

A collector you admire?

Richard Massey. He started the Richard Massey Foundation, which supports fellowships in the arts and sciences. He is humble man with a great eye for paintings

Owen Reynolds Clements is a private consultant and independent curator based in New York.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I was a photo nerd in high school, lived in the darkroom. I would tear out pages from photo books in the library and hang them on my bedroom wall – Nan Goldin, Larry Clark, Diane Arbus, Mapplethorpe. I navigated the city by way of taking pictures, seeking out what was new or exciting. I learned a lot, found a lot, photography was sort of the gateway drug which lead me into the world of artists and galleries and contemporary art. Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster Cycle” at the Guggenheim in 2002 was really spectacular, everything was really spectacular at that time. The show opened up my perception of what art is and what art could be. It expanded; art was no longer in my head just a painting or a photograph or a sculpture, it was this massively precious idea that was exploding in my path, it was an entire industry of exchange. That did it. My interest was piqued and I was then compelled to participate.

First artwork you ever bought or were gifted?

I bought an Alex Rose collage from the show Bob Nickas had curated at Envoy Enterprises in 2008. Rose is a bit of an outsider, has a unique authentic practice, dark but romantic.

Upcoming show you’re looking forward to?

Hanna Liden at The Fireplace Project, East Hampton and TM Davy at Exile, Berlin. Also, Alex Isreal at Peres Projects, Berlin.

What’s a common mistake new collectors make from your experience consulting people?

Young collectors may tend to overlook older, more historical works. A collector can have a contemporary focus, but there should be some depth to it. I think it is important to consider works made in the late 60′s and early 90′s. There is a connection right now, economically, politically, socially, to those time periods. I think the addition of work from the recent past would enhance the conversation within a young contemporary collection. Presenting a sensitivity to the history of a specific theme or certain aesthetic you are collecting is impressive.

Do not be hesitant. Especially when you are young or new, just go for it. Purchase work fairly consistently and often. Keep your relationships with dealers and artists well oiled. Make a bold gesture once in a while,  Buying an entire solo show, or a large majority of it, by a promising emerging artist early on in their career, is smart. Everyone looks good, you have a stronger relationship to the gallery, the artist has a hot sold out show, people will talk, new work will be in demand, there is energy. And in the future, if necessary, you are then able to sell off one or two, while holding onto the rest, maintaing your credibility and integrity as a collector of the work.

Matt and Katie Allison are both artists who collaborate from their home and studio in Gowanus Brooklyn.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

We were both very lucky to have high school teachers that extended our studies past Art History 101. I can remember going to gallery shows on evening field trips, and having copies of Art in America laying around the art room. I’m sure this doesn’t sound that exceptional, but when you grow up in Florida, the contemporary art world isn’t always that apparent. It was good learning that there is a difference between art made 150 years ago and things being made by people who are living through the same stuff you are.

What was the first piece you ever bought or were given?

We’ve never had much extra income, so a lot of the pieces in our collection have been acquired as gifts or through trading with other artists. Anytime that we can buy through a gallery is always a memorable experience for us. Our first was a small, all white David Benzler, from the fine folks at Needles and Pens in San Francisco. We still have the hand written thank you note that the owner Andrew included when he shipped the piece.

Tell me about a few highlights from your collection.

Nicolas Geiser mailed us a drawing while he was living in France, as part of an exchange we were doing. At first it seemed odd that he would send us a drawing of a random duplex… It wasn’t until months later we realized it was the house we were living in at the time, taken from Google Maps street view.

We also have a pretty rad Mark Gonzales drawing. When I first moved to NYC, I heard that he was having a studio sale on a random weekday morning. It was pouring outside, but there were still 50 or so dudes crammed into a closet size room fighting over stacks and stacks of 8.5 x 11″ sharpie marker drawings. It got pretty heavy, but I came up on quite a nice little apartment warming present.

Artist quote to live by or words that stay with you?

“It’s a life a work” and “The reward for hard work is more work”.

Upcoming show you are looking forward to?

“Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art” at the Smart Museum in Chicago.

Andy Spade is the co-founder of the agency Partners & Spade and an owner at Half Gallery. Along with his wife, he started the now global brand Kate Spade and subsequently Jack Spade for men.

How did you first get interested in collecting?

I first became interested in contemporary art through skateboarding. The graphics used on skateboards during the Dogtown days were inspiring. I didn’t know it was contemporary art at the time of course, but a recent visit to Jeffrey Deitch show in LA confirmed it.

Do you remember the first artwork you ever bought?

The first real piece of art I purchased was a figurative painting titled King Swing by Lowell Boyers. I met him when he was getting his MFA at Yale. He’s still one of my favorite artists.

Artist words to live by?

Artist quote by Rene Ricard on a drawing I have. “Andy Warhol died today and took all the fame with her.”

An artist more people should know about?

Jeff Kling and Peter Wegner.

Photo Credit: Brandon Harman

William Eadon is a Brooklyn based Fashion Designer, Photographer, and Artist.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

As far back as I can remember I’ve used art as a means of expression.  From the first ceramic sculpture of say a skull in grade school…my mentors observed that expression and encouraged my work  and growth.  I remember staring for hours at the Hieronymus Bosch book my parents had in their library.  Contemporary art is just as admirable.  As far as I can tell, good art is love.  I’m hardly a snob with art and would rather not talk much about it, sooner observe the cacophony.  Many of my peers are artists and having gone to art school myself my interest grew seamlessly.  Works of interest for me appear in much the same way.  If something arrives in my life at the right exact moment and speaks to me for that moment… I embrace, respect and am thankful for its emergence.  I’m not studying the art world.  Work must affect me in a personal way.  I wouldn’t care if it were displayed next to a bin or at the next biennial.

