Feature Page

Shauna Holiman, Greenwich Art Society President,
speaks with Suzanne Kim, Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon
and judge for the upcoming Juried Members’ Exhibition at the Flinn Gallery.

Readers: you can find out more about Smack Mellon on their website: www.smackmellon.org

Shauna: Greetings, Suzanne! And welcome to the Greenwich Art Society. Let’s just jump right in and talk about you and how you came to be working at Smack Mellon.

Suzanne: Well, I graduated from art school and then started my own high-end interior painting company. It was good money but I found that my business was moving me too far away from the art world and so to switch back I started working with artists such as Billy Sullivan and Michael Goldberg as their studio manager. After doing that for a couple of years I wanted to get a feel for the gallery side and started working for Smack Mellon as the Gallery Manager. I moved my way up to my current position as the Director of Exhibitions. As the Director of Exhibitions I've been curating shows and work with the Executive Director, selecting the artists for the solo shows and the guest curators for group shows.

Shauna: Tell me a little about your own art.

Suzanne: I started off as a painter and then made installations but then focused on making drawings. But once I realized what I could do as a curator –explore ideas using not just my own vocabulary but the vocabulary of 10-15 other artists—I stopped making my own work. It’s a totally different process but its an equally satisfying creative outlet. I am still very much just starting my career as a curator so its pretty exciting.

Shauna: What do you look for in art?

Suzanne: It depends. Some work is conceptual and when looking at conceptual work I want to see real dedication and not just a couple of cool ideas--no one-liner type of projects. In more formal work, I like to see some ingenuity – something that makes it unique, not just great technique. It’s exciting to sense when an artist is taking some sort of risk. Artwork can have a superficial “WOW” factor but that doesn’t make the work important to me. I like to feel challenged and somehow enlightened.

Shauna: What sort of themes do you enjoy when putting together a show?

Suzanne: I try to not have a really strict theme because I don’t like to eliminate good work for the sake of keeping to a theme. Ultimately I will narrow things down once I find an interesting commonality in the majority of work but in the beginning I keep my eyes wide open for everything.

Shauna: So here’s a hard question. If you had unlimited space and money to buy your perfect, personal art collection, what would be in it?

Suzanne: Oh God! (pause) Just anything I wanted? Well…as far as contemporary work--anything by Tara Donovan, Tom Friedman… Ellen Gallagher…Neo Rausch… Agnes Martin… Hiro Yamagata…Brice Marden…

Shauna: Let’s see if I can find some photos. Readers, check out these websites:
Tara Donovan:  www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=8
Tom Friedman: www.designboom.com/portrait/friedman.html
Ellen Gallagher: www.pbs.org/art21/artists/gallagher/
Neo Rausch: The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions: Neo Rauch
Hiro Yamagata: www.hiroyamagata.com/

Shauna: What formal concerns draw you to these artists? Color? Form? Line?

Suzanne: From that group of contemporary artists you can see that my interests are varied. Unexpected composition and natural form is always nice to see. I do appreciate conceptual work and I find new use of materials more interesting than, say, just a drop dead gorgeous rich painting. Retinal satisfaction is great but that’s not all I am looking for – there has to be more to it than that. But then at the same time, I do find myself just sitting back and enjoying beauty for its own sake.

Shauna: Tell us about how you go about choosing a show.

Suzanne: It depends on the kind of show we are doing. For shows that have an open call, I think it helps to do a preliminary round to eliminate work that is not competitive enough and then carefully review the smaller selection again to make the final choices.
For solo shows at Smack Mellon we often choose artists who we feel can take on the challenge of working in our large space. Our space is not just a medium sized white cube so its not an easy venue for just small-scale wall based work—the space has a way of sometimes miniaturizing and overpowering artwork so artists really have to take the space into consideration. But also we have to keep in mind the practical aspect of our projects. Sometimes artists are so overwhelmed and inspired by the space they want to make the biggest and craziest thing that they’ve ever made and we have to work out the logistics to keep it realistic and to keep them from making a piece that they can't actually make because of a lack of time or resources.

Shauna: Do you have any advice for emerging artists?

Suzanne: Artists should get their work out there so it can be seen. Even if it doesn’t get a show or win a big prize, it can sometimes be helpful for a curator on a panel to see it. I've seen a panelist keep track of artist they like so they can keep an eye on them and maybe do studio visits later. I've done that myself when I've participated on a panels. And its a good way to practice presenting your work.
Having your work seen by your peers is a good way to get feedback, too. Sometimes artists are just working away in their studio but they should have a reality check on their work: is the “audience” getting what the artist wants them to get out of it?
It’s also really important for artists to see and be aware of what else is going on in the art world. If one is working towards being a professional artist, it would help to be knowledgeable about contemporary art. They don’t have to like what is going on with the commercial side of it all but it helps to know what other artists are up to.

Shauna: What’s the best way to do that?

Suzanne: Look at shows. Go to galleries and museums. Talk with other artists and find an artistic community. Its not just about good studio practice.

Shauna: What do you think makes an artistic community?

Suzanne: Artists being willing to share their knowledge and be honest with each other about their work; being supportive of each other’s growth; being willing to both receive and give honest feedback.

Shauna: What about the community in which the artistic community resides? How do you think they should support their artists?

Suzanne: Well, first they need to find out what the specific community needs. In New York, for example, space and financial resources are desperately needed. Artists don’t have enough space to work and then if they do find semi-affordable studio space they still have to pay two rents--one for a place to live AND a one to work in.
Its great to have a supportive Arts institution that provides artists with various resources to help further their careers. For example at Smack Mellon, we provide studio space for a year and a $5000 stipend to each of our six studio artists but equally important, we arrange visits from gallerists, curators and others who can offer career-building opportunities and give productive feedback.

A space to show work that most commercial galleries will not show because its unsellable is also important. Making work that can't be sold in a commercial gallery can be hard for artists so its important to support those artists by giving them a space to present their work.

They also need a place to “meet and greet” – a common area like the proverbial office water cooler. At Smack Mellon, we have a common kitchen area and artists run into each other there and end up talking and that helps them develop more of a relationship with each other. We also schedule monthly get-togethers with the artists to help develop relationships.

Providing access to equipment is also really helpful. Providing access to expensive machines, equipment and software that artists can not afford to buy is a great way to help them experiment and develop their work even more.

Shauna: And what about selling work? Any advice there?

Suzanne: Be thoughtful about selling your work. It can be helpful to have a contract that allows you to borrow the work back for future shows. It really helps to know to whom you are selling and try to sell to the “right people” – people who are going to be supportive in the future (say through loaning) and who will protect the work. If possible, cultivate relationships with your buyers. More than anything, expect that things are going to go well for you and keep that in mind when you sell your work.

Shauna: Thank you so much, Suzanne, for your insights! We look forward to meeting you as well as the talking after the judging about your experience, process and impressions.

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