Curating Outside the Gallery Space
By KATHARINE HERRUP | March 27, 2007
Stepping into Blair Clarke's Park Avenue apartment is like entering a contemporary art gallery — one outfitted with a smattering of 18th-century European furniture. "I treat my home as a curatorial project," Ms. Clarke said. "Emerging artists' works are constantly rotating through here."
The Southern-bred Ms. Clarke is the owner of Voltz Clarke, a visual art business that specializes in finding new artists and bringing international artists to America. Why the traditional furniture? Ms. Clarke's British husband, Alistair Clarke, is Sotheby's senior vice president and worldwide head of English and European furniture.
Even so, the emerging artists dominate this residence. Among them is Korean artist Wonjung Choi, whose long 3-D installation of a school of thin, plastic fish creates shadows on the wall. "With a direct light source, it gives the installation an additional depth and shadow effect that makes it seem like the fish are swimming," Ms. Clarke said. "It makes the piece look quite romantic and magical."
Perhaps the most striking piece of work in the two-bedroom apartment — the guest bedroom is currently used as an art storage space — is the first residential installation done by another Korean artist, Sun Kwak. She chose a small area between bedrooms to create what looks like thinly painted black strips along the middle to lower portion of the walls. "She came in with a role of black masking tape and an Exacto knife. Tape and the knife are her tools," Ms. Clarke said. "What looks like paint brush strokes at a closer examination is actually black masking tape," Ms. Clarke said. "It's calming and peaceful standing in that hallway."
In the foyer hang three large (60 by 48 inches) colorful mixed media paintings on paper by Natasha Law, a London-based artist whose recent solo show in New York was curated by Ms. Clarke.
The work of another young Londoner, Lucy Soni, is in Ms. Clarke's study. Her oil on canvases, which usually contain just two complimentary colors, are inspired by Ms. Soni's daughter's scribbles. "She blows up the scribbles, renders them, and colors in the negative space," Ms. Clarke said.
Also in the study are Sasha Sykes's clear cubes, one filled with several dozen silk roses and the other filled with hay from the artist's farm in her native Ireland. The cubes can be used as a stand, a seat, or a table and can be easily moved around.
A colorful, dynamic oil painting by British artist Shane Bradford, "L.A. Automotive" (2002) — which is almost the size of the wall — hangs diagonally across from the Natasha Law pieces. Central to the painting is a 1956 Chevy floating among bright orange flames. "It definitely has that rock 'n'roll feel," Ms. Clarke said. "He takes such a simple, controlled figure of a car and he adds so much energy and emotion with this fire."
Many of the paintings, though, probably will not remain in Ms. Clarke's home. Instead, Ms. Clarke lets pieces "find a special home." Only about 30% to 40% of the art in the Clarkes' home is permanent.
Ms. Clarke does not own a gallery, which is why so many pieces come and go. "I don't think there needs to be another dealer in Chelsea," she said. Instead, her curatorial skills are currently on view at the flagship Salvatore Ferragamo store on Fifth Avenue. The exhibit, "Water," which continues through the first week of June, contains paintings, photographs, and installations of images depicting water. The first in a three-part series, the show features work culled from galleries including Bellwether and Gagosian.
Her handiwork is also currently at Citibabes, a club in SoHo that provides activities for children and parents. There, Ms. Clarke installed a collection of abstract work by Ann Sophie Staerk, a contemporary Danish artist. "I try to curate it with bright, colorful paintings — happy art that would appeal to children, although it is actually quite sophisticated," she said.
Next up for Ms. Clarke is the second exhibit at Ferragamo: "Abbondanza," the Italian word for "abundance," this fall during Fashion Week. "This is going to be a little more frenzied and neurotic, competitive, compulsive, obsessive," Ms. Clarke said. "You are going to walk out of that show feeling like you need to go meditate."
