For me, art is a philosophy of life, almost a religion. It can also be a profession, but in my case, art is a passion first and foremost, and followed as a living.
What role has art played in your childhood and teenage years? Were there any artists or collectors in your family?
Art did not play an important role in my early life, until I became financially independent at 24 and began studying art at a workshop while pursuing my career as a public accountant. However, I did grow up in an environment surrounded by art and with trips to various museums. There was a single event in my teen years, which definitely had a direct impact upon my personality and enabled me to discover how to apply myself in a humane, sensitive and artistic manner. When I was 15 I had to take tests on world history and literature in order to change courses in high school. That made me aware of all the developments in world history in a couple of months. I was locked in my room studying human evolution from its origins to the present day. For this I made a timeline on paper and stuck it to the wall. While I was studying literature, I went to a teacher who was unable to work because of the military dictatorship at that time. She was an outlaw, but she was the one who taught me during that period. I went to her house daily to prepare for my test. We always sat in her living room, a place I was fascinated by. I would sit on a leather couch, surrounded by works of art, crafts, paintings, books and so on, and during those days and I felt like I was caught in a world of “magical realism”. There, I realized how much I liked the art world, but continued through natural the course of my life. My father worked in a field in the city of Durazno and my time was divided between my studies and the field which I loved. It was only when I started college in Montevideo that I started paying attention to the art exhibitions and one day I made the decision to attend an art workshop. Being between two worlds – on one hand I had the business to run, which was my main occupation, and the other, in which I had discovered an artistic field – I began to help myself select works of art for my home. That was how I got myself interested in collecting art and thus found myself advising one person after the other. I became the link between the client and the artist, but my best customer was always myself. I always choose the best work for my own collection, as I always recommended works which suited my personal taste.
For you, what is art? Your passion, profession, addiction, alternative investment?
For me, art is a philosophy of life, almost a religion. It can also be a profession, but in my case, art is a passion first and foremost, and followed as a living. The design of it is evolving and growing the same way our palate tastes different food. It starts as it is, visually, and then as you get involved, you’re compromising it, changing it. It becomes conceptual and to such a degree that you cannot separate it from yourself.
How actively do you participate in public art life? Are you a member of any art boards, institutions or networks of friends of museums?
I’ve always been a visual artist and that has kept me active. I journeyed from drawing, painting and sculpture to photography – which is the artistic medium I use to express myself today. I have also built up a theoretical background by attending various courses and workshops and have read a selection of literature on that. After returning from a visit to a biennial abroad I published my first article in a local Montevideo newspaper at the request of a well-known critic. Since then I have published several articles. I frequently travel to visit exhibitions, biennials and other events, and I have a couple of blogs where I publish my thoughts. I also write for other mediums. I have a conference room in my travel agency office, where we hold talks on history, art history, decorative arts, film, photography, literature, Islam, and such other topics. I formed a group for theoretical discussion of art and I have a wide network of contacts of friends who keep me informed about issues we have in common. We aim to not just inform but also to provoke a critical outlook on issues in order to grow and develop together within our area.
When did you first start your collection? What was your first purchase?
My collection began in 1984 and my first buy was a small format painting from someone in the workshop and I just bought one after the other without realizing that I was building up a collection until I noticed I had no more space on the walls in my house to hang up any more paintings.
How did you start collecting?
I started collecting without even realizing it. Living in my house feels like I am living in an art gallery. The architect who designed the place knew that it had to house 3 children and a collection, so the home was built with that in mind.
How many artists are there in your collection? How many artworks?
I do not know the exact number of artists. I have a lot of works by artists that I like and I definitely have over 100 works of art. That is quite a lot for a collection stored in a house.
Does your perception of the artwork change once you get to know the artist?
Definitely. I cannot buy a work without first having a rapport with the artist. I take my time, I analyze, I visit him or her in their studio, I enter their world to get the right “mood” with which I can fully understand the work. It is an unbreakable link: the artist and his work. You cannot separate them and when assessing the work, the artist’ life story counts. On the other hand, I really like getting to know people and always want to create a good personal bond, which makes for a pleasant purchase.
What do you think is special about Uruguayan art compared to that from the rest of the world?
