Episode 18 - Alain Servais

In this episode, we are speaking with Jon Gray, one of the cofounders of the Bronx based collective Ghetto Gastro. Founded in 2012, Ghetto Gastro is a cooking advocacy collective that ignites conversations about race, class, and inclusion via the medium of food. The collective is committed to feeding, inspiring, and growing young entrepreneurs in the Bronx.

In this episode, we are speaking with Dan Sallick. Dan is a founding partner of Subject Matter, a creative advocacy firm based in Washington, D.C. He is the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In this episode, we are speaking with Erling Kagge. Based in Oslo, Norway, Erling is a lawyer, publisher, writer, and explorer and has been an art collector for over 30 years. He is the first person to ever surmount the Three Poles; the North Pole, the South Pole, and the Summit of Mount Everest. His collection champions young emerging artists, focusing on individuals who are just starting out. In 2015, he published, “A Poor Collector’s Guide to Buying Great Art” to show how limitations can make for very interesting collections. His most recent publications are Silence: In the Age of Noise and Walking.

In the nineteenth episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Leo Shih. Leo's collection originates in the 1990s and ranges from first-generation Chinese oil painters to contemporary work, with a focus on Chinese and Taiwanese artists.

In the eighteenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Alain Servais. Based in Belgium The Servais Family Collection features several hundred works from international artists working in a variety of mediums with one notable distinction, there are no paintings. The collection is housed in a converted factory in Belgium, called the Loft.

In the seventeenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Tiqui Atencio. Based in London, New York, and Monaco, Tiqui is a passionate collector in pre-Columbian, Latin American and Contemporary Art. She founded and chairs the Tate’s Latin American Acquisitions Committee and is chairwoman of the Guggenheim Museum’s International Director’s Council. Her collection of mostly contemporary art includes over 500 works ranging from painting, photography, film and sculpture. In her recent book, “Could Have, Would Have, Should Have” she interviewed many of the world’s top collectors, but today we are here to discuss her collection.

In the sixteenth episode of Collect Wisely, we are speaking with Robert Tsao, one of the world’s leading collectors of Chinese art and antiquities, his collection ranges from Neolithic jades and porcelain to contemporary art. Tsao sits on the board of trustees of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum Foundation and has an extraordinary collection in the heart of Taipei, which is where the podcast was recorded.  

For the one year anniversary of Collect Wisely and our fifteenth episode we are speaking with Gary Yeh. Gary discovered his passion for art whilst in high school and pursued it throughout college. While studying at Duke University, he served as a co-chair of the student advisory board at the Nasher Museum of Art and launched a virtual art gallery. Gary is the founder of ArtDrunk, an art media company he launched on Instagram that aims to break down barriers to connect a new generation of art enthusiasts.

While in Taiwan for the Taipei Dangdai art fair we spoke with renowned collector and philanthropist Budi Tek, who has dedicated his collection of contemporary art to the rest of the world. Budi began collecting in 2004 and went on to build the Yuz Collection, which consists of contemporary art from the East and West, with a significant focus on Chinese contemporary art from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. In 2014, Budi founded the Yuz Museum in Shanghai under the umbrella of the Yuz Foundation. The museum has staged ambitious exhibitions of international Contemporary artists including Yang Fudong, Huang Yuxing, Liu Shiyuan, Random International, Andy Warhol, and Alberto Giacometti. This past year Budi announced a partnership between the Yuz Museum and LACMA, furthering his aim to expand international contemporary art through the exchange of ideas, collections, sponsorships, and academic projects.

In the 13th episode of Collect Wisely we are speaking with Pamela Joyner. Based in San Francisco, Pamela and her husband Fred Giuffrida’s collection consists of over 400 works, with a primary focus on abstract works by artists of the African diaspora from the 1940’s onward.  The collection is widely recognized as one of the most significant collections of modern and contemporary art by African American artists. In September 2017, Pamela and Fred published a scholarly catalogue of the collection titled, “Four Generations: The Joyner Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art.” Following the publication, select works from the exhibition have been included in an extensive exhibition, which opened at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, in New Orleans and has toured to several US museums.