Born in 1980 in Strasbourg, France, Elaine Levy owns Elaine Levy Project in Brussels, Belgium and is exhibiting at NADA NYC 2013 this weekend.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My parents have been collecting since I was a baby, my mom was an art teacher, my grandmom studied art in the 1930′s, and I learned how to walk at the Art Basel fair. I grew up in this world and never disconnected.

Tell us about the artwork you live with.

We live in apartment at the back of the gallery, so I live with the art that we show. I have a small collection of more personal things: small works by Madge Gill, an amazing self-portrait of spanish photographer Alberto Garcia-Alix, and bigger edition photographs by Jack Pierson and Douglas Gordon. I also own this tiny piece by Charlemagne Palestine and some really nice paintings and drawings by Bret Slater. The first artwork I bought was a photograph by Larry Clark from the Tulsa series. I bought it to replace another photo from the same series that my parents had given me but that I was robbed of while moving to Paris.

Which contemporary artists are you excited about right now?

I’m really glad to be showing Yannick Val Gesto, a young Belgian artist, at NADA NYC this weekend and in June at the gallery. I’m also really excited about Israel Lund‘s work right now. I discovered the work online a few months ago and went for a studio visit in New Jersey at his school. We’re planning a show in September–his first solo in Europe–and I am really looking forward to it!

What’s your opinion on the art fairs as an exhibitor?

Art fairs are where things happen, or what allows you to make things happen. I’ve been going to Miami since Art Basel launched its first edition and I’ve followed NADA as well. Last year was our first year at NADA Miami and it was so well organized and in such a nice atmosphere that we were really happy to be part of it. The gallery line up is always quite exciting–that’s the place you really want to go to discover new artists. I think NADA really fits the kind of things we show more than a lot of other art fairs.

What’s next for you after NADA?

I’m organizing Brussels gallery weekend in September and we also hope to grow internationally and especially in the US through art fairs and new collaborations.

An art book everyone should check out?

J.G. Ballard’s Vermilion Sands.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“What’s the good of living if you don’t try a few things?” – Charles M. Schulz

Jessica Gersh, co-chair of the Whitney Art Party auction on May 1st, also co-chairs the Whitney Museum Contemporaries patron executive committee and is an educator through the Knowledge is Power Program.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My whole family loved art and I studied Art History in college. After that my interest for contemporary art became a passion. I’ll never forget visiting the Whitney and seeing a massive Tomaselli piece that intrigued me.

Jessica Gersh's Christopher Wool piece

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

The first piece of art I purchased on my own is a great little collage by Wardell Milan. I bought it at the 2010 Whitney Art Party and I have enjoyed living with it. I also own work by Christopher Wool.

An upcoming exhibition or gallery show you’re excited to see?

I can’t wait for Orly Genger’s installation in Madison Square Park opening next week. The Whitney Contemporaries visited her studio a few months ago for a sneak peek and it looked amazing. I can only imagine how powerful it will be once it’s installed.

An art book everyone should check out?

I love Ed Ruscha’s books from the 60s.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“It is especially in times like these that we look to the spiritual. In art we find it.” – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

David Harper is an advisor, curator, and writer who has been the Curator of Visual Art at the Brooklyn Academy of Music since 2006, where he oversees both exhibitions and a development unit devoted to fundraising through visual art.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I started as an art maker, always drawing and painting, and it was something I was good at and one of the few things that got me noticed by the other kids in school. In undergrad, I started as a fine arts major but I found myself becoming less and less interested in making art and more and more interested in what other people were making. I was lucky to have had the option to switch my studies to the history of art and still be around predominantly people who were in the studio creating daily, which I found inspiring. By the time I arrived in New York for graduate school, there was no question that I wanted to be surrounded by art and artists for the rest of my career.

Tell us about the artwork you live with.

I live with a lot of art, though most of it is waiting to be framed (funny how that happens). I collect mostly prints and drawings and I get the vast majority of them from benefits for non-profits in Brooklyn and New York. I made my first purchase at an art fair only just last year. Some of my favorites are two woven paper pieces by Ruby Sky Stiler and a small painting by my friends Florian and Michael Quistrebert, who are based in Paris. I also have works by Paul Chan, Fred Tomaselli, Letha Wilson, Will Yackulic, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, R.H. Quaytman, Luke Stettner, Nazafarin Lofti, Stephen Irwin, and a bunch of other friends and colleagues, as well as photographs by my partner Ryan James MacFarland. One interesting anecdote: I was late buying some Christmas presents for Ryan this year – some art books I planned to get from Printed Matter. When I finally got around to going online to buy them, it happened to be the same day they released their David Wojnarowicz reprint of Untitled (One Day This Kid…), which was made only in an edition of 100 and which is an artwork that had a profound impact on me as a young man. I scooped one up immediately and I am pretty sure they sold out not too long after. Sometimes procrastinating is a good thing.

What contemporary artists are you excited about right now?

There are so many! I really want to go see David Benjamin Sherry’s new show in LA. I loved Eddie Martinez’s latest show at the Journal Gallery in Brooklyn.  I look forward to seeing what artists like Zak Kitnick, Margaret Lee, Sebastian Black, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Kadar Brock, and Tatiana Berg will be working on in the next year.

Tell us about the BAMart silent auction.

This is the ninth year of the BAMart Silent Auction and the seventh one I have put together for BAM. We have 126 incredible works up for auction from a wide and varied range of artists, with proceeds going mainly to support our innovative and expanding programming and with a portion this year going to artists impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  The exhibition is at the Hole Gallery this year and it’s open until Sunday, April 28 at 6 pm with all bidding online courtesy of our partner Paddle8. It’s a great and fun way to support BAM.

An upcoming exhibition you’re excited to see?

It’s already open but I really can’t wait to see Letha Wilson’s show at Art in General. She has a whole floor! I also am excited to see the show artist Rachel Owens curated at ZieherSmith. I am actually very much looking forward to Frieze and NADA, too, and I hope to make my first trip to the Venice Biennale at some point this summer.

An art book everyone should check out?

The last art book I bought was Laura Owens’ “Clocks” from Karma. It’s an amazing book of paintings by one of my favorite painters.

Artist quote or words to live by?

I am strangely obsessed with the 1969 series “Civilisation” presented by Kenneth Clark, despite its many shortcomings and how dated and Eurocentric it feels now. Nonetheless, he opens the program with a quote by John Ruskin that I have always loved which goes: “Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last.” Once an art history nerd, always an art history nerd.

Ellie Rines works at Craig F. Starr Gallery. She has previously worked at Knoedler, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and J.J. Lally.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My older sister, Jackie, is an artist. She works on a very large scale and would often keep artwork in my bedroom. For over a year, she had an 8-foot tall ceramic ballerina leg placed at the foot of my bed. Maybe that’s why I chose to go to boarding school.

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

I am aspiring to live with a fantastic drawing by Phillip John Velasco Gabriel, which I am purchasing on layaway. I really love a small work on paper Matt Magee gave me that is painted onto a Craig Starr announcement card from our Agnes Martin: On a Clear Day exhibition.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?

Phillip John Velasco Gabriel is my absolute favorite, but I’m also fan of Hilary Harkness, Dan Newman, Allyson Vieira, Bruce High Quality, Les Rogers, Matt Magee, and Tauba Auerbach.

What are you working on currently?

Our Jasper Johns / Bruce Nauman exhibition opened a couple weeks ago and I am preparing myself for auction season and Frieze week.

An upcoming exhibition you’re excited to see?

James Turrell at the Guggenheim. And even though I saw it in LA, I can’t wait to re-visit Ken Price at the Met.

An art book everyone should check out?

Tom Wolfe’s The Painted Word.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace” –Oscar Wilde

Luca Antonucci and Carissa Potter run COLPA, a publishing company based in San Francisco, CA, specializing in hand-made art books, limited edition prints, and the curation of print-related fine art exhibitions.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

Carissa: I am not really sure that I am interested in contemporary art per say. Perhaps I am going through a phase of questioning when I am not sure what anything is anymore, or why we do anything as humans. I will say I get excited about things that are witty, or well made, or connected to meaning that resonates with me. I like things that are thought through—or given no thought at all. It depends on the work. I have always been interested in ideas, forms, and aesthetics in some form or another.

