The artwork world might be difficult to navigate for non-insiders, and much more so for a younger couple completely new to the world of amassing. But analysis means that people are instinctively pushed to gather objects, photographs and different aesthetic traces that come to replicate a life, its actions and its recollections. Carl Gambino and Sarah Ivory’s amassing journey started organically, as they introduced again artworks from their travels—souvenirs not solely of locations, but additionally of human encounters, as they typically sought out native artists. That early, unformed strategy to amassing ultimately developed into one thing extra deliberate and finally turned intertwined with their skilled lives and their rising household.
Observer met Gambino, who’s in actual property, and Ivory, who’s in inside design, of their two-floor riverfront residence in Brooklyn Heights. Each are of their early forties, they usually moved into the property with their two youngsters only a yr in the past. Even so, the whole lot about their residence feels not solely extremely curated when it comes to the dialogue between artwork and furnishings but additionally fastidiously calibrated and seamlessly built-in into the lived rhythm of a household residence.
“We already had an present assortment to put, however I have a tendency to maneuver very quick in terms of design basically,” Ivory, who curated the inside, stated. “I additionally know that the artwork we herald is sort of at all times very colourful, so I attempt to maintain the encompassing palette pretty impartial. That manner, the colour can actually come from the work itself.”
Vibrant palettes and energetic compositions dominate lots of the works on view, punctuating the clear, minimal inside with vivid notes. The structure favors impartial tones and heat supplies, permitting the artwork to take middle stage. “Sarah at all times liked extremely colourful artwork. I used to be on a really colorful-art kick for a few years, too, although these days I’ve discovered myself drawn to darker work,” Gambino mirrored.
A lot of this chromatic power emanates from contemplative landscapes, lush forests and harmonious floral compositions—typically figurative, typically summary—that interact in a quiet dialogue with the park’s greenery outdoors, coming alive as they’re bathed in pure gentle.
A lyrical work by Tianyue Zhong, characterised by harmonious layers of nature-inspired summary brushstrokes, is elegantly encased inside a custom-made library. The construction additionally accommodates smaller artworks and design objects. “I needed to create one thing particular for Carl’s favourite piece,” Ivory explains, noting how the setup additionally facilitates frequent rotation, since smaller works can merely relaxation throughout the construction with out the necessity for drilling. Nonetheless, works have already rotated a number of occasions all through the home, as they attempt to show all that they’ve collected through the years at one level or one other.
Carl Gambino grew up in New Jersey in an Italian American household, whereas Sarah Ivory was raised in Miami by a Colombian mom and an American father—each environments providing restricted publicity to wild, expansive nature past the tropical coastlines. That untamed pure world is one thing they’ve each longed for. “I believe we each love Europe, and we love being there. And I believe we’re drawn to that feeling of nature within the work,” Ivory notes.
If contemplation of nature recurs throughout the gathering, one other equally current thread is present in intimate moments and fragments of each day life, typically centered round home settings—a tablecloth, a nook of a room, an unguarded gesture. One of many artists the Gambinos have collected extensively is Claudia Maintain, whose painterly observe—typically centered on small codecs—reveals the quiet complexity of quotidian moments.
Their amassing course of is essentially shared, although acquisitions typically arrive with a way of urgency—significantly on Gambino’s aspect—as he continuously scans for brand spanking new expertise and takes steps to safe works earlier than an artist’s trajectory takes off. That stress typically clashes with the tempo of on a regular basis life, but it surely’s a dynamic embedded available in the market—and one which, for Gambino, makes discovery not solely thrilling but additionally well timed.
Since he started amassing, Gambino has demonstrated not solely a eager eye but additionally the tenacity to pursue his instinct relentlessly, activating each doable channel to safe works he believes in. He remembers calling, texting, and emailing repeatedly to acquire a bit by Alejandro Piñero Bello from the artist’s first gallery, KDR, simply as his profession was starting to take off.