I think today, with everything connected through various networks, it is becoming difficult to discern the origins of works based on the nationality of each artist. In my opinion, Uruguayans are always looking for parameters to help us differentiate ourselves from our neighbors as well as from our colonizers. We have very low self-esteem and we are always devaluing ourselves. We believe we have the personality of and are similar to those low in stature, and we are very sensitive to that but we are also smug in certain aspects and suspicious which is a result of the low self-esteem we have. All that spirit can be seen in our work because we are also open and sincere. We have always characterized our somewhat gloomy spirit, the spirit of the losers as we have an inferiority complex with our neighboring countries and that is what is reflected in our range – usually revolving around grays and browns. We have universally recognized artists but credit must come first from the outside, which has been a struggle. We are always holding on to that “the past was better” idea (Jorge Manrique) and we cannot appreciate what we have. There is an artist, who I have worked with, Pablo Conde who very much reflects this sentiment in a series where he works with a football team photo of the world championship in 1950 and he works with the different images by distorting and blurring faces and losing parts of it. In short, you can say that our artists communicate a lot of our dismay, disbelief, low profile, sufferings of the disadvantaged, and more.
What are the nationalities of the artists in your collection?
More than nationality of the artist, I prefer to refer to the country in which they live or work. All of the artists that I collect, have, at some point in his life, lived at least temporarily in Uruguay. The selection of my work is contemporary to me, and is a reflection of the world that surrounds me. I aspire to reflect a close representation of the era in which we live or choose to live. In my collection there are mostly artists from Uruguay, also some Paraguayans, Germans, Brazilians and other nationalities but they are so diverse that it is difficult to define their origins. I have a few works Uruguayan artists living in other countries such as Germany, Spain, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, etc.
Which three artists from Uruguay do you think have the most potential? How about artists from abroad?
This question is somewhat ambiguous. I don’t know whether to refer to artists in my collection or other artists in general. I prefer to think that it’s the first option. I have very good artists with opportunities to be more successful than they are and transcend borders but the artist’s life is always very particular. Since you define yourself as an artist, you know that your life will not be so easy and there are artists who have been left behind and who have felt overwhelmed by the social, personal, etc and step aside. There are others who are devoted entirely to teaching. Within the payroll of the artists that make my selection, there are many who are living abroad looking for new markets so to collect additional knowledge and practices to further develop their work.
What was your latest purchase?
It was a photograph which is a medium that captures everyday occurrences, but for me they are a good reflection of today. I know that everything is cyclical and in the same way that traditional painting has come and gone, the same will happen to photographic artworks.
What would you like to change in the current art scene?
For one, I would like to see art more socialized and widespread. I would also like to see the value of artwork appreciated for what it is and not for the high prices it fetches, driven by a select group of buyers who bid exorbitant prices then distort true value of the artworks.
What is your favorite gallery or museum in Uruguay?
Now, that is one of our other major shortcomings. There is a definite lack of galleries and museums to support or work in promoting certain artists. We lack art patronage and our state does little to support the arts, particularly visual arts. We have lost a lot of iconic work which went through different government agencies for their private offices where they are not given the necessary value and have not been maintained. There are virtually no proper art galleries. There is the exception of 2 or 3 involved in international trade, but they work almost entirely with deceased artists of regional and global recognition. For an artist, that makes it very difficult to get a good representative, which is highly demotivating so they turn to other sources of income, making art merely a hobby.
Have you donated to any art foundations or institutions?
Not yet, but it is something I want to do in the near future. However, some cultural centers do not like being associated with donations and thus contributions are not always appreciated. I’d love to fund a museum to house the works of established artists who have contributed their share of creativity in the evolution of our artistic history and the logical thing would be to have this kind of institution supported by the state but so far we have never seen any sign of recognition these artists deserve in our country. We should take care and worry about having a permanent room to display art and cease to think of it as purely ornamental or decorative. Art is a true reflection of the feelings of a country.
What do you think are the challenges faced by new contemporary artists?
They have to have the ability to immerse themselves in their work. When an artist is sincere, his work transcends boundaries. By this I mean that we should not just look at artists who have been acknowledged worldwide, we should look for sincerity in the work of each artist. A work which has soul will receive the appreciation it deserves. From our point of view, there’s a lot to be done – first by creating a museum to house the works, then collaborating with art galleries and more.
