At the time, the gallery was operating out of a temporary space, and Marina was looking to upgrade to a larger, permanent gallery space. I went to visit a couple places for rent with her, but as a second set of eyes, not a potential partner yet.
My internship was still casual, and I was still wondering what my "passion" was. My therapist and friends told me it was probably right in front of my nose. But I was still flummoxed about a next career and, to be honest, was enjoying my "cafe life" sabbatical too much to go back to work just yet.
Around that time, a friend invited me to go on a big gay Baltic Cruise with him and his friends: Copenhagen, Northern Germany, Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm. I love cruises, but this big 2000-person gay cruise was a bit much, I must admit. But, as one does, I tromped around and visited the sites in the cities, including every modern and contemporary art museum I could find.
Helsinki has the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art right in town. Lots of local artists and a different perspective from the other cities I visited. One of the most memorable pieces was a room-size mechanized construction reminiscent of a segmented old wooden boat crossed with a fire-breathing mechanical dragon. Loved it! It was in the "Horror Vacui" section in the photo on the right.
Then in Stockholm, it was the Moderna Museet. My favorite piece there was a conceptual mind-bender. Outside the mens room there was a video display of the bathroom and urinals inside. Like a closed circuit security camera. It made you question whether you wanted to go in or not with people watching you pee from outside. My decision was made by my bladder and a lack of care about what people think about watching my backside while I stand at a urinal. But once you get inside past the urinals near the sinks, you notice a tiny diorama of the bathroom bolted to the wall, with a video camera pointing at the miniature replica of the bathroom, urinals and all. Sudden relief that no one saw me peeing! I missed the Kumu Museum in Tallinn, Estonia, due to lack of time and a delicious elk jerky, but I can always go back on my next trip. And on previous trips, I loved the K20 and K21 museums in Dusseldorf. K for Kunst (art). K20 is 20th century art and K21 is 21st century art, which they define as anything since 1980. K21 far surpasses K20 in my opinion. It was always a great place to kill a few hours between meetings at Vodafone, being near their Mannesmannufer HQ.
Similar trips to the US East Coast in September and November had similar side-trips to MOMA, the Hirshhorn, and various other museums. I was upset to miss Dia:Beacon and Storm King Art Center, but something to look forward to on my next trip to New York.
Anyway, maybe you can see where I'm going with this. My passion was indeed right in front of my face: contemporary art! My house is filled with contemporary art, I talk about art, I make a point to go see art when I'm traveling and when I'm home in San Francisco. Many of my friends are artists.
It wasn't an immediate decision that I become a gallerist, but I was on my way to realizing that joining the art world might be just what I need.
More in part 3 about how I decided to join Marina (and Andre) at Cain Schulte Gallery.
Cheers!
Updated May 4, 2010.
2 comments:
Tim, I googled "How to become a gallerist" and stumbled upon your blog. It sounds like an amazing story, I'm inspired by your willingness to go where the wind takes you and your lack of self consciousness when it comes to the often competitive and snobby world of art. You've opened my eyes!
This is what I needed to hear. Tim, your life sounds so much like my own. I too am considering a life in the arts after 18 years as a Personal Trainer. Thank you for the refreshing insight.
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