This, regardless of having really found him a lot earlier—throughout a visit to Cuba that coincided with the Havana Biennial. “We have been amassing very instinctively. If we went to Colombia, Cuba or different locations, we might merely observe, attempt to meet some native artists and buy quite a lot of works,” Gambino remembers. “In 2014, we went to Cuba in the course of the Havana Biennial and visited what was a rustic membership that had been transformed into an enormous artwork faculty, the place Alejandro and lots of different Cuban artists studied. We ended up shopping for a number of items instantly from college students there.”
Recalling that point, the couple admits they knew little or no concerning the system—the broader equipment of the artwork world. Ivory’s father was an artist, however not a commercially profitable one. He understood the artwork world, but by no means really tried to take part in it as a market. “I grew up round artists, however not the glamorous aspect of artwork,” Ivory remembers, describing a childhood formed by precarity—by the stress between her father’s artistic conviction and the requirements of on a regular basis survival. Gambino’s expertise was even additional eliminated. “I used to be born within the metropolis however grew up in New Jersey, in an Italian American household with completely no artwork training. The artwork in our home was extra like residence décor—issues that actually stated, ‘Your own home is a house,’” he shares. “However for so long as I can keep in mind, I’ve been drawn to artwork. I nonetheless really feel that it makes life higher, that it provides one thing important.”
Their entry level was by way of key relationships that helped them discover their footing within the artwork world. Early on, Gambino met Kim Hastreiter, co-founder of Paper journal, who describes herself as an “obsessive collector.” She opened her assortment to him and performed a pivotal position in shaping his journey as a collector. By way of her, he was launched to Marsea Goldberg, founding father of New Picture in Los Angeles, a small gallery with an outsized impression, recognized for nurturing artists early whereas guiding new collectors. For Gambino, as for a lot of younger collectors, these early relationships proved foundational. “They taught me to purchase solely what I really like,” he says.
Drawing on the smooth abilities developed by way of his actual property profession, Gambino shortly realized that relationship-building was simply as important within the artwork world—not just for entry, but additionally for timing, perception and, finally, negotiation.
From New Picture, Gambino acquired certainly one of their earliest up to date works: a portray by Jeffrey Cheung. Although Cheung’s market by no means spiked dramatically, his colourful, playful and absurdist compositions—with figures multiplying as if to recommend the numerous dimensions of the self—proceed to fascinate the couple. Over time, they acquired a number of works by him, as they did with different artists they deeply imagine in, together with Claudia Maintain and Alejandro Piñero Bello.
For the couple, amassing multiples is each a technique to help an artist’s trajectory and to assemble a significant group of works that actually displays a observe. “Over time, and from different collectors, we picked up this concept that once you actually imagine in an artist, you attempt to dwell with multiple work. Two or three, if doable,” Gambino stated. “That’s one thing we’ve carried by way of the gathering—we personal multiples of just about everybody we love.”
In simply ten years, the pair’s assortment has grown to over 100 works. What started as spontaneous ardour step by step become one thing nearer to obsession—significantly for Gambino. New works arrive nearly each month, though they’ve tried to determine a month-to-month finances, and Ivory diligently tries to archive the whole lot digitally, protecting tempo with Gambino’s rhythm proves difficult, as his acquisitions stay guided primarily by intuition, eye and emotion earlier than any ratio. “There have been intervals this yr when issues simply stored arriving—typically not small issues in any respect. Like that massive wood crate,” Ivory stated. “I liked it. It nearly become an obsession,” Gambino added.
But, the reference to each the work and its creator stays an important a part of the couple’s assortment, which is why the main target stays firmly on rising artists quite than superstar names. That path, Gambino explains, is way extra thrilling and significant: it permits for amassing with intention, typically with tangible impression on an artist’s profession and, steadily, the formation of real relationships.
“I like the thought of supporting what’s new,” Gambino defined, noting how a few of his collector buddies—these extra financially pushed—query why he doesn’t focus on buying single works by established names. “I’d quite purchase many works that I genuinely love and help the artists making them,” he stated. “Artwork isn’t how I earn a living. I earn a living in actual property. If I desire a secure return, I can put 300 thousand right into a property and understand it’ll carry out. With artwork, it’s totally different. It’s concerning the pleasure of dwelling with it—wanting the work round you, day-after-day, as a part of your life.”
