Jose Martos is a New York gallery owner and a leading specialist on Keith Haring. Today, he associates with the French art dealer Gregoire Maisonneuve, starting a new chapter and giving his gallery the infusion it needs to face the financial crises.
Jose, how did you become a New York art dealer?
Jose : I was living in St. Barth, I came to New York and found a job at Keith Haring’s foundation. After work, instead of going home, I remained in the building to explore the library and see what inspired Keith Haring, which artists he respected.
Is it Keith Haring who gave you the desire for being in the art business?
Jose : : I already had a gallery in St. Barth, but he took away my fear of working with famous artists. He showed me that there was not only Picasso, that one could live in one’s own time. I never met him, and I never read any book about him, but I had the privilege of wandering in his old studio (the foundation) and discovered him through his images.
And what did you discover?
Jose : His characters, his political ideas, all that he defended, his fight for the homosexual cause and his way of talking to people. Among other things, he denounced the way in which people put their head in the wolf’s mouth. This morning, I heard about a polemic about FaceBook, on how your personal information is going to be used… Even today people remain naive.
Today, we face a global economic crisis, what will change for New York artists?
Jose : : It will likely allow good artists to return to a territory which had put aside many talents because of the money it cost to live in NYC. I mean, the rents in Brooklyn became as expensive as Manhattan, there was no more balance. When I started to live in NYC, there were millions of available square feet; I think that’s going to come back.
And for gallery owners?
Jose : : The art world had become a race to social ascension “which dinner are you going to? Who will invite you?” Now I think that people will be less snobbish, everyone will be more accessible, I believe that even the biggest dealers will be more devoted to artists. We will come back to the 80’s’ spirit, which was years of creation and collaboration between artist and art dealers.
Gregoire : Yes after all, it is quit exiting, since it implies being called into question, it will change the relationship between the actors of the art world. It’s necessary to seize this occasion to reinvent ourselves and move on to other forms of work and activities.
The way you chose to face this was by collaborating together. How did this come about?
Gregoire : We started working together about two years ago, we exchanged artists, did some exhibitions and fairs together, a work connection grew from there, between our two galleries. Which naturally brought us together, since I closed my gallery in December 2008.
Jose : Yes, Gregoire had the intelligence and wisdom to close his space in these difficult times and, as a team, we will try to survive because nobody sells anymore! I did not sell a thing since May and everyone around me is in the same situation.
And how will you join together?
Gregoire : We couldn’t be unaware of this toughening situation, so we decided that instead of having each one a separate structure in two different capitals, we would put our energies together, merge them…we wanted to join our knowledge. Jose is more aware of 80’s art and I know more about the new generation of artists, we want to mix several generations and focus ourselves on the gallery in New York.
Jose : We want to make historic exhibitions. Art has become a business, but we’ve seen – with artists like Robert Rauschenberg and movements like the Arte Povera – that many great pieces have been made without any money, so today we must just trust our instinct.
So what is your plan?
Jose : We are going to search for young artists all around the world, and mix them with famous ones, past or present, like Keith Haring or David Salle. We are working on an exhibition on spray paint art, to show a new side of Keith Haring’s work. We will invite artists of his time, younger ones, and let all of them express themselves in a blank space.
Gregoire : It’s very stimulating for young talents to work around famous artists who may have inspired them, stimulated them, or even influenced their current work.
Jose : And, thanks to the famous artists, we will earn money that we can use to finance young people who can’t sell anything these days.
Martos Gallery
540 West 29th street
New York, New York 10001
212 560 0670
jose@martosgallery.com
www.martosgallery.com
BY HANNAH KUGEL