Luca: I was lucky enough to have my mother take me to contemporary art galleries from a young age. She had this way of talking to me the same way she talked to the artists she worked with. After college I wanted to be a filmmaker but I ended up working 14-hour shifts at a TV station as a switcher and changing a beta tape every half hour. Then I went to grad school at SFAI and kind of got hooked on the feeling of it. Like all you want to do is make things and show them to people and see what they’ve made and talk about it. I know that sounds overly simplistic but I’ve been feeling that way lately and it’s better to be honest than clever.

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

Carissa: My favorite thing I live with right now is a Golden Chicken by Cathy Lu. It is a 8″ x 12″ x 6″ plaster, gold-leaved chicken carcass with tiny florescent pink nipples. It hangs like a set of antlers in my studio on the wall and is just starting to show its age by fading in the spots that have collected dust over the three years I’ve owned it.

Luca: Well, all my books. I love them all equally. I recently just got this Eve Fowler print of a Gertrude Stein quote–black on black. I love it. Oh and there are the protest posters we got from Kadist in my studio waiting to get framed.

You’ve taking over the Will Brown gallery in SF for the month of April. What’s in the works?

Luca: We basically moved in for the month of April. Our print and copy shop is set up with a bookstore and a little showroom for events, art work, and a copy machine—BW copies are 25 cents and color copies are 50 cents. We’ll also be designing and printing three new books from our print-based Artist in Residence program: Still Dots by Jeremy Meckler and Matt Levine, Expert Witness by Daniel Small and Antiseptic by Nicolas Miller.

The art world can be so New York-centric. Any West Coast artists you’d like to hype?

Carissa: Lots. Cybele Lyle, Sarah Hotchkiss, Daniel Small, and many more.

Luca: Same, plus Aaron Finnis, Facundo Arganaraz, Kate Bonner, Chris Baird, Lindsey White, Greg Ito, David Bayus, Amy Ho, Phil Chang. This list is by no means comprehensive.

An art book everyone should check out?

Carissa: A Picture of Blindness by Sebastian Goy, Exquisite Pain by Sophie Calle, and The Church Issue from Public Fiction.

Luca: Christopher Williams’ Secession, one of two volumes of joint catalogue with Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, David Horvitz’s Sad Depressed People, Topmotiviert by Linus Bill, and Temporary Housing Shelter from Split Fountain.

Artist quote or words to live by?

Carissa: “It will be okay.”
Luca:“I’m not interested in solving anything.” – Anonymous

Ryan Steadman is an artist, curator, and critic living in Brooklyn. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Karma and Envoy Enterprises, both in New York City.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I wasn’t very aware of contemporary art until I took an undergraduate class with painter Jim Herbert, who favored a wild-eyed form of expressionism and an “anything goes” approach to art making. His work is part Baselitz, part Schnabel, and part Wojnarowicz. Once he opened up the endless possibilities of contemporary art to me, I was hooked. He’s an amazing character who has a difficult time not inspiring people.

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

The one that stands out is a large painting from my wife Gina Magid’s last show at Feature Inc., titled “L’Arbre”. It’s an eight-foot tall painting that sits in our top floor stairwell of a leafless tree with a multitude of branches that reach out at all heights. It has been reworked many times over the years, and there are areas where past images (a nude woman, a geodesic dome) peek out from beneath layers of paint. The colors are organic: fleshy pinks, verdant greens and earthy browns. Some branches pop vibrantly while others dissolve almost completely. For me, it symbolizes the totality and complexity of life, with all of its ups and downs, as well as the mysterious undercurrent that connects all living things.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?

Wow, where do I begin? I usually write about the artists that become my favorites or else I end up owning their work. I’ve always loved Jackie Gendel’s paintings, which I first saw around 1998. Letha Wilson has an extremely bright future; I bought one of her gorgeous cut photographs from an exhibition at my friend Rachel Churner’s gallery, Churner and Churner. Artists that inspire my own work include Jim Lee (I own one of his small constructed abstractions) and the painter Richard Aldrich.

Work by Dana Carlson, Ryan Steadman, & Gina Magid.

What are you working on currently?

I’m writing an introduction on a tremendous artist named Ethan Greenbaum for Modern Painters that comes out in July, as well as the regular reviews I write for artforum.com. I’ve also been busy curating the artist-run and non-profit sections of the UNTITLED. art fair under the tutelage of curator and artistic director, Omar Lopez-Chahoud. In the studio, I’m working on a new series of collage-and-paint-based abstractions that grew out of the work from my last exhibition at Karma.

An upcoming exhibition you’re excited to see?

I’m really looking forward to seeing the Jay DeFeo retrospective that’s up now at the Whitney and also an upcoming show of Damon Zucconi’s work at the very new and awesome JTT Gallery on the Lower East Side.

An art book everyone should check out?

I’ve been reading The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell. The way he writes about art still feels exciting, egalitarian and full of delight. The other is 2009’s Art And Etiquette: I Love Your Work, published by Paper Monument. It’s a barrel of laughs.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Ya gots to work with what you gots to work with.” – Stevie Wonder

Photo courtesy Erik Carter

Olivia Smith studied studio art at SMU in Dallas, Texas and previously worked at Artists Space and Creative Time before joining Exhibition A as Production Coordinator in January 2013. Olivia is also an active performance artist and writer focused on public engagement and the properties of language and the body which affect the experience of identity.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I worked on and off at the Rachofsky House throughout college so I grew familiar with a good portion of his collection. During the same time I began a series of yearly trips to New York in 2009 that helped me develop a grasp on contemporary art. I came with my school the first time and we spent two weeks visiting every exhibition that was open. After that I visited on my own until I decided to move here a year ago.

Do you live with any artwork at home?

I live with a lot of art that I traded for or that has been given to me. I can’t even count how many Kyle Hobratschk etchings or Brooks Oliver ceramics I own. I also have small drawings and paintings by Bret Slater, Bernie Diaz, Anna Membrino, and by my professors: a David Dreyer etching, a Peter Beasecker vessel and a Mary Vernon painting. I’m also fond of the Richard Phillips and Jack Siegel Exhibition A prints I own.

Tell us about your stint at Creative Time.

I worked in the programming department, assisting on projects like Tom Sachs’ SPACE PROGRAM: MARS, Trevor Paglen’s The Last Pictures, and Nick Cave’s HEARD•NY, the collaboration between Creative Time and MTA Arts for Transit that is going on at Grand Central Terminal right now. In January I actually wore a Nick Cave sound suit for a press event–I was the back of the horse!

An art book you suggest reading?

My favorite book to flip through is John Wesley, by Germano Celant. One of these days I’ll have a coffee table and that will be the thing on it. I’m also super excited to start reading my new, signed copy of What We Made: Conversations on Art and Social Cooperation by Tom Finkelpearl.

An exhibition you’re excited to see?

I’m really looking forward to Bret Slater’s show at Morgan Lehman opening tomorrow and Itziar Barrio’s Casting The Perils of Obedience: A Performance at Abrons Arts Center this Friday.

Any personal projects on the horizon?

I’m working on several collaborations with artists that have to do with reenactment through ritual and ceremony, working towards a program slated for early 2014 at A Slender Gamut, and also an individual project on unlearning and prescribing identity.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“From intuition one can pass to analysis, but not from analysis to intuition.” – Henri Bergson

“Legs are for moving. Arms are for loving” – Karl Holmqvist, ‘K

Photograph by Carol Vaziri

Jamie Alexander is the owner of Park Life in San Francisco, a store, publishing company and gallery. Jamie is also an art collector and Board Member of Headlands Center for the Arts.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I grew up in Newport Beach where there wasn’t much in the way of contemporary art. As a kid in the 80’s I would visit a local gallery that showed works by Haring, Warhol, and Basquiat, which left an impression on me. I also read a lot of Robert Hughes’ writings early on and I think in many ways that informed the way I look at art. As far as possessing art, I think it was a Barry McGee show in San Francisco that turned me into a collector.

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

This piece by Bay Area native Tauba Auerbach is really special to me. (I Doubt It/But I Do It, 2008). Her early text work was the first artwork I was really drawn to. Considering where her market is now I feel lucky to have purchased the piece from a gallery show before her prices escalated. It’s in my hallway.

