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‘You don't have to be mega-rich or a collector to consume art’: Talenia Gajardo, founder of art consultancy The Artling

The founder of art consultancy and online art retailer The Artling on debunking the perception of art as elitist, and furnishing art in exciting new hotels such as Patina Maldives, Capella Sydney and Mondrian Singapore Duxton. 

‘You don't have to be mega-rich or a collector to consume art’: Talenia Gajardo, founder of art consultancy The Artling

Talenia Gajardo (left), founder of art consultancy and online art retailer The Artling and gallery director Kim Tay. (Photo: Lajos Varga)

Ten years ago, Talenia Gajardo would never have imagined that the simple desire to create an art e-commerce platform would lead her team to be responsible for sourcing and placing artwork by sought-after artists in the most hotly anticipated hotels. In Mondrian Singapore Duxton, Ian Davenport’s abstracted waterfall Deep Magenta, Mirrored spills a rainbow of colours onto the floor of the check-in area. In Patina Maldives, guests can immerse themselves in James Turrell’s Skyspace Amarta or may stumble across Momento – a concrete curve like an oversized piece of paper fallen on the sand – while cycling on the beach. Gajardo and her team also dressed Capella Sydney with over 1,400 pieces of artwork by mainly Australian artists, including a commissioned mural by Gumbaynggirr Bundjalung First Nations contemporary artist Otis Hope Carey.

Ian Davenport’s Deep Magenta, Mirrored, 2022 (Photo: Mondrian Singapore)

Aside from hotels, The Artling’s consultancy arm has curated art for private homes, the offices of co-work provider JustCo and The Great Room across the globe, the Google Asia-Pacific Headquarters and furnished the retail stores of LVMH with art, among others. It is also responsible for the many murals that adorn the shophouse walls in Singapore’s heritage district. 

“It’s taken us a long time to get here. Even if you asked us five years ago, we would not have imagined the scale of the projects we are undertaking,” said Kim Tay, The Artling’s gallery director who is with me and Gajardo at Christina’s – a restaurant in Mondrian Singapore Duxton where New York-based studio softlab’s Crystallized art installation hugs the ceiling, its faceted surfaces reflecting the daylight like jewels. Tay joined The Artling in its second year and has been key in setting its direction alongside Gajardo.

Art consultancy is not as glamorous and simplistic as it appears, highlighted Gajardo. Sure, there are the parties that accompany the art fairs but that is just “one percent” of what the team does. “It’s not just about placing paintings on the walls. We are literally on site all the time in hard hats with the architects and interior designers, figuring out loading, safety, thinking what art can be put into a space. There is a lot of brunt work, a lot of logistics, a lot of administrative work. There’s lots of beautiful stuff about it too obviously, but it’s by no means easy,” she shared. 

Rojak by Singaporean artist Andre Wee (Photo: Mondrian Singapore)

She cites an example. “Because Capella Sydney is a heritage building, working on it was complicated. There are 90 different room types across 192 guestrooms. That changes the scope because you cannot just choose one print and simply replicate it across rooms. Every single drawing had to be looked at to see what art could fit into each space and we had to shift around.” 

It also takes knowledge, skill and strong people-management skills to select and install the right artwork for different types of spaces, as well as to handle the expectations of artists and clients. “Nowadays, people think anyone can select art – hence the rise of the ‘Gmail art advisor’. But art is a very different kind of product; you need to know about art history and understand the client’s brand narrative. The art has to resonate but it’s also personal. Some people will love it and some will go ‘I don't get this’. That’s fine of course. It’s about sparking that conversation but you really have to enjoy and be passionate about art. If we didn’t, we would not be here after 10 years,” she emphasised.

Vitto Esso's Dangle, 2022, hanging in the deluxe suit at Capella Sydney. (Photo: Capella Sydney/Timothy Kaye)

Their passion stems from early exposure. “We always had art in the house. My father was a diplomat so we moved around a lot – Tokyo, Russia and the States – and my parents would always take us to museums and artist studios wherever we were,” shared Tay. In Washington DC where she studied art history, she would frequent its museums.

