Journeys
Talenia's background is in architecture and she started sourcing for art for interior design/architecture projects in London. Through this process, she discovered a big gap in the online space for Asian Contemporary Art, and created The Artling. The Artling is a curated online art gallery with a very specific focus on Asian Contemporary Art. It is part of their mission to promote artworks to a local and international audience.
Out of all the places you've been, what is your favourite city and why?
I've recently fallen in love with Los Angeles. The weather, the vibrant art/architecture scene and laid-back atmosphere made for a great trip. The traffic is horrendous but the pros still outweigh the cons for me!
Here are some of my highlights!
The Getty by Richard Meier - an amazing art collection and fantastic views over LA.
'Smoke' by Tony Smith at LACMA.
Artist studio visit - Pia Habekost's studio.
I also love to gallery hop especially to places like Ghebaly Gallery, pictured below
You are deeply rooted in the arts scene - can you tell us some of your favourite art destinations in Singapore that an art buff might appreciate on a trip here?
Gillman Barracks
Singapore Art Museum
National Museum of Singapore
Pictured above: Gillman Barracks (credit: SG Now), National Museum of Singapore (credit: World's Best Places)
What are some of your favourite art and design destinations around the world?
Hong Kong
Gagosian (Pedder Building)
Pearl Lam (Pedder Building)
Simon Lee (Pedder Building)
Lehman Maupin (Pedder Building)
White Cube
Perrotin
Pictured above: Gagosian (credit: Arrested Motion), White Cube (credit: Time Out Hong Kong), Perrotin (credit: Arrested Motion)
Los Angeles
LACMA
MOCA
Honor Fraser Gallery
Blum & Poe
Anat Ebgi
Cherry & Martin
The Mistake Room
Full Culver City Guide here (http://www.ccgalleryguide.com/)
Downtown Gallery Row (http://www.galleryrow.org/galleries/)
Pictured above: MOCA (credit: SFAQ), Anat Ebgi (credit: Culver City Art District)
London
1. The Getty
2. Tate Modern
New York City
MoMa
Paris
The Lourve
Pictured above: MoMa (credit: Hyper Allergic)
You've been to plenty of art fairs. What's the vibe like at each of the different fairs?
It's different for every fair depending on the city they are in, and the scale of the event - they are all unique in their own way. In the Philippines, they have a great boutique fair which features about 33 galleries and it's situated in a carpark! It's such a great vibe and you get a real sense of community amongst the galleries and artists.
In Hong Kong this March there were 2 main art fairs, Art Basel and Art Central - both were very different in terms of content and scale. Art Basel featured over 230 galleries and was within the Hong Kong Convention Centre. Art Central was much smaller featuring 75 galleries.
When art fairs are on, it tends to be one of the busiest times for the art calendar and galleries and museums tend to time their events and openings to coincide with the fair dates. It's thus the best time to go to a city to get a sense of the art scene. Regionally there are about 300 art fairs and one could spend their entire year traveling month-to-month from one fair to another.
What's your art fair strategy to cover as much as possible? Or how do you maximize your time when you are there?
Scheduling & Shoes! It's important to go through the art fair schedule beforehand in order to determine which events one wants to attend - the number of events going on at any one time is always overwhelming.
Tell us about some crazy art-related travel experiences! What are some amazing things you saw or did?
The craziest art trip I've done so far was to Texas, Marfa. It took over 30 hours to get there and it is literally in the middle of nowhere, tumble weeds and all (pictured below)! It is one of the most amazing places I've been to and it was a huge surprise that this tiny town of barely 2000 inhabitants has become such a major destination for Minimalist Art.
The Chinati Foundation houses a private collection of some of the most important Minimalist artists of our time i.e. Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, etc. One of the key works are housed in two massive artillery sheds and is by American artist Donald Judd; "100 untitled works in mill aluminum, 1982-1986", 100 unique works of the same size but in varying interior configurations. The best time to see the works are as the sun is rising at around 645am. You arrive and in pitch darkness and wait for the sun to rise amongst the sculptures; the sun strikes the aluminum surfaces and bounces off and within each unique sculpture, changing color as it gets progressively brighter. It was a surreal experience!
What are some of your top cities for their art scene? What do you like about them, or why are they relevant?
Hong Kong - Art Basel and Art Central - it's a very busy time in Hong Kong and there are many art events to attend.
Philippines - Art Fair Philippines - An amazing boutique fair in a carpark in the heart of Makati! Lots of amazing Filippino galleries showcasing local artists.
Indonesia - Artjog - A great way to get a sense of the Indonesian art scene and to keep up with the artists. Also a good opportunity to visit Borobudur!
LA - Down town LA is picking up and there are quite a number of really edgy galleries that have popped up.
The Culver City Art District is also a must-see - there are about 40 galleries all concentrated in one area and one can spend the entire day (or two) hopping in and out of the various spaces. Major gallery Blum & Poe is located there as well.
London - Frieze, Frieze Masters (both in Regent's Park) and Paris Art Design in Berkeley Square, all go on at the same time in October and are great quality fairs.
Frieze showcases some of the leading contemporary art galleries, mainly western, while Frieze Masters "offers a contemporary lens on historical art" and PAD is focused on design and collectibles.
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