I Doubt It But I Do It, Tauba Auerbach

It’s so great that you’re doing a Creative Growth show. How did that come about?

I’ve been a fan of Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland for a long time. Having a Creative Growth show is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while. A friend of mine, Stephen Goldblatt, recently joined their board and helped make it happen. Their artists are really starting to get the recognition they deserve.

What is your dream show for the gallery?

Trying to get David Shrigley in here.

An art book everyone should check out?

My favorite books on art are: de Kooning: An American Master and Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists by Robert Hughes.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Everything popular is wrong.” – Oscar Wilde

Saara Pritchard is head of the First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale at Christie’s.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My father and grandfather have been collecting old master paintings and French and English furniture, so collecting is in my blood. As a child, my father took me to museums, galleries, art fairs and auctions, but only started buying much later in life. I was black lighting, reading condition reports, and in high school I began catalouging his collection. It was not until I graduated college that my love of contemporary art hit. My university only had one modern art class that ended with Andy Warhol! When I moved back to the city after college, I joined the Junior Associates of the MoMA and got hooked on studio visits, walk-throughs, meeting curators and the ever-evolving life of the contemporary art world that existed around me. And while I still love poring over exhibition catalogues at the Frick library, it’s incredible to experience new exhibitions, artists and shows on almost a weekly basis!

A great art book everyone should read?

Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg by Calvin Tomkins. This book is an incredible portrayal of my favorite artist, and one of the most important art figures in the trajectory of contemporary art. His reach and influence as well as his circle of contemporaries was truly astounding and totally comes alive in Tomkins’ seamlessly written account.

An upcoming show you’re excited to see?

I have a ton of catch-up after the busy months preparing for the March sale. I can’t wait to see Inventing Abstraction at MoMA, Matisse at the Met and NYC 1993 at the New museum. As for upcoming shows, I am thrilled that there will be a show of Martial Raysse at Luxembourg Dayan! There hasn’t been a solo show of his work in the United States since Virginia Dwan’s 1967 exhibition!

Mat Larkin, "Matches 4," 2013

What’s a standout piece for you from the Young & Starving auction which Christie’s hosted last week?

I am in love with Mat Larkin’s matchbook works. They have the alluring subtlety of an Agnes Martin painting from a distance and the Duchampian “Aha!” up close when you realize it is entirely made up of matches. The Y&S auction raised $43,050. The Larkin work had 11 bids and went for the final price of $4,250.

If you could have any artist do your portrait who would it be?

Andy Warhol, screen test.

Photo Courtesy Grey Area

Cecelia Stucker is an independent curator and private collection manager living between New York and Los Angeles.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My second-uncle’s architecture firm oversaw the expansion of The Art Institute of Chicago. We headed up north one Thanksgiving and were afforded the opportunity to view the new wing. As chance would have it, Monet’s Water Lilies– which the artist created at Giverny and subsequently installed at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris– were on loan to the Institute. My six-year-old self entered the site specific rotunda and that was it. I was immediately immersed within the 360 degree panorama. I am still brought back to Monet’s use of color and light to capture atmosphere when I stand in front of everything from Rothko to Richter to Rudolf Stingel. Mapping Monet’s legacy is what fuels my interest in contemporary art.

Monet's "Water Lilies" at the Musée de l'Orangerie

An artwork you live with at home?

I have the most whimsical collage that Pierre Huyghe made for me during the early stages of his Documenta 13 planning. He was entertaining the idea of immersing a found sculpture within the surrounding systems of his compost site (in the park) in Kassel. The collage he gave me ultimately inspired the elegantly entrancing, reclining marble female with a bee’s hive in place of her head.

A great exhibition you saw recently?

I was blown away by the Rosemarie Trockel show at the New Museum. Her inclusion of and ultimate smashing of the categorical limitations surrounding outsider art made for a bold curatorial gesture. I see the roles of curator and artist as much alike. The only difference is in the tools we use to shape our contribution to the greater historical dialog — curators assemble others’ objects via language and context whereas artists release the objects directly.

As a collection manager how do you best serve your clients?

It is always important that I share a strong bond with the collectors I assist and knowledge is at the root of each connection. I work with intelligent and motivated individuals who are passionate about the art as opposed to concerned with how the investment will accumulate. My responsibilities to my collectors include assisting them in acquisitions, appraisals, inventory, collection catalogue production, and facilitating institutional loans. The collectors I choose to work with are excited to meet the artists they support and just as excited to meet the dealers, directors, and curators so that they become immersed within the cultural fabric. At the end of the day it all comes down to facilitating a dialog and it is more beneficial if that dialog streams in all directions.

Who is an artist you think more people should be following?

A favorite among my generation is the multimedia artist Garrett Pruter. We are the same age, and have collaborated on numerous projects together. We recently lived in Paris (surviving on baguettes and the kindness of our dear friend and dealer Claudia Cargnel) for a month while producing his last exhibition and the coinciding catalogue. His curiosity over the life and death of an image and his innovative approach to collage-painting and is one of the most unique processes I’ve encountered.

Barr's Modernism Chart

A great art book to check out?

I recommend Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and the Intellectual Origins of The Museum of Modern Art. Not only was Barr the godfather of mapping modernist (particularly cubism and abstraction) origins throughout art history, he was also the quintessential museum director. Representing a balance between his board and the curatorial vision of the museum, he was able to catapult modern art in America while also creating a mythology around not only the art of his era but of the museum itself. I count him among my idols.

Charlotte Bravin Lee is a junior at Fieldston high school in New York. She is currently the director and curator of Teen Art Gallery (T.A.G.) whose mission is to give teen artists the opportunity to exhibit in a gallery. Charlotte is both an artist and a writer and recently completed summer programs at Iowa Young Writers Studio and The Kenyon Review’s Writer’s Workshop.

How did you first get interested in art?

My parents have an art gallery so I was exposed at a young age to contemporary art through gallery openings and art fairs. I loved the fact that my parents let me amble around art fairs, never censoring anything I saw.

Do you live with any artwork at home?

The walls of my apartment are filled with art; the living room has abstract paintings by James Siena and Tom Nozkowski and our dining room has many portraits. One of my favorites is a really detailed drawing by Aurel Schmidt; another is an Egon Schiele that was once my grandfather’s. My brother doesn’t like it so his chair at the table is the one that faces away from it.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?

I really enjoy the strange and provocative paintings I have seen by John Currin. When I was about seven, the photographer Catherine Opie took my portrait so I have always been interested in seeing her different series. For a school project, I used an image of her work, Self-Portrait/Cutting that was really eye opening to my friends. I also saw a cool show this fall in Chelsea by Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman where they created a huge installation that transformed the gallery.

Tell us about Teen Art Gallery.

In the summer of 2011, as I was entering my sophomore year in high school, I read an article about a seventeen-year-old who founded Teen Art Gallery. Not only was I impressed that a young girl could start this, but I really appreciated its mission of giving teen artwork an opportunity to be seen. I kept the New York Times article pinned to my bulletin board for a while, and finally contacted the founder, Audrey Banks. She, and T.A.G. member, Paris Starn, invited me to a meeting and I immediately became a part of the team. I am now the director of T.A.G, and as the curator, I evaluate several hundred submissions from artists ages 12-19 that we receive from all over the United States. I look for technical skill and originality. I select a broad range of pieces in all media and then create a Facebook album so the rest of the T.A.G. team can vote. The artwork that ends up getting the most “likes” is included in our shows. Last year we had exhibitions at Salon 94 Freemans and BravinLee programs. This year we will be having a show at HiArt studio in Chelsea and are still working on securing a space for July.

An art book everyone should check out?

My grandmother gave me a book on Alice Neel for Christmas. It isn’t a new book but I think the work is amazing and her portraits are so honest.

Artist quote or words to live by?

I don’t know many artists quotes but it would be my hope that schools would do a better job of encouraging the visual arts. It seems that so often it plays second fiddle to other interests – for me those would be words to live by.