Tell me about a piece or two in your personal collection.

I just bought a print from an artist that I’ve been following named Alexander Binder.  I friended him on facebook after seeing some of his work on a blog somewhere.  I think he’s done some dark metal album covers or something.  Anyway, I heard that he was having an opening somewhere in Brooklyn through facebook, so I headed over there with a couple of friends.  I fully expected enduring a crowd of Bushwick artists critiquing each other endlessly in an abandoned warehouse come gallery.  Once arriving, I found that I was only one of a handful of people viewing the prints on display at a “hip” specialty boutique.  I love the feeling of being one of the first to get into something.  It seems to happen less and less with the way things move these days.  I bought a print of the image pictured here…….In my collection at home I have E.V. Day, Todd Selby, Bonnie Collura, Jason Nocito, Hollie Dzama, Mark Borthwick, Eric Gerdau, and a few other things.  Most of these people are my friends and usually the work is a gift or trade.  I don’t have money for art, someday when I make it rich I’ll add to the collection. Or not.

Image of Alexander Binder print from William's collection

How did you first meet Todd Selby?

As you know, I work for Cynthia Rowley.  Once upon a time nearly a decade ago I met Todd while working with him on a project that he was doing featuring Cynthia’s stuff in the blog he did back then called something like… “fashionwhore.com”.  At that point in my life I had just broken up with my girlfriend of 2 years, and Todd appeared just at the perfect moment for some serious “bromancing”.  We’ve been chums ever since.  A little while after that we pulled together our own fashion label called “Imitation of Imitation of Christ”  It was more of a conceptual performance piece with fashion and a spoof on the original.  So fun.  When Todd first got into photography he would call me up and ask me if I wanted to help.  I remember carrying the gear to shoots in the Adorama and B&H plastic bags he bought it in.  It was that fresh.  We’d arrive on set and have to call in to the rental dept at K&M or whatever asking how to remove a lens cap from the Mamiya.  Todd’s come so far and I always admire his hustle and way of seeing.  The two of us are so different and I always learn so much seeing from his perspective. Perhaps that’s why we get along.  I still assist him on shoots whenever I can, it’s more like hanging out.  I count him as one of my closest friends.

Weren’t you also in a Terry Richardson campaign for Uniqlo? What was that like?

That was cool.  I’ve been an admirer of Terry’s work ever since the Alleged show.  I lived on the Bowery back then and that gallery always had real interesting work.  I remember having to go back twice to Terry’s show because it bothered me so much the first time.  It took me about a week to get it. Things you were seeing in the art world were so much different at that time.  Once it sunk in it really, really made sense to me.  It was cool to be shot by him for the campaign, Terry was shooting a whole bunch of kids that day so it was a quick in and out.  It was nice to catch a glimpse of him and be the subject for that moment.  I’d love to work for him for a day or two to really vibe out the process.  I’m a photographer and I love seeing the different points people are coming from when taking pictures.  There is such a psychology there and it’s different for everyone.

Artist words to live by?

Not really.  But I think this quote is funny….

“Computer games don’t affect kids, I mean if Pac Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.”  -Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989

If you could have anyone do your portrait?

Gary Hume or George Condo, Schiele if he were alive.

Nick Griffin specializes in commercial real estate for creative companies and individuals in New York City; he is currently developing a “creative commercial district” in Long Island City, where he also serves on the board of the wild and wonderful arts collective Flux Factory.

What is your earliest memory of fine art?

As a boy I was mesmerized by the power of the photography in Sports Illustrated and started taking pictures myself. But my eye was drawn in other directions – particularly forms in nature and architecture – and that has continued to inform my collecting, which leans toward abstract and surreal photography, as well as mixed-media works.  That said, I’m no art expert, and certainly not an expert collector. But I believe very much in the value of expertise, particularly in a field as challenging and elusive as fine art, so I have relied heavily on the counsel of a great advisor – Maureen Mahony, of Mahony Dady Art Advisory.

Tell me about a couple pieces in your collection.

Two pieces that seem particularly “representative” are Mary Mattingly’s ‘Silent Engineers’ which is a sort of post-apocalyptic composite image, and an abstract photograph from Eileen Quinlan’s ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ series. I also recently found a hauntingly beautiful piece as a gift for my wife by a great local artist named Barbara Jaffe from her negative-image series “Dark Sun.”

What about this temporary museum youre launching?

The project I’m most excited about right now is the creation of a new museum–The Museum of Social Innovation –which will cover the intersection of art, activism, and entrepreneurship.  It builds on what Creative Time has been doing with their Social Practice Summit and what the New Museum did with their Festival of Ideas for the New City, but takes it in whole new directions and establishes an actual, and permanent, venue to support and facilitate collaboration between these fields. The Museum will be based in Long Island City where we are currently considering several locations.

You bought a Jules de Balincourt print from us? What appealed to you about the image or him as a painter?

I have a pretty instinctive approach to collecting and I just plain loved the image when I saw it.  Funny story is that as soon as I got the email I called my wife to say I thought we should get the piece and she said, “Yeah, I just looked at it and thought the same thing.”  This particular piece really jumped out at me, partly because of the way the simple, colorful, almost childlike surface image is juxtaposed with the darker, more complex and disturbing image beneath, literally white-washed out and lurking in the background – a light and playful facade with a heavy, serious backstory.

Any artists more people should know about?

Rather than choose one artist out of the multitude of talent on the scene today, I’m going to suggest that collectors look at work being done by a variety of up-and-coming artists associated with the Flux Factory art collective in LIC – www.fluxfactory.org.  There is a vibrance and connection that just feels very tangible and relevant  to me and captures a certain zeitgeist that I don’t see reflected as much in more established galleries these days.