A month or so ago we spoke with Anna Di Stasi about her Curated Art Travel Program, Pinacoteca. After talking with Di Stasi we realized there are a lot of us out there who need a bit of help making our art related travel, especially to hectic fairs and biennials, more enjoyable and worthwhile. So we've brought on Anna Di Stasi as Whitewall's Art Travel Expert. Let's get to know her better, shall we?
WHITEWALL: You're an art advisor who has been a specialist at Christie's. In your experience at an auction house and in your practice as an advisor, is there a common misunderstanding collector's have about auction houses and/or the contemporary art world that you have noticed?
ANNA DI STASI: Emerging collectors often have two common misunderstandings about auction houses and/or the contemporary art world. The first one has to do with price point, the second one, with access. While the art market has been largely demystified in the last decade, the perception remains that auction houses are the exclusive domains of the very wealthy, accessible to connoisseurs who buy only multi-million dollar artworks; when in reality, price points often start at $200. This is particularly true at Christie’s Interiors Sales where reasonably priced property ranging from 18th century British furniture to prints by Andy Warhol are regularly offered. The selection is diverse and the entry price point quite accessible. Besides, it is definitely more exciting to bid on your dining table than to purchase it at your local furniture store!
The second misunderstanding lays in the perception that access to auction houses--and the contemporary art world at large--is restricted to the cognoscenti. While much has been written about capricious “waiting lists” and the lack of transparency in private transactions--barriers that are certainly discouraging for new collectors--most gallery directors and auction house specialists take great pride in introducing the work of artists they admire to the public. At auction houses specialists welcome the public to their pre-auction viewings and are eager to introduce themselves and their services to a young generation of future collectors. Similarly, art dealers, who are the link between artists and the public, truly enjoy sharing their knowledge and experience with prospective and established clients. Gallerists have a genuine passion for the work they represent as well as a responsibility to the artist. For all the fanfare of the boom years, the contemporary art world remains much more welcoming than one might think and very willing to adopt anyone with a genuine interest in it.
WW: How has art focused travel changed over the past decade? Was the contemporary art market boom driving it all?
ADS: There has been a major cultural shift in the way we travel. Ten years ago, people sought out leisure and escapism, the high-end luxury of five or even six star hotels that was easily converted into “conversational currency”. Today, travelers place greater value on personalized experiences than on exclusivity and are much more interested in immersing themselves in journeys that offer an opportunity for personal development.
We have become a culturally driven society. To some extent, the proliferation of contemporary art fairs and biennials have certainly ignited much of the interest in cultural travel but it is by no means the only catalyst behind it. Unparalleled economic growth and the birth of new contemporary art hubs in emerging art markets such as: China, India, and Russia have greatly contributed to our current fascination with art travel.
WW: Fairs and biennials have become travel destinations for so many. But fairs and biennials can be so crowded and hectic. How would you recommend making these trips more enjoyable?
ADS: If you are visiting a major art fair for the first time such as Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel, the Armory Show, Frieze, or ARCO, I would highly recommend you enlist the assistance of an art advisor or an art travel consultant such as myself. Doing so guarantees that your visit will not be spent trying to grasp the vast selection on display, a challenging task if you count with no cohesive plan directed by your own aesthetic preferences and budget. It is simply overwhelming and discouraging to try to navigate hundreds of contemporary art galleries day after day in a sea of artworks that may be either inaccessible or frustratingly undecipherable. Personally, I feel it is a lost opportunity given the high quality of artworks on display from all over the world.
WW: The economy has also kept a lot of us away from international fairs and biennials this year. How do you think this will affect fairs like Art Basel Miami Beach and its many smaller satellite fairs, given that it is more of a destination event as compared to Frieze, FIAC, and the Armory?
ADS: It truly remains to be seen how the economy will affect upcoming art fairs. So far, results have varied. Recently, cautious expectations were met at Art Basel and were actually surpassed by some exhibiting galleries. Smaller fairs however, have struggled to find exhibitors and have delayed their deadlines hoping to attain the required number of participants. Nonetheless, dealers agree that galleries dealing in the secondary market have been able to adjust much better than those dependent on artists whose prices soared throughout the past decade. There is a trend toward curating booths as mini-retrospectives instead of group shows with little cohesiveness. Sadly, I believe some satellite fairs at Art Basel Miami Beach will disappear in a year or two, once their contracts expire, given their dependency on new collectors, prior speculation, and limited financial resources.
WW: What are the current trends and top destinations for cultural travel?
ADS: Revisiting classic destinations with burgeoning contemporary art scenes such as Rome and Berlin is very popular; in South America, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires offer great value; and one can find chic-luxury in Marrakech where I am heading next for the Pure Experiences Fair. Doha, Qatar, has become an arts hub of the Middle East with the opening of the Museum of Islamic Art designed by I.M. Pei. In Spain, Madrid has long supplanted Barcelona as its art capital offering quiet fashionable districts and design stores reminiscent of New York’s Soho in the early ‘80s.
Anna Di Stasi is the Founder and Principal of Pinacoteca, a boutique agency specializing in cultural experiences at the intersection of contemporary art, collecting, and lifestyle travel. Prior to creating Pinacoteca, Anna advised private and institutional collectors in the United States, Latin America, and Europe in the sale and acquisition of twentieth-century Latin American Art. A former Associate Specialist at Christie’s Latin American Paintings Department, she counts with ten years of experience appraising and evaluating artworks from early 20th century modernism to contemporary Latin American Art. Most recently, she has served as a Consultant for ArtNet.com and Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department. In addition to these roles, she is a Specialist for Contemporary Art and Latin American Art at the appraisal firm, Art Peritus.
Anna holds a Masters in the History of Art and Archeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and a second Masters with Honors in Modern Art, Connoisseurship and the History of the Art Market from Christie’s Education, New York. She graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Psychology and is an active member of The College Art Association, the iCI, and Christie’s Alumni Association.