Author photo courtesy Pieter M. van Hattem

Carmela Ciuraru is the author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms (HarperCollins) and a number of poetry anthologies. She lives in Brooklyn.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawn to art, but about 10 years ago I shifted from being a casual viewer to wanting to collect it. I was lucky enough to get a crash course education from a friend who works in the art world–she really inspired me in this pursuit, and gave me plenty of great advice. (Above all: Buy what you love!) She told me what I should be reading to keep up with the latest print releases, and taught me about different printmaking processes. She recommended that I look at as much art as possible, research the work of artists I admired, and visit artists’ studios.

Do you live with any art at home?

Wherever there’s a wall, there’s art, and that includes the bathrooms and kitchen: Marcel Dzama, Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois, John Waters, Fred Tomaselli, Amy Cutler, Thurston Moore, William Kentridge, and Mamma Andersson, among others. Being surrounded by these works makes me happy every day, in the same way that my books provide companionship and inspiration. Having art at home has enriched my life immeasurably.

"September 15, 2005" by Fred Tomaselli

What was the first piece of “real” art you bought? What drew you to it?

The Wonderfulness of Downtown, a Universal Limited Art Edition print by Jane Hammond. It’s a stunning, hand-painted print with 39 colors and elements of collage. I bought it online, not long after September 11th. It’s five feet wide by five feet high. I hadn’t given any thought to wall space, or how much it might cost to frame something so big. I have a profound connection to poetry, and I especially love that Wonderfulness was part of Jane’s collaboration with the poet John Ashbery.

Jane Hammond, "The Wonderfulness of Downtown"

Your fantastic book, Nom de Plume, explores the history of pseudonyms. Lots of visual artists, especially performance or video artists, take on personas in their work. Any favorites? Or any thoughts on why visual artists don’t use pseudonyms more often?

It seems that in visual art, there are more often instances of someone simply changing his or her name–the German painter Blinky Palermo comes to mind–rather than really hiding behind a false identity. Of course throughout history, there are countless unsigned/anonymous works. There is certainly a good deal of self-mythologizing in the art world, but it doesn’t manifest itself in pseudonymity, as it has in literature. A viewer can admire a beautiful painting at a museum without instantly obsessing over the artist’s sexual preferences, history of infidelity and alcoholism, and so on. Something about storytelling feeds the public demand for “authenticity,” and that has resulted historically in all sorts of interesting complications.

An exhibit you’re looking forward to in the coming months?

Oh, there are several: I’m excited to see Jane Hammond’s exhibit at Pace Prints, which ends in a few weeks; Luigi Ghirri at Matthew Marks; Gordon Matta-Clark and Richard Serra at David Zwirner in the spring; Ellsworth Kelly at MoMA, opening this summer; and my friend Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s new show at James Cohan gallery in September.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” -Samuel Beckett

Maureen Sullivan works to provide strategic planning, marketing and communications for national and international artists and art organizations, curates independent exhibitions, and produces limited editions and projects through her consultancy Red Art Projects.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My first job was producing a short film festival and an annual documentary on an artist for Checkerboard Films. My next position at the New Museum of Contemporary Art immersed me in the art world—I produced the limited editions, all the events including the benefit auction, and launched their marketing department while collaborating with hundreds of galleries, collectors, artists, writers and curators.

William Kentridge, "Phenakistoscope"

Tell us about an artwork you live with.

My place is intimate in size, so the walls and shelves are packed with limited editions that I produced (which includes works by Eve Sussman, Fred Tomaselli, Barry McGee, Jim Campbell and Alan Rath). A favorite is William Kentridge’s, Phenakistascope, 2000, for the New Museum, which was his first kinetic sculpture edition. It successfully captures his process, the use of the 1800s technique and apparatus, and combines Kentridge’s multimedia interests in theater, animation, film, drawing, and opera. I also love my Marilyn Minter apron, Jenny Holzer beach bag, and Os Gêmeos soccer ball.

What is this Double Blind benefit all about?

Art in General’s Double Blind Benefit, which closes February 14 on Paddle 8, is a really interesting art project that challenges collectors to take a risk—with tremendous potential reward. Each of 12 nominators chose one artist to shoot a roll of film. The film is auctioned off in its canister—undeveloped and unseen by the artist or the collector. The benefit connects back to the organization’s core mission: to support artists to experiment freely to produce new work. The event is on Valentine’s Day and there is a performance with Ted Riederer smashing drums with roses.

A 2013 exhibition you’re excited to see?

I can’t rave enough about Ragnar Kjartansson’s The Visitors, at Luhring Augustine. Also I just had a sneak peak of Simon Lee’s studio, where he is working on an amazing multi-media installation for his exhibition at Cristin Tierney this Spring. I’m excited to exhibit Jeremy Blake’s Winchester Redux, at the Spring Break Art Fair this March (during the Armory Show at the Old School on Mott and Prince). A decade after the work was created, and five years after his suicide, Jeremy Blake’s mythic story distills and abstracts American myths of violence and spiritual reconciliation in a way that is haunting and powerful.

An art book everyone should check out?

I just picked up Christopher Eamon’s Prime Mover: On Collecting Media Art. I expect it to be insightful for anyone interested in better understanding and collecting video art. For sheer pleasure, I covet everything Visionaire produces. I’m slightly obsessed with fairytales myself, so volume #59, the eleven-book collection on Fairytales is a must own!

Jonathan Ellis King is a collector and art advisor based in London.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My interest in art stems from my parents, who are collectors in their own right. Growing up their influence was huge—I consistently attended gallery openings, art fairs, and auctions with them. I suppose this naturally shaped the direction and path I’m taking now. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.

Do you live with any artwork at home?

I have a Rashid Johnson mirror piece on which he’s inscribed the words ‘Fly Away’ in white enamel spray paint. I could just look at it all day.

What projects are you working on this year?

I’m organizing an exhibition with Louis Eisner at RITTER/ZAMET, London, which will open in April. There will be some projects with other artists and galleries later on in the year, but nothing I can confirm just yet.

A lesser known artist more people should check out?

This is a difficult one. There are so many great young artists emerging from New York that I’m excited about: Lucien Smith, Erik Lindman, Daniel Turner, Nick Darmstaedter, and Kyle Thurman spring to mind. People should also check out Aaron Bobrow who’s going to have his first solo exhibition in New York with Andrea Rosen opening the 9th of February. He’s making some great work at the moment and is someone to watch.

An art book you suggest reading?

I’ll mention two; Darren Bader, Oaint (2010), and Joseph Beuys and the Celtic World: Scotland, Ireland, and England 1970-85 (2005) by Sean Rainbird- I am Irish!

Lindsay Cohen is a fashion and art consultant for the luxury market.

How did you first get interested in art?

My dad is a huge Deadhead and one of my favorite and earliest memories was of him plugging in the guitar and jamming to the Grateful Dead while my sister and I danced around. This sparked me to explore other art forms, and soon after I signed up for painting classes at a local studio. It was there that the teacher taught me how to draw my first fashion sketch.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?

Max Snow, Tim Walker, John Stezaker, Nicolas Pol, Golnaz Fathi, Dan Colen, Richard Hambleton, Yves Klein, the list goes on and on…

Yayoi Kusama, Fireflies on the Water

Best exhibition of 2012?

Yayoi Kusama’s Fireflies on the Water at the Whitney. I loved the intimate yet expansive feel of the exhibit. Being immersed alone in an infinite sea of light and space was a mystic experience.

An upcoming show you’re excited to see?

NYC 1993: An Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star at the New Museum. Revolving around the year 1993, the exhibition is a time capsule trying to capture moments in art, pop culture, and politics. I’m a 90’s girl through and through. I was Kelly Bundy for Halloween.

Best fashion/art collaboration?

My friend Yara Flinn recently did a collaboration for her line Nomia with Nate Lowman. I saw that concept unfold from seed to final product and the result was a perfect convergence of their two worlds. I also really love the Lisa Perry and Jeff Koons collaboration. Most people don’t have a Jeff Koons in their backyard, and now there’s a chance to display one in your closet. I have my eye on the rabbit jacket.

An art book everyone should check out?

Pierre & Gilles, Double Jeopardy. I love the idea of fantastical imagery. These photographers create a magical otherworldly experience.

