THIS WEEK'S HOT TOPIC
Zohran Mamdani galvanized the New York City art community like no other mayoral candidate in recent history. Now, after a decisive win in early November, he’s looking back to that community in preparation for taking office at the start of next year.
The mayor-elect appointed 28 people to his Arts & Culture Transition Committee last week. It’s a wide-ranging list—replete with administrators, artists, curators, and dealers—and also a revealing one.
Some notable names include Hannah Traore, founder of an eponymous gallery known for championing artists of color; Ruba Katrib and Legacy Russell, rising-star curators at MoMA PS1 and The Kitchen, respectively; Colm Dillane, the artist and fashion designer behind the KidSuper clothing brand; and Kimberly Drew, a curator, influencer, and writer who has built a huge social following while amplifying Black voices.
With this list, we get our first glimpse into what life in the New York arts might look like under Mamdani’s leadership, and the outlook is encouraging. Mamdani’s choices stand out for their youth, dynamism, upstart energy, and ability to speak to our present moment.
Let’s hope the next four years maintain this spirit.
3…THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN INSTALLING WORK AT HOME
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When acquiring a new piece for your collection, you want to make sure it’s properly installed. Sure, your local handyman can throw a painting up on a wall—but when you invest in an artwork, it’s imperative that it is truly handled with care. There is a bevy of fine art shipping companies that offer delivery and installation in client homes, from your “man with a van” outfits to bigger, more professional operations. Companies like UOVO, Cadogan Tate, and Hangman belong to the latter category. Any gallery you purchase art from should be able to suggest a reliable vendor who will know how to handle the work you bought. If you’re paying for installation, it is the responsibility of the art handler to bring all the necessary tools to do the job safely and efficiently. But it’s always helpful for you, as the client, to give a detailed idea of what they’ll be working with (i.e., descriptive information about the artwork, where you intend to have the piece installed, etc.)
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You can also do it yourself, but be ready for it to be more labor-intensive than hammering a nail into the wall. Art packaging can come in many shapes and sizes, so it’s always a good idea to check with your point of contact at a gallery to know what sort of packaging your new piece is in. And secondly, maybe that five-by-four-foot painting actually does need two people to hoist it into position. Don’t be a hero and get help if necessary! Collectors don’t need damaged goods.
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Buying art can be a difficult process. Figuring out where to put your new acquisition in your home can feel even more difficult. If you already work with an advisor or an interior designer, their insight and opinion about where artworks should live can be helpful. Most important to any installation process is an open mind, so try things out: put a painting where you think a sculpture may go and vice versa. Don't get hung up on what you believe is the "perfect place" for an artwork; a room can come together in a way you never could have imagined with a simple swap of paintings from one wall to another. And if you don't have an advisor or designer at your side, enlist the help of a friend whose aesthetic sensibility and judgement you trust to envision what things can look like. A second set of eyes for an install always helps.
A NUMBER TO KNOW
$6.4 billion
The estimated size of Japan's secondhand fashion market in 2024, per a report by the Reuse Economic Journal.
Drawn by a huge supply of designer items bought during the Japanese real estate bubble of the 1980s and ‘90s (and often fastidiously preserved ever since thanks to cultural norms), more and more high-end vintage shoppers worldwide have been flocking to the country to spend big over the past few years. To promote the strength of the nation’s circular luxury economy, the Japanese reseller Valuence Holdings Inc. even paid $10.1m (with fees) at a July auction at Sotheby’s Paris to acquire the original Hermès Birkin bag—a bold marketing play that is now drawing more than 150 visitors a day to an exhibition at the company’s shop in Tokyo’s Omotesando district.
If one major driver of this boom could also benefit Japan’s art trade, it’s the continuing weakness of the Japanese yen. A single yen hasn’t been worth more than a US penny since March 2013, and $1 had the buying power of around ¥156 as of Friday. That makes acquiring artwork priced in yen from galleries, auction houses, or private resellers a screaming bargain for foreign collectors whose pockets are bulging with dollars, pounds, or euros.
But the arbitrage opportunity may be deteriorating soon. The Bank of Japan will decide in mid-December whether to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a year. If so, the de facto discount available to jetsetting collectors of luxury goods, art, or both could steadily reduce over the weeks and months ahead. So if you happen across any works priced in yen during Miami Art Week, there really might be no time like the present to pounce.
—Tim Schneider / The Gray Market
ASK: ACCESS SOPHISTICATED KNOWLEDGE
No Reserve ASKed: I've heard of Art Basel Miami Beach—why haven't I heard of Untitled Art?
Clara Andrade, Executive Director of Untitled Art: Some refer to “Art Basel Miami” as if it describes the entire first week of December in the city. It doesn’t. Art Basel is one event, but Miami Art Week is a whole ecosystem with dozens of activations, exhibitions, events, and fairs citywide. Untitled Art is independent from Art Basel, with its own identity, mission, and loyal audience—it just happens at the same time.
Untitled Art launched in 2012 in a tent on the sands of Miami Beach with a then-unusual ambition: to build a fair around strong curatorial vision, artist-led projects, and real community engagement. Over the years, we’ve become known as a place to discover fresh talent and interact with established contemporary voices presented by galleries and non-profits from across the globe.
The 2025 program builds on that spirit with even more collaborative projects. Our “Nest” sector, reimagined this year, subsidizes booths for young galleries; our Special Projects sector welcomes large-scale works that move beyond the tent and into the city through public installations; and our on-site podcast lounge is home to some of the most compelling conversations happening during the week. Untitled Art also partners with major institutional and market players through progressive programming and intentional activations that challenge the conventions of an art fair experience.
Untitled Art is the fair for discovery, experimentation, and curatorially driven presentations. You'll find a cool, laid-back energy, a vibrant crowd, and an unbeatable location. We look forward to seeing you there and showing you around!
Today we’re en route to Miami Art Week, where we'll be hosting a live edition of our “A.S.K.” (Access Sophisticated Knowledge) segment at Untitled Art. Have a question? Visit us from 2-6pm on Thursday December 4th in the Untitled Art Podcast Lounge, or send in your question to [email protected] to receive a free VIP pass to the fair.
2 MINUTES WITH…
We’re throwing it back to 2022 at Hauser & Wirth with the inimitable Gary Simmons on the occasion of his inaugural show with the gallery. Listen below ⬇️ to hear how Simmons sees his work evolving with and around the social and political climate, and his thoughts on how the younger generations are grappling with their voices. Head ➡️ here to listen to the full interview.
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