Marina P. Asins
In one of the carriages on Line 5 of the Madrid Metro, you can read a fragment of the poem " Nana de las esquinas " (Nursery of the Corners) by Francisca Aguirre, which proclaims that these "are the perfect waste: once they were corners that led to disaster, and instead, soon after, they light up like smiles." And she's right. Those seemingly lifeless corners are, in reality, opportunities waiting for a purpose or an object. And what better destiny can a corner have than to house a work of art? Absolutely none. That's why the work of collectors —sometimes thankless, sometimes pleasurable— is so similar to that of a matchmaker or even a fortune teller: you not only have to know how to foresee the future of a creation, but also to find its ideal partner. Because in the end, trusting in someone's talent is a matter of faith. And love. A feeling that is not unknown to Carmen Ballesta , a lawyer by training and in love with art history since her grandmother took her to auctions and exhibitions.
While working at Goldman Sachs, he discovered the concept of blockchain "back in 2006" and, since then, has continued to study what is now the digital present of the sector: NFTs. After the pandemic, he decided to found Obilum, a platform that allows people like photographer Uxío da Vila (who has just launched the series The Sense of Process ) to explore this branch, without neglecting the role of gallery owners . "There must be intermediaries who are experts in the field; not just anything will do," he asserts. Argentines Juan Vergez and Patricia Pearson de Vergez (winners of the A Award for Collecting at ARCO Madrid 2023 in the category of Best Latin American Private Collection ) are also familiar with the attachment that this discipline produces. They started in this field on their wedding day: "We filled our gift list with works thinking we were going to decorate the entire house, but we only got one," they say. Beyond the anecdotal, the truth is that it didn't take much more to get started. " We started going to galleries, fairs, talking to artists. First from Latin America, and then from all over the world ."
From Buenos Aires, they moved to Europe, settling in Berlin, where they became close to big names (then unknown), such as Olafur Eliasson and Jorge Pardo. Based in Madrid for almost six years, in their home country they have more than 1,500 pieces in a converted factory, where they organize private tours and from where they lend to museums and exhibitions . For them, who have been compiling stories and creations for more than three decades, the most important thing is to "vibrate with the objects." Of course, they warn us that it is essential to have a mentor at the beginning of the adventure , someone who accompanies us throughout the process, as does Elisa Hernando, CEO of Arte Global and RedCollectors , a platform dedicated to advice that offers a special service during ARCO week called FirstCollectors . "We focus on the buyer so that, based on their tastes and budget, we can make recommendations," she explains. “ Galleries have a defined personality , a discourse and a line, and that serves as a guide when it comes to bringing in a client.”
Through this initiative, they aim to eliminate the stigma that art isn't for the vast majority . "There's a huge amount of ignorance," assures gallery owner Elba Benítez , who has been operating in Madrid's Justicia neighborhood for 32 years and knows the sector like no one else. "Some people think they have to pay to enter our space, as if it were a museum, but that's not the case. Artists are a source of knowledge, and their work will brighten your life ." A living example of how fundamental this support is is collector Virginia De Diego, who made her first acquisition ("an engraving by Guillermo Mora that Moisés Pérez Albéniz's gallery owned") thanks to Elisa. "You can have that sensitivity, but if you're not in the art world, it's very difficult to know what's valuable and what makes sense to you ," she tells us. Architect Lourdes Martínez agrees, having contacted the Álvaro Alcázar gallery through the program to acquire a Guillem Nadal painting: "Some clients ask us to include works, and it's important to get good advice. It's a beautiful world, but so vast that you can't cover everything."