Photograph by Christelle de Castro

Legacy Russell (LEGACY) is a writer, artist, and curator who has worked with The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Creative Time, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney, and the Met. She currently works as a contributing editor of BOMB Magazine’s renowned online journal, BOMBlog, and is a candidate for an MRes of Visual Culture at Goldsmiths University in London.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I grew up in the epicenter of contemporary art— the East Village, Saint Mark’s Church-on-the-Bowery and Danspace, P.S. 122, Theater for the New City, Wigstock in Tompkin’s Square Park—and as a result of that cultural milieu, art become part of the fabric of my being. I majored in Art History, Studio Art and English at Macalester College, which allowed me to write about, think about, and produce artworks. During my undergrad I completed a rigorous fellowship at the Met. That experience made it clear to me that I wanted to devote the rest of my life to working with contemporary art and creative practitioners of all kinds (artists, writers, et cetera). After working in the field for a while I became dissatisfied with the chasm between the institution and the artist. I wanted to work more closely with artists and produce projects closer to the root of creativity, separate from the burden of institutional infrastructure and bureaucracy. I began producing these gorgeously insane and often seemingly impossible projects with the collective The Bruce High Quality Foundation, and later began my tenure at BOMB in 2011.

Do you live with any art at home?

I am in London getting my master’s degree, so my walls here are a bit spare. However, my collection in my apartment in Fort Greene is burgeoning, and I miss coming home to it on a daily basis! I own works ranging from The Bruce High Quality Foundation, to Scott Hug, to Clifford Owens, as well as more emerging artists’ work like Alison Nguyen’s “Kisses n’ Guns” series and a beautiful drawing by Stephen Wuensch. I also have a piece by photographer Annie Powers that she did for a project I did with Limited Time Only in partnership with Independent Curators International last summer. The project asked a group of artists to make limited editions of their work to be mixed and matched by the public for the creation of their very own artist book, which they could take away for free. We’ll be doing the project again in the coming months, it’s called “Mad-LIB[rary]“.

What was the first piece of “real” art you bought?

It was a limited edition magazine from the French artist/book art collective, Plages, as founded by the late artist and cultural producer, Roberto Gutierrez. Plages integrates many individual artist’s works into the pages of a magazine-style booklet. The theme of the edition I bought was “Passion”. Roberto recommended I buy it after I had spent two hours pouring over all of his books one year in Miami. In each one, there were things to touch, pull out, read, smell, and even eat.

Tell us about your recent performance at The Museum of Art and Design.

The performance, titled “Initiation”, was a commission for MAD’s “Risk x Reward” series. The piece focuses on the habits, motions, and actions that manifest themselves as rituals of the everyday and the notion of social performance as it relates to gender. Staged in the glass pavilion lobby of the museum and looped continuously, the performance could be watched by an audience or stumbled upon by a passerby. The four, often humorous interventions were “The Bride”, “The Mom-to-Be”, “The Party Girl”, and “The Mourner”.

What’s coming up for you in the next few months?

I’m psyched to partner with Independent Curators International this year and continue to produce editions of the Mad-Lib[RARY] program with my curatorial collective, Limited Time Only (which is comprised of myself, Stina Puotinen of the legendary contemporary performance group CHERYL, and independent curator Sarah Giovanniello). Beyond that, I’m going to be writing for Rhizome, Guernica, BOMB, and ArtSlant. And, of course, I’m going hard with my dissertation here at Goldsmiths, which focuses on how artists are revolutionizing notions of liturgy and ceremony in their creative practice and redefining religion via the vehicle of contemporary art.

An exhibit you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to the Venice Biennale and the spring, which is the best time to stroll the streets and encounter great artworks completely by accident.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho.” — Frank Ocean

Photo by Peter Sutherland

Bill Brady is former owner of ATM Gallery in New York and current owner of Bill Brady KC Gallery. Bill is an art lover, collector, and friend of the artist.

You had ATM Gallery in New York years ago. Is your family still in the cash dispensery business?
Yes.

Tell us about the gallery you run in Kansas City.
We’ve been open for almost a year now. I’m from Kansas City and attended the Kansas City Art Institute and now I’m bringing my experience and the artists I love back home. Kansas City is my new adventure. It’s in the midst of a cultural renaissance. Museums have been expanded and new ones built, along with an amazing performing arts center which opened this year. There is a very strong local scene, but my focus remains on bringing a LA/New York/international program to the middle of America. Plus, I have a have a 2000-square-foot exhibition space with 25 foot ceilings to work with. So far so GOOD!

Bhaba, Bradley, and Fox at Bill Brady Gallery

What was a highlight for you at Art Basel Miami this year?
The highlight for me this year was most definitely seeing friends from around the world and making new ones. Art Basel and NADA were the only fairs I attended, and they were more then enough! Great exhibitions by OHWOW and the Still House group took place outside the fairs and both were very interesting. The dynamic of the fairs change from year to year but the art is for the most part consistently impressive. Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Peter Saul, and Rob Pruitt were standouts.

Is it true that Joe Bradley used to work for you?
Yes, in 2002-3, but I would not exactly call it work. More like fun times together.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?
One summer in Skowhegan, Maine changed my life and cemented my interest in contemporary art. 1991.

Mysterious! Do you live with any artwork at home?
Only one artwork hangs at a time in my NYC apartment and now it’s by artist Yayoi Kusama. A fantastic yellow and black op art painting.

A great art book everyone should read?
I Bought Andy Warhol by Richard Polsky was a very fun read and I just dove into What We Lose in Flowers by Bill Powers… so far so good.

Matthea Harvey is an award-winning poet and author of several books, including Of Lamb, a collaboration with artist Amy Jean Porter published by McSweeney’s. Harvey recently worked with artist Justin Bennett to create Telettrofono, the Guggenheim Stillspotting project in Staten Island.

How did you first become interested in contemporary art?

My sister, Ellen Harvey, is an artist, so contemporary art has always been on my radar. I hated going to museums as a child, but in my twenties that suddenly completely reversed and it was all I wanted to do.

Ellen Harvey, "Low Tech Special Effects (Mermaid)"

Do you live with any contemporary art at home?

I have a lot of pieces that have been given to me by friends and about once a year I buy something. I love the paintings my sister has given me (particularly her low-tech special effect mermaid for which I was the hand model many years ago), and I have a drawing that Amy Jean Porter sent me after I confessed that my deepest wish was to have one of the petite lap giraffes that are featured in the DirectTV ads.

Amy Jean Porter's drawing of George Clooney with tiny giraffe.

Art shows or cultural happenings you’re looking forward to in the coming months?

I’ve had a very culturally rich January already—Ann Hamilton at the Armory, Faking It: Manipulated Photograpy Before Photoshop at the Met, and Beatrix Potter’s illustrated letters at the Morgan Library. I feel so lucky to live in New York! I’m looking forward to going to see “Locations” at Adam Baumgold Gallery and Out of Hand at the Museum of Arts and Design. MAD has had some of my favorite shows over the years—particularly Slash—Paper Under the Knife.

You’ve worked with a number of other artists on collaborative projects, from Amy Jean Porter for Of Lamb to Justin Bennett for Stillspotting. Who would be your dream artistic collaborator?

There are so many! Alive: Amy Cutler, Rebecca Horn, Sophie Blackall, Tom Friedman. Dead: Paul Klee, Donald Evans, Saul Steinberg, Joseph Cornell.

You’ve been incorporating your silhouette art into your poetry lately. How does that work?

My next book of poems, If the Tabloids are True, What are You? is a mixture of text and image. The images take the form of photographs, silhouette cutouts and embroidered handkerchiefs. The silhouettes I’ve been working on lately are mermaids who have tools for tails—a Swiss Mermy Knife, a pow-mer cord, etc.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught.”

—French proverb

Paul Loya lives in Los Angeles and is currently Director at Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica. He is opening Paul Loya Gallery in LA in September 2013.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I grew up drawing from comics and political cartoons in the newspaper. My mother always encouraged me to stay with art, even when I wanted to stray and become a cop after I graduated high school (long story). In 2001 I  saw Jasper Johns to Jeff Koons: Four Decades of Art from the Broad Collections at LACMA. At that point in my life I saw only two directions for me in a career in art: make art or teach art. It wasn’t until I walked into a small room surrounded by Basquiats, seeing his work in person for the first time, that I realized I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I began putting together shows of my friends’ artwork and fell in love with curating and the dream of opening up my own gallery someday.