Likewise, visiting museums was de rigueur for Gajardo and her mother. They would also drive around Singapore, looking and talking about the design of interesting houses they saw. “She also became an artist later in life,” said Gajardo, who ended up studying architecture at Central Saint Martin’s in London and worked at the late-architect Zaha Hadid’s office before returning to Singapore in 2013 to embarking on her own projects. 

It was during this time that she realised a gap in the market. “The Artling e-commerce platform started because of the issues I was facing with sourcing for art in the interiors I designed, and clients not being able to find certain pieces. Initially, we focused on Southeast Asian artists but our inventory has expanded to also represent international artists and galleries, and design as well as art,” Gajardo explained.

Bloom by Sebastian di Mauro, 2020 (Photo: Ritz Carlton, Maldives)

Over the years, the consultancy side of the business has grown to become the core focus. “Art is personal so many buyers still want to view the art before they buy. Thus, the e-commerce platform has gone a bit slower than we anticipated,” explained Tay. But the database collected over the years is invaluable. Clients have also discovered them through the website.

The team now not only selects art from the Artling’s database, but also helps clients to source for new artists and commission artwork. Some projects include the creation of a site-specific installation for the Karl Largerfeld Hotel in Macau and securing an eight-panel video artwork by famous international art collective teamLab for a private residence. 

Skyspace Amarta by James Turrell (Photo: Patina Maldives)

“The Artling has certainly evolved to be something very different from what it set out to be, but it is still about sourcing for art albeit in a larger scale, and supporting artists and galleries, whether they are emerging or established,” added Gajardo. The projects have given artists more exposure or the chance to create new bodies of work. “We’d ask artists if they could work with a different material, or explore creating a different series for a project. When you have bigger spaces and large projects, it opens up a lot of opportunities for them,” Gajardo elaborated. 

The burgeoning art scene in Singapore has also been advantageous for The Artling. The success of exhibitions like Art SG held in January this year is testament to the growing role of Singapore as an art hub. “Clients are asking different questions, they’re open to supporting the art scene, they want to involve local artists and they’re allocating more budget to art. That’s a huge indication of progress for us. It’s important because these developers are making the art accessible to the public,” said Gajardo, citing the Mondrian Singapore Duxton’s purchase of important pieces of art as an example of contributing to the greater art and community ecosystem that makes a vibrant city. 

Gajardo and Tay’s backgrounds make them a good team. “Kim is the art history person. I’m the architecture person,” said Gajardo. “Best combo,” laughed Tay. “It’s helpful to have the architectural experience when working on the projects with the architects and interior designers,” she added.

Ongoing projects include curating the art collection for a conservation building in Singapore as well as a large sculpture commission that is taking two years to fabricate in the States for an office project in Asia. “This is something you really have to have patience for,” she said on the long timeline of some projects.

Through the years, she has learnt that trusting her gut is paramount – even if it means walking away from clients or a potential collaboration with an artist. “When you have a long-term project, a lot of communication is needed. You have to make sure there is mutual respect: you respect the artist, you want to see their vision through, and they respect your budget, your timeline and the client’s demands,” said Gajardo. 

She now spends half her time in Perth where she has set up an office, as her husband’s architecture practice is based there. It is timely, as The Artling’s work for Capella Sydney has opened up a new market. Gajardo has added new Australian artists that she discovered through that project into The Artling’s database that now has over US$800 million (S$1.081 billion) worth of inventory. “Our target is to reach US$1 billion so that clients have more variety to choose from,” said Gajardo.

Artwork at Revolver restaurant. (Photo: Revolver, Singapore)

While some of the art she deals with cost a pretty penny, Gajardo is adamant that art need not be reserved for the wealthy. “How do you make art not appear elitist? That is what we hope to change. You don't have to be mega-rich or a collector to consume art. You can visit an art fair, have a cup of coffee and enjoy the art. You can go to museums, learn about the history; it’s all there and free. I don't think enough people appreciate what we have in our collection at the National Gallery,” she said.

“That’s what we always say to people who ask how to start an art collection: just go look,” reiterated Tay. “Grow your eye and taste for things; you don't know what you like or dislike until you see. Go and be exposed as much as possible.”

Source: CNA/bt
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