Congratulations on tonight! Diane Severin Nguyen’s commissioned piece looks great. What was it like to put this year’s party together?
I’ve been one of the three co-chairs of the YCC this year, but I’ve been in the group for probably six years, and I’ve seen it really develop. I think this party, especially the partnership with LG Spotlit and with artists working in the digital space, has been so unique. And I’m such a mega fan of Diane. I think she did a fantastic job. The way that the music, the artist, the award, the whole aesthetics of the evening all came together is so seamless.
Obviously, the party is a big deal. But what happens during the rest of the year with the YCC?
We meet as a group twice a year, in the spring and fall. We make serious acquisitions and decide and vote on artists who enter the collection. It’s such a cool, transparent process: we attend a presentation from the curators, and often, we’ll have a studio visit with an artist so we really understand the behind-the-scenes. After having a professional working in a museum, seeing what it’s like to keep tabs on somebody, joining them in the studio when it’s the right time to acquire something, and we put it to a vote. The process feels like learning about the secret sauce. No other young group does anything like this.
Removing that kind of barrier to entry, is sort of like Pandora’s box is opened. You can really understand the inner workings of what the curatorial teams are thinking about when they bring somebody into the institution and how they see their responsibilities to the other artists in the collection that they’ll be in conversation with. That is definitely, to, what makes being a part of the group really stand out and shine. This is an amazing party, but those meetings are really what makes me stick around.
What’s the size of the group and many people are in those acquisition meetings? Have you made friends?
Yes, I definitely have made friends. I feel like we average around 50 people. The meeting is in a big auditorium. It feels on the intimate side. It’s the perfect size where we really have a dynamic dialogue around why we’re voting on certain things, or what we’re all falling in love with. We’ve even had debates where we disagree on collecting work and that’s always really interesting. Although normally, we’re a pretty aligned group.
What do you feel like the priorities of young collectors are? What are they thinking about right now and what are their hopes for the future?
Well that’s a big question. It’s hard for me to generalize. But you’re a photographer. I’ve always worked in photography. I used to work at Aperture. I started my collection with prints and photographs.
Photographs and printmaking and the process—I mean Print Week and IFPDA have kind of blown up—show that the way we think about mediums has kind of changed. These are just more accessible mediums for collecting. I know a lot of people who have started collecting photographs as their first entrypoint.
I think also ceramics, weaving, a lot of these different materials that might have transcended craft and are still entering the art market in a serious way. You can still buy really beautiful ceramics for under $5,000, under $2,000. Also, friends are supporting friends who are in the art world with trades. I’ve done so many trades, exchanging PR for art, which is totally my way of working.
It’s all about getting creative with what you have, whether it’s a skill or service that you can trade or actual coins.
I would trade with a lawyer!