Fast forward a few years and now your gallery is scheduled to open in September. What’s the first show?

It’s a group exhibition that will include all the artists that will be working with at the gallery, such as Tom Fruin, Erik Foss, Brendan Donnelly, William Binnie, and Russell Nachman.

Tell us about the show you are planning with Erik Foss.

One of the primary concepts of Paul Loya Gallery is to let the artist have total control of the gallery space. We are leaning towards doing a complete overview of his work in mid-to-late October. Erik has such a large body of work and to finally see all those concepts and ideas all in a gallery will be spectacular.

What were some art highlights of 2012 for you?

Barry McGee at The Berkeley Art Museum, Rinus Van de Velde at Patrick Painter Gallery, Banks Violette at Blum & Poe, Jen Stark at Martha Otero, and Tom Fruin’s “WATERTOWER” in DUMBO.

Tom Fruin's "Watertower" in DUMBO, Brooklyn

What shows are you looking forward to in 2013?

Mario Ybarra Jr. and Kaz Oshiro’s solo shows at Honor Fraser in Los Angeles, Tom Fruin’s sculpture installation in Sweden and James Turrell’s retrospective at LACMA.

An art book everyone should read?

My Name Is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic. Quick, witty, and a great traveling read.

Caitlin Rider is PR Manager at Taschen and has previously worked with brands such as Acne, Creatures of Comfort, and Rodarte.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I became interested in my late teens, somewhere between Sophie Calle’s autobiographical tie and Alex Bag’s “Untitled” series that follows a fictional college student’s existential journey through SVA. Until then, I had always been more interested in traditional fiction writing, but I was drawn to how character and humor could be evoked through new mediums using text. I ended up studying video art at Hampshire Colllege and adapting my writing to the medium.

Do you live with any art at home?

I am lucky to have friends who make incredible art that I can barter in exchange for home-cooked dinners and jokes. I have a beautiful print by Andrea Longacre-White from her “Prints of Prints” series, as well as a couple of limited edition books made by my friend Isabel Asha Penzlien from her travels through Russia. I also live with a floor to ceiling outline of AA Bronson from my boyfriend Peter Coffin’s “Auric Outline” series, which makes me smile.

Andrea Longacre-White piece from Caitlin's collection

It must be amazing to work at Taschen. What’s your all-time favorite Taschen book?

It would be too hard to choose a favorite. I’ve gone through so many stages of my life with TASCHEN, from hoarding their Basic Art series titles as a teenager to coveting the first substantial art books I bought from them, such as Helmut Newton Work. We have a couple of books coming out in the Spring that I’m particularly excited for: Wolfgang Tillmans has made an Art Edition of the newly released Neue Welt in a wonderful new format with loose sheets, rather than a bound book, featuring a curated selection of photographs from his travels around the world. We also have a monumental new book with the photographer Sebastiao Salgado titled Genesis. He traveled to places untainted by modern civilization and photographed the people and landscape.

An exhibit you’re looking forward to in the coming months?

Abstract Generation at MoMA and James Turrell at the Guggenheim.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art. ” Susan Sontag

“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Bob Ross

Max Schumann is Associate Director of Printed Matter, Inc. where he has been working for the past 22 years. He is also a working artist and has exhibited his art internationally.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I was raised in an artist household so I’ve been around art all of my life, but I began to take a keen interest in contemporary art in college at Oberlin in the early eighties. The late Bill Olander was curator of Modern Art there, and brought in a great roster of visiting artists’ from the “Pictures” generation: Barbara Kruger, Robert Longo, Cindy Sherman, and others. I was into political media critique. It stuck, I still am.

Printed Matter was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. How bad was it, and what’s the status now?

Our basement was flooded and we lost most of what was stored down there: 9,000 books comprised of approximately 220 titles with a retail value of over $200,000! Our archive (mostly documents, ephemera, and photo’s representing Printed Matter’s 36 year history) was almost completely submerged in water and soaked. We managed to get what we hope are the 25 most important boxes of that  to a vacuum freeze dry facility, which we are told should salvage most of it, but it’s a very expense restoration process. We were able to open a portion of the store up by the end of the first day that the power came back on – the rest of the store was set up as a conservation staging area for material we weren’t able to get to the freeze drying place. Now we are fully open, playing catch-up with all the additional work the storm has caused, as well as undertaking major fundraising to make up for the losses.

What’s the best way for people to support Printed Matter as you rebuild?
We are gratefully accepting donations, and we also are planning a benefit art auction in the spring. We’ll post more info on that on our website as soon as we have it. But also we are encouraging everyone to do at least a portion of their holiday shopping here at PM, either in store or online.

Printed Matter is doing its first-ever Los Angeles Art Book Fair in February. How did that come about?

Because of the enthusiasm for the annual NY Art Book Fair, which Printed Matter founded and directs, we will be premiering the LA Art Book Fair this February 1 through 3 at LA MoCA. The fair is being curated and directed by AA Bronson, and will featuresome 200 exhibitors from 20 countries, with a focus on the Pacific region. We are super excited about this new venue – it really should be amazing!

An art book everyone should read?
GAAG – Guerrilla Art Action Group which Printed Matter just reprinted. It’s pre-Occupy activist Art from the Vietnam War era. Very instructive!

Artist quote or words to live by?
“AFLOAT AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES” and “LEARN TO READ ART”, both by Lawrence Weiner.

Portrait by Jeremiah Mandel

Lenard Smith is a photographer living and working in New York. We’re Still Here, a collection of photographs from the last 10 years as well as his most recent book, Portraits, have been published by And Press.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

In 1990 I was living in San Diego and I visited the San Diego Museum of Photographic Art to view the retrospective of Duane Michals. His work fascinated me. The work was very well-executed black and white photography combining performance, portraits, and still-life arrangements, and many of his works relied on the sequence as a language. A favorite would be his Grandpa Goes to Heaven sequence. He also combined thought-provoking hand written text with the photographs,  writing in the borders of the prints.

As an artist, who are you looking to for inspiration these days?

Peter Demos, Thomas Ruff, Christian Patterson, and Lance de los Reyes.

Do you live with any art at home?

I have a Roger Ballen photograph, Boarding House, that I love. I also own a Bernd and Hilla Becher print of a Blast Furnace and a poster from Shepard Fairey, among other things. I got the poster from Shepard during his time living and working in San Diego. We share several mutual friends. Many talented people come from there. I’ll stop now before I get homesick.

Roger Ballen, "Boarding House"

An art book everyone should read?

Thomas Weski & Heinz Liesbrock’s How You Look At It and Rebecca Solnit’s Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics.

Any shows you’re looking forward to in the coming months?

I’m excited to see Thomas Joshua-Cooper: Messages at Haunch of Venison this coming February and Nick Van Woert at L&M Arts in Los Angeles.

Kristen Coates is the curator and co-owner of Coates Wyllie, a new gallery on 29th Street she opened amidst designing and renovating a houseboat and continuing her creative fashion collections, including a line of painted tepees.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

My mother had shelves of art and design books in our library growing up. Years later I realized they were all stolen library books. It was the first time I really understood that emotional attachment that one comes to have with art, that thing that drives an otherwise perfect citizen to steal from their college library. My mother would die if she read this.

Congratulations on your opening! Tell us about Coates Wyllie.

We opened our gallery in September. Chris Wyllie and I had worked on a project together earlier in the year designing and renovating Belafonte, an old houseboat turned bed-and-breakfast in Newport, RI. As the summer was coming to an end, we thought, “What’s next?” One night we were walking to the Ace Hotel after discussing the idea of opening a gallery and saw a “for lease” sign on a storefront next door. Within a week we signed the lease. In December Grey Area will host their Christmas show Ornamental at Coates Wyllie. Our next show in January, Character Saturation, is a collection of pieces filled with color from several artists including America Martin and Mark Reigelman. And because we were fortunate not to be affected by Hurricane Sandy, a portion of the proceeds from all our shows through the end of 2013 will be donated to The Mayor’s Fund to support hurricane relief in NYC.