The only real blue-chip work within the assortment is a David Hockney iPad drawing. However Gambino likes to be actively concerned, supporting artists early and witnessing their ascent to blue-chip standing, as has already occurred with artists like Pinero Belo and Marco Pariani. Then there’s British artist Rex Southwick, whom Gambino linked with by way of Instagram, and that connection turned an ongoing alternate: Gambino would ship Southwick photographs of the villas he offered, Southwick would reinterpret them in his signature kaleidoscopically vibrant palette, and Gambino would present the work to the houses’ new homeowners. In consequence, Southwick’s work has since entered the collections of main celebrities and outstanding households on each coasts.
On a number of events, Gambino has taken an lively position in supporting artists past amassing—serving to to put works, encouraging buddies to purchase and providing monetary help when artists attain institutional milestones, akin to LaKela Brown’s current exhibition on the Museum of Modern Artwork Detroit.
However in terms of introducing others to the artwork world, Gambino acknowledged that boundaries stay. Associates with restricted budgets typically really feel excluded, prompting him to encourage small beginnings—faculty reveals, rising artists, direct purchases. Associates with vital means face totally different dangers—primarily being taken benefit of. “In each instances, I attempt to carry them with me, introduce trusted folks, assist them perceive the way it works,” he stated. “The artwork world is a enterprise, whether or not you prefer it or not. I don’t deal with it like a enterprise—it’s a ardour—however relationships matter. That’s true in each trade. I simply occurred to spend years constructing them right here, and fortuitously, it intersects naturally with my work.”
A lot has modified—each positively and negatively—throughout the ultra-contemporary section the place Gambino focuses. There may be extra work circulating now and better accessibility, but additionally extra filtering and elevated problem in figuring out who will endure. What feels genuinely encouraging, Gambino notes, is the rising recognition by main galleries of the significance of rising areas, and the shift towards collaboration quite than competitors. “You see partnerships now—like Tempo working with KDR—and I believe that’s really fantastic. That didn’t actually occur earlier than.”
They agree the ecosystem feels extra approachable as we speak than after they first began. “Galleries are faster to point out work, extra open to entry and fewer guarded. A number of the previous video games nonetheless exist—the stress, the implied expectations—however we see far much less of it now, particularly as extra work turns into accessible digitally,” Gambino mirrored.
Many purchases now happen remotely, typically with out the chance to see the work in particular person. “For sure works, when you don’t purchase on-line, you merely received’t get them except you’re prepared to fly around the globe continuously,” he stated. “Generally I’ve seen different works by the artist earlier than, typically it’s instinct and typically it’s belief within the gallery. That’s why relationships nonetheless matter.” He acknowledges that this can be a generational facet. Rising up digitally means being comfy experiencing the world by way of screens, making youthful consumers extra comfy with this specific structural actuality of up to date amassing.
Nonetheless, artwork gala’s stay a central a part of Gambino’s ardour—and one thing he actually enjoys. Regardless of turning into extra selective about journey on account of time and work constraints, the joy hasn’t pale. “If I may, I’d go to each truthful on the planet. Basel, Armory Week—that’s my favourite time of yr,” he stated. “I really like actual property, I really like my job, I’m grateful for it, but when I may spend most of my time simply taking a look at artwork, I’d.”
Gambino and Ivory’s relationship to amassing differs, but it’s clear they complement each other. For him, the fervour borders on obsession—returning to gala’s day after day, rewalking aisles endlessly. For Ivory, one move is sufficient. “We’re very totally different that manner. He’ll return to a good each single day. I’ll stroll by way of as soon as, see what I like, and that’s it. I hit saturation quicker,” Ivory acknowledged. However the steadiness works. One researches; the opposite responds instinctively. The ultimate choice is at all times made collectively, and most frequently comes right down to a easy query: will we need to dwell with this?
If Gambino and Ivory’s amassing started as an instinctive extension of journey and curiosity, lengthy earlier than they understood the artwork world’s complicated machinations, a decade later, their Brooklyn Heights residence tells the story of a set formed by relationships, instinct and a want to dwell carefully with artwork quite than speculate on it.
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