Belgian Collector at Art Basel/Miami
WHITEWALL: We are interested in hearing not only from the galleries, advisors, etc., but also wanted to get a chance to speak with some of the collectors at the fair. Maybe you could begin by just describing your collection?
ALAIN SERVAIS: Since we have to keep it short…I could talk about it for days…
WW: If you could just give me a summary of your collection to begin with…
AS: First of all, collecting is not about gathering a bunch of objects. Collecting is a kind of creation that is also a reflection of what you are, and maybe what you want to be. And also, it’s about something you want to say. What I mean by this is that art collecting is much more than a pastime, it is a way of living. And I love an expression that I heard Mera Rubell say, that art is a language that is opening your heart to other people’s language. And that’s really the point. I am going to things that are not my language, and opening myself to these new languages is very exciting. So, let’s talk about the works. I have about three hundred, or over three hundred works. And if a collection is always a reflection of its collector? So what is mine then? Mine is very diverse. Like me. Sorry to talk about me, but I must…And my collection goes in different directions. I have a lot of work about words. I love words in the arts, like Barbara Kruger. I am always interested by the power of the media. Barbara Kruger is always talking about the media. My collection is very international. I get to travel a lot. So when people come over they always say that it is very, very eclectic. There are good artists from Korea, Brazil, Western Europe, America… It is a very diverse collection.
WW: When and how did you start collecting?
AS: I started collecting about ten years ago. I always loved art, and I had been visiting museums for a long time. Then time and luck made me able to me more active.
WW: When you come to an art fair, do you do most of your buying here, or are you coming here to see everything and buy at another time?
AS: I am doing most of my buying in museums. What I mean by this is that most of my discoveries are in museums, retrospectives, or curated shows. This is what the Rubells are doing. They are showing me the way. I am not a one-hundred percent first buyer like the Rubells.
WW: Then you are not going for that very early, emerging artist?
AS: I am not able to. I do not have the capacity. Once I see the gathering then I begin to see the quality, but maybe not at first. I am going to a lot of museums. Let me give you an example. I look at the placard, and when you see that the work is lent by a gallery, then it is for sale. So I fell in love with a work at the Metropolitan Museum about seven years ago. And it was owned by Timothy Baum. And I knew Timothy Baum, so I called him. When they took down that show at the Met, the work went to my collection. I would say that about eighty percent of what I buy I discover at the museum. And when I say this, I am not buying a work, I am buying an artist. A retrospective is something very important for me.
WW: So you can really see what the artist's message is?
AS: Yes, and so that I can see the relevance of that work, and their ability to transmit that message. I was saying this morning to Marty [Margulies] that in their current exhibition they brought back all the best names that they have. Serra, Oldenberg, all the big names. It is incredible work. And people were asking why they would do this. There is an enormous danger of being inexperienced, and falling for the easiest thing, for something that you like, or maybe something to furnish your living room. For me the definition of a collection is when you are buying after your walls are already full. Then you get to think “Why am I doing it? And where am I going?” What I ask myself is if these guys are up to someone like Serra. Are they going to be looked at in thirty years time? And when you look around the fair, and say “Will this be around in thirty years?” With most of this you say “No way!” Most of what we see here is very familiar, and is very low quality. What Marty was saying is that most of the young artists do not have this staying quality. And this has been one of the weaknesses of the contemporary art market. Everybody wanted it, and they did not know enough about the work. One of my gurus said that a work of art should disturb you. And if it doesn’t, forget it. When you go to the museum and you are looking at say, an Impressionist work, then this is very comfortable. But when it was contemporary it was shocking. And 'beauty' is a catch word I like using. When you start collecting you get rid of beauty. Beauty – you can write a five page essay about it in primary school. But beauty is an acquired thing, because all your background, all the things you are comfortable with, they have already happened. And the great art of today is not comfortable. If art is a language, and you are opening yourself up to others, then you say why are they doing this?
WW: Do you think the current situation in the market will actually have a positive impact on contemporary art? Since you were saying that there is this problem of quality with contemporary art...
AS: First of all people have to make a living, so I cannot say it’s a good thing because some people will be broken by this. But more generally, in time they may say that luckily this happened, because it will be a very good thing for the art.