Do you live with any art at home?

I tend to hang the work of artists I know, some of which I am fortunate enough to have received as gifts. Chris is very generous with his art. On more than one occasion I have come home to my entire apartment rearranged with a new painting of his as the focal point. One of my favorites, Girl with Flowers, now sits in the drawing room of our home in Newport, RI.

Chris Wyllie, "Girl with Flowers"

An art book everyone should read?

I don’t think Purple Fashion Magazine is considered a book, but for all the work they do it should be a big voluminous book. Anything that can make me book a trip to Paris by the end of it should get some recognition as good reading material.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson

A show you’re looking forward to in the coming months?

I do not know too much about the Italian sculptor Fabio Viale, but I love Sperone Westwater and their place on Bowery. It’s wonderful when they install large work. With all that said, my roots are in fashion and I am really looking forward to seeing where Alexander Wang takes Balenciaga.

Omar Lopez-Chahoud is Artistic Director of the UNTITLED. Art Fair, which runs December 5-9 in Miami, Florida.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?
As a young kid visiting Museums with my mother.

Do you live with any art at home?
Many, many works. One of my favorites is a piece by Hackworth Ashley in the living room of my NYC apartment. It’s named “Enter the Mirror” after a song by Les Razilles Denudes, a Japanese band from the sixties and seventies.

Hackworth Ashley, "Enter the Mirror"

This is UNTITLED.’s first year in Miami. How does it differ from the other fairs?
A strong curatorial premise based on conversations with artists and galleries.

What are you most looking forward to seeing and doing in Miami?
Staring at the ocean.

Let’s be honest. We want to know which parties you’re excited about.
Of course the Untitled. Monday night preview and the Untitled. Tuesday night preview with performances by Los Jaichackers and Irvin Morazan. The Los Carpinteros party and Artadia/Sotheby’s party, among other private dinners and parties at collectors’ homes.

An art book everyone should read?
Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters by John Waters.

Artist quote or words to live by?
“I don’t believe in Art. I believe in artists.” − Marcel Duchamp

Tyler Healy is an artist living and working in New York.

Who are some artists that inspire you?

I’ve been very interested in Martin Kippenberger, Urs Ficher, John Baldessari, and Arturo Herrera.

You’re into surfing. In skateboarding there have been dudes who crossed over into fine art like Mark Gonzales and Ed Templeton, but less so in surfing it seems. Is there a pro surfer who makes cool art we should know about?

I’m not sure about pro surfers who make art, but there are pro surfers who have turned to shaping their own boards like Ryan Burch, Ellis Ericson, Alex Knost; even Dane Reynolds is experimenting. These guys rip, but are also incredibly talented with their hands in sculpting/shaping their own boards. Then there is Thomas Campbell, who isn’t a pro surfer but makes surf films and art, or even Barry McGee or Richard Phillips, who both surf but are probably known for their art career before their surfing.

Tell us about the show you just curated.

The Savage Detectives was a group show featuring Jack Greer, Dean Levin, Sandy Kim, Evan Robarts, Peter Sutherland, and myself at RH Gallery. It was a killer group of people that I was honored to work with.

The Savage Detectives show at RH Gallery (September 18-October 25, 2012)

Seen any good shows lately?

I loved the Al Taylor show at David Zwirner, the Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe show at Marlborough Chelsea and the New Photography 2012 show at MoMA.

A great art biography or art-related book people should read?

Air Guitar by Dave Hickey. The book is full of great quotes on everything from jazz and rock-and-roll to basketball. This is a great one about criticism: “People despise critics because people despise weakness, and criticism is the weakest thing you can do in writing. It is the written equivalent of air guitar—flurries of silent, sympathetic gestures with nothing at their heart but the memory of the music.”

Stina Puotinen is a museum educator, occasional curator, and Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of CHERYL, a four-member, semi-anonymous, often cat-masked artist collective based in Brooklyn.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

When I was studying art history in college at Vassar I was terrified of Molly Nesbit. I found her completely intimidating and amazing from afar. It took me a few years to take her class on Modernism but once I did that was the end for me, I was hooked. Then working in museums, teaching from contemporary art, and working with artists, keeps it all interesting and fresh for me.

Do you live with any art at home?

Scott Hug print, ready to be framed.

Yes, everywhere! I live with some amazing artists and writers right now so I’m lucky to be surrounded by their work and the work of friends. I’m a major collector (some might even say hoarder) of most things, from belts and shoes to cat statuettes, so art is definitely something I’m actively collecting constantly.

Most recently I bought a Scott Hug print following his show at Rawson Projects, which I have yet to find a good frame for so it’s safe in its original wrapping for now until I do. I picked up a few prints at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival this past weekend, which are also in line for frames.

Which CHERYL event has been your favorite so far?

CHERYL. Photo via Time Out NY

I feel like with most CHERYL events recently, afterwards I’m like, “Definitely top 10!” It’s like choosing between children. In the US, our most recent event CHERYLWEEN V: CHRISTMAS was definitely my favorite of this past year. I felt really great about our video after having worked on it in seclusion for a full month during a glorious residency in Salina, Kansas at the Salina Art Center, and working with the amazing AVAN LAVA for a live set during the event. It just made for an incredibly high energy and crazy event.

What’s next for CHERYL now that you’re back from your residency in Kansas?

We’re planning a New Year’s event for NYC, and a few trips for 2013, back to the UK in January and San Francisco in late February to do a special opening at the Asian Art Museum. And of course more videos for all of the above.

Artists quote or words to live by? Or song to dance by?

The CHERYL motto is “Do whatever you want” so that applies to art making in general I think. As for song to dance to, too many to count. I’ve been listening to the most recent Matthew Dear album Beams almost on loop, but there’s nothing like Robin S. “Show Me Love” or Sonique “It Feels Good” to get people moving.

Tamara Sager is the Development Assistant at Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

I can’t remember ever having an “ah-ha” moment. I’ve always been an introverted and visual person. As a child, I spent time living between Switzerland and New York and then more recently moving to Israel and Hungary for a few years, which has been a major influence in my relationship to art. Seeing a lot of contemporary art, especially from different cultures, definitely informs my understanding.

What happened to The Swiss Institute benefit honoring Thomas Hirshhorn?

Swiss Institute lost power during Sandy, which is why we were forced to cancel the Benefit Dinner and Auction. SI had minor clear water flooding in the basement, which did not subside for several days. No artworks were damaged through the flooding, as we were able to prepare for the hurricane in advance due to the weather warnings. We will now be holding a live and silent auction with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on Friday, November 30, 2012, from 6-10PM.

Tell us about some artwork you live with.

I have some pieces from my days in art school, which I’ve gathered or taken out of the trash. In my head (and listed on my phone), I have a clear image of the pieces I would love to live with someday. They range from David Smith to Shirin Neshat.

An upcoming show you are excited to see?

William Lamson, Solarium, 2012, at Storm King Art Center. Image courtesy Storm King.

I am looking forward to going to Storm King Art Center again before this year’s season ends on November 25. I went this summer for the first time and was in complete awe of this place. I’ve become a bit obsessed with it, pushing everyone I know to visit. Everything about Storm King, especially the current exhibition Light and Landscape , seems like something out of a dream. It’s the ideal place for art to live. I’m also looking forward to seeing AB-EX / RE-CON: Abstract Expressionism Reconsidered at the Nassau County Museum of Art, which opens in March.

An art book everyone should read?

Ways of Seeing by John Berger. It’s fascinating the way Berger theorizes how we process an image.

Photo Credit Shane McCauley

I am the host/publisher/editor of OUR SHOW with Elliot Aronow and I do a weekly men’s style column for Playboy.com called “Self Styled with Elliot Aronow.”

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

When I first moved to the city I used to go this mod/rock party called SHOUT! at Bar 13. It happened every Sunday night for many years, at least 8, which is an eternity in nightlife time. It attracted a lot of cool downtown people and since it took place on a school night that meant you had a great mix of the committed, the weird and the curious all partying together. Anyways, I became friendly with one of the DJs, Steve Pestana and we got into talking about Situationism and all the other shit you talk about when you are a bratty punk rocker who wants to impress arty girls at parties. Those early talks led to me getting into stuff like Richard Prince and I sorta just dove in from there, buying books on Amazon and then later, going nuts on Wikipedia just to get the foundations down. Been digging around ever since! I try to hit a few shows a month now just to see what’s cooking.

