/ Class Notes /
MAKING THEIR MARK: YOUNG ALUMS IN THE ART WORLD By Susie Norris ’79
ALEXANDER CLARK ‘08 Alexander Clark’s business card reads “Art Advisor Guy.” His roots in the art business reach back four generations. “I grew up in an art gallery,” he says, speaking specifically of Paul Rosenberg & Co. in New York City. This legacy began when his great great grandfather, Alexandre Rosenberg, retired from a career in finance to collect and sell antiques in Paris. His focus soon turned to art, specifically Van Gogh, Manet and the early Impressionists, and Barbizon painters, and a family legacy began. After interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA Archives, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and two unsuccessful stints opening his own gallery, Clark co-founded with a friend, The City Firm, a corporate art consulting firm. The City Firm aims to "build bridges and business models for artists, galleries and brands." Clark's role ranges from representing artists, curating exhibitions and serving in an art advisory role to real estate developers.
Alexander Clark, shown here with the artist David Maddy, in a photo shot by Ryan McNamara at Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York
PAT LI ‘08 “The collision of art and business intimidated me at first,” said art dealer Pat Li. After her two years at Berkshire, she studied art history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and then took the big plunge into New York City where she worked and studied in the Christie’s Art Auctions Master’s program. She got both theoretical and practical experience in the art auction business, with a specialization in the Department of Chinese Art. Originally from Hong Kong, Li sees unique opportunities as global markets expand. “My focus is to bring Asian artists to New York corporate collections, and emerging American artists to Asia,” she said. In a recent show she curated in the Alex Adams Gallery in Harlem, mask sculptures by the artist Benet Iglesias coexisted with elegant, gold-tinged oils of insects and dramatic landscapes by artist Fumiko Toda. Next, Li brought Toda’s work to the Hamptons Art Fair in July 2014, and then Iglesias’s work to China in September. “Berkshire helped my ability to adapt to new environments, and I use that to build and create new options,” said Li.
ELLIE RINES ’06 Ellie Rines studied Chinese at Berkshire and Union College. “I loved the language, the history and the culture, and that directed me to start in Chinese antiquities,” said Rines. When she was recruited by Sotheby’s as an intern because of her interest in art and her artful, bilingual understanding of Chinese culture, her past and future aligned. She went on to work in Chinese antiquities at Christie’s and at the renowned Knoedler Gallery in New York. She then moved on to Craig F. Starr Gallery where she helped curate exhibitions for three years. She now runs 55 Gansevoort, an experimental exhibition space in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District where exhibitions are on view and fully visible from the sidewalk, 24/7. Her typical day is spent visiting artist studios, connecting with clients, working on her shows and placing artwork in strong collections. “You have to spot artists who can grow and develop. It’s about finding someone who can contribute something new and exciting.” This winter, Ellie coordinated a show of the artists she represents at 55 Gansevoort at a space in Marfa, Texas called United Artists Limited, a renovated gas station owned by the artist Michael Phelan, who, in serendipitous fashion, happened to attend Berkshire in the mid-eighties. The exhibition opens in the second week of March. For more information about 55 Gansevoort, visit 55gansevoort.com.
Above: Ellie Rines with artist and client Matt Kenny and a view of Rines’s space, 55 Gansvoort, during one of Kenny’s recent shows. (Photos by Jordan Doner)
Fall/Winter 2015
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