Do you live with any art at home?

I do and it’s been a wonderful experience for me. Most of the pieces I have are from folks I know from the music scene. I know being a musician can sometimes be viewed as a bad thing in the art world but I think these guys are good, very good! My first piece was a photo from Ruvan, who shot the cover to the last LCD Soundsystem record, “This Is Happening”. It was a taken at DFA party in 2005 or so. I remember going to that party because I got fired from my job a week before and it was my first night out since. I took some MDMA and remember James Murphy playing “Tomorrow Never Knows” and thinking it was gonna all be ok. I also have two photos from Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and three collages from Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice. Most recently, I bought a painting from my good friend Adam Green. It’s of a shark and Garfield faces and a house and this Dr. Seuss style fish. I love Adam’s stuff.

What do you make of David Bowie having a big art show in London soon?

He’s been dope for longer than I have been alive so I am sure it will be pretty sweet.

If you could have any artist on OUR SHOW who would it be?

I think Velazquez would be a hoot. He didn’t seem bogged down by that tortured artist stuff, even though I bet his boss was a real ball breaker sometimes. Any dude who puts himself in his own paintings must have a healthy ego—which is great for guests on a chat show.

Artist quote or words to live by?

“Don’t care what you may say/we got that attitude/don’t care what you may do/we got that attitude. Hey/we got that PMA! Hey/we got that PMA!” – Bad Brains

Since April 2011, Erin Goldberger has been the Director at Half Gallery in New York City. She has also curated solo and group shows in the Lower East Side and Harlem. Goldberger is an active photographer as well, shooting for Dia Art Foundation, amongst others.

How did you get interested in contemporary art?

Art was always around and important when I was growing up. My parents had a good amount of art around the house, mostly from friends, and were always proactive in seeing the new shows that came to New York museums. My mother and I would draw exquisite corpses together or go to the Met. My dad would always have some daily bit of trivia about Edward Hopper or Frank Capra.  However, my relationship with art definitely leaned more on the academic and historical side, rather than what was being made today. In college I became more interested in what was happening now rather than looking into the past for answers.  I think my entrance into the contemporary art world was first through photography and then it quickly expanded. I was spending a lot of time in the darkroom then and working at a photography gallery, and I had the chance to see the work of a lot of great living photographers from all over the world.

Do you live with any artwork? Tell us about some pieces.

I have a beautiful piece by Jay Miriam, who we just showed at Half Gallery, titled, “Isadora Duncan’s Shadow.” I danced for many years and Isadora Duncan was always a huge obsession of mine. I have a a small but powerful Eddie Martinez drawing. Eddie lets people walk on his drawings in his studio, which I find to be pretty daring. I also have a great Exhibition A piece of William Eadon’s that just makes me laugh every time I look at it. I was given original Woodstock tickets framed as a gift – not sure if it is considered ‘art’ but it feels good to have ‘em!

Who is an emerging artist people should be watching out for?

Julius Popp. If you haven’t seen “Bitfall” I suggest going to youtube quickly.

An upcoming exhibition that you are excited to see?

I’m going to Berlin this week and I’m excited to see the Lawrence Weiner exhibition at BlainSouthern as well as a few other smaller shows there. In New York I am stoked on the Richard Artschwager show at the Whitney, George Bellows at the Met and Cy Twombly at Gagosian. As for Half Gallery I am very much looking forward to our group show in January where artists like Sam Falls, Wes Lang and Huma Bhabha have taken Warhol Art Cash from 1971 and transformed it into their own works.

An artist book everyone should check out?

Joel Meyerowitz’s Wild Flowers, Jim Dine’s Old Me Now, Ed Templeton’s Deformer, David Armstrong’s Night and Day, Henry Horenstein’s Honky Tonk. Untitled. Makes ya think.

Erin's bookshelf

Artists quote or words to live by?

Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail – Jean Cocteau

Since May 2007, Brett Littman has been the Executive Director of The Drawing Center, based in New York. Littman is also an active art, craft, architecture and design critic, is a member of AICA/USA (International Art Critic Association) and has written numerous catalog essays and articles for a wide variety of international publications and museums.

How did you first get interested in contemporary art?

Growing up in New York, my father was a photographer and even named me after Brett Weston – Edward Weston’s son.  So as a kid, I looked at a lot of art and photo books and also went to a lot of art openings. My first experiences with contemporary art where when I was in high school at Stuyvesant in NY.  I remember going out to PS 1 in Long Island City in 1982 and being pretty impressed with the old school building and the installations. I also remember going to galleries in the East Village and going to see a show at The Drawing Center in 1983 when it used to be on Greene Street. I sometime ran the elevator for my friend’s parents Outsider Art gallery in their apartment in Soho and ended up meeting Howard Finster and other of the artists that they represented and that was formative as well.

Aren’t you in some famous photo book from when you were a kid?

Yes, I am in this catalog called Redheads by Joel Meyerowitz. I was on a bike tour in Provincetown in Cape Cod. I had done some modeling and commercials and films at the time and ran into a girl I knew in Ptown who was a model and had been photographed by Joel for this book.  She suggested that I call him which I did. The rule was that he would take one picture and if it worked you were in the book and if it didn’t work, you weren’t. Fortunately, my picture was included in the book and now I am immortalized as a redhead – which is good as my hair has since changed color.

Tell us about The Drawing Center re-opening.

The Drawing Center’s re-opening on November 3^rd is coming after about a year and a half of expansion and renovation. It is a little over a $10 million project. The idea for the Drawing Center’s renovation is driven by our mission and what artists want. It goes a little against the dominant paradigm of other museum projects which are about expansion for expansion’s sake. Obviously, The Drawing Center has a long history in terms of capital projects – first we were chosen to be the visual arts organization at the World Trade Center in 2005 and then later we engaged in thinking about moving to South Street Seaport. When I became director in 2007, we were still planning on going to the Seaport area and were slated to build a 30,000 square foot stand alone building.  My board decided not to pursue the Seaport location in February 2008 and in some ways that was as very prescient decision given the financial crash in September 2008.  In the end the board and I felt that being in SoHo is was important, staying human scale was essential, and that we were an institution that was more interested in the quality of the experience of looking at art over the quantity of visitors in the building. Working with WXY Project, our architects, this project is very much about intelligent spaces, efficiency, infrastructure and the right kind of architecture for the right kind of institution.

For the opening I have curated an exhibition of the Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca’s Diarios, a series of table tops that he has affixed unfinished canvas to and drawn on for periods of three to six months.  My curator, Claire Gilman, is doing a show with the incredible Colombian draftsman, José Antonio Suárez Londoño, who for about 30 years has been making drawings daily about books that he has read in his “Yearbooks” (sketchbooks). In the new Lab Gallery we are exhibiting In Deed: Certificates of Authenticity in Art, which explores the types of legal documents that you get when you buy a conceptual artwork.

A fall exhibition you are excited to see?

I am looking forward to going to LA to see the Ken Price show at LACMA. We are also working on a Ken Price drawing show that will open in the summer of 2013 concurrently with the LACMA exhibition when it comes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think Price’s work is definitely some of the most interesting sculptural work that I have ever seen and I am really excited to see the Frank Gehry designed installation. A little closer to home I am want to see the Wade Guyton and Richard Artschwager shows at the Whitney – what a great combination of exhibitions.

An art book everyone should read?

One book that I continue to go back to again and again is a book by Lawrence Alloway called Networks. Lawrence was a critic for the SoHo News and Art News, a kind of old lefty married to the painter Sylvia Sleigh. Networks basically ended his career as a critic. His very clear and penetrating analysis about the inter-relationships in the art world between boards, museums, galleries, collectors and art magazines was totally radical. I am surely not naïve about the relationship between the non-profit world and for profit world but I think that this is a book that exposes these relationships in a way that totally denuded what is normally an opaque system.  It is out of print unfortunately but I totally recommend trying to find it as feels much more current today than when it was published in 1972.