By Claudia Musolino. Cover image: Margie Mitchem for I’M Firenze Digest.
How has the world of art changed today? Is passion still the driving force behind it? What impact do social media have on the role of artists? There are many interesting challenges to face, but innovation and quality still exist. We talked about it with Diego Bergamaschi, a businessman and art collector.
Being both a businessman and an art collector, how do you reconcile these two different lives? How does your work in the financial sector influence your passion?
Reconciling passion in your life is simple; the time and energy you invest are directly proportional to passion. I spend my leisure time reading or travelling, which become opportunities to nurture my passion, and both worlds benefit each other. The art world is fuelled by generations of ideas that make everything rewarding; the creative aspect is an important component in general and helps people manage other aspects of life better. The skills I have acquired through the study of art have integrated with my knowledge of finance, creating a more structured and objective approach to some phenomena. As a result, I found myself behaving as an observer and consultant in the art world because I bring a schematic view to my passion.
This background helps in interacting with other players in the system, but what about the role of a art collector? Do you try to separate these roles or you bring them together?
In my profession, some apply a professional method by clustering jobs and turning them into an investment asset. I could do that, but I don’t collect or classify art based on its market value. Instead, I focus on genres, currents, and themes more of an intellectual pursuit than an economic one. When I visit galleries, I get to meet and travel with artists who share their research, and the businessman in me takes a backseat.
What is the role of supply and demand versus passion in the art world?
The flow of art creation and distribution is a sort of hourglass. The basis is the artists’ ideas and imagination, and their vision is then conveyed through the market, and this has been the case for a long time. Until 30 years ago, the market was quite stable. Today, art is a cultural phenomenon that is more dynamic and accessible. However, the immense global liquidity and the need to diversify investments have led art to be considered a financial asset, with financial flows from emerging countries introducing finance into the market and leading to art being treated as a commodity.
The most speculative phenomenon is linked to the Eastern and American markets, where artists often bypass traditional steps to achieve exponential increases in the value of their work, auctioned for stellar figures. This hyper-acceleration is achieved in a laboratory-like environment, with certain “products” (because that’s what they become, such as figurative painting) being created with the specific intention of being positioned in a certain way in the market.
There’s a group of people who decide to focus on certain works regardless of their impact on the art world as a whole, and these products can skyrocket in value. However, this phenomenon is part of a larger picture, which includes a constant flow of image and idea production, market trends, and art history. It is important to note that the market is not necessarily an indicator of innovation in the art world today.
In this context, where do originality, experimentation, and research fit, and where does an art collector seek them?
Innovation and quality still exist! However, finding them can be challenging for multiple reasons.
Today’s indicators are different, multiple, and often misleading; sometimes, it’s difficult to recognise them because we’re distracted by this overwhelming number of quotations, and sometimes, it’s difficult to understand where quality lies because galleries only showcase works they have decided to invest in. But despite hyper-speculation, quality emerges. In my research, I have focused on emerging Italian artists who express quality without the influence of speculative phenomena.
Let’s talk about emerging artists known and appreciated through social media. Is it a new stage?
This is a fairly general phenomenon of deregulation: the traditional distribution channels have been disrupted, expanding and flattening the acquisition range of goods, services, and products, and the same goes for art. The difference lies in the positioning of the artist’s goals: it’s one thing if you want to produce art with the intention of selling it; it is another if you want to end up in art history books. Sometimes, these two aspects coincide, and sometimes they don’t.
The real centre is the network and frequenting the art world. For those outside this network, it’s an alternative path. Personally, if an artist is only present on social media and not in the real world, I’m a bit wary; reality works differently. On the one hand, social media can be a powerful tool for selling art, but if you want to make an impact in the art industry, the social structure there is somewhat poor. However, if an artist can adopt a more structured organic networking approach that integrates social media with the art world, including curators, collectors, critics, friends, philosophers, and intellectuals, it can be a winning strategy as social media allows for faster sharing.
Art is about evoking emotions. Is Instagram an effective platform to convey emotions?
Obviously, the visual experience of an artwork on Instagram lacks the materiality that is not always appreciated in a digital image. Still, we have developed a register, a cerebral vision that allows us to perceive and grasp innovation and quality nonetheless.
Let’s discuss NFT digital art and non-traditional expressions in contemporary art. What is their potential in the art world?
In the case of video art, it has great potential. If we’re talking about NFTs, I would prefer not to provide a definitive answer. After an initial boom, we have seen a gradual contraction. I don’t want to come across as conservative or sceptical, but I think it’s still a relatively new phenomenon, like AI. It will certainly have an impact but won’t mark the end of traditional works, painting, sculpture, and analogue photography. It will surely be widespread among digital natives; it will impact, for example, areas of digital research, such as the study of fakes and reproducibility certifications. But if we consider the work itself, it’s still premature. It’s a niche phenomenon, but I don’t think it will ever replace traditional art forms.
You are an art collector that we can define as niche, operating in a sophisticated world of cultural circles and research. Where does this circuit stand today? What is the current state of the cultural debate and philosophical vision pertaining to the art world?
Networking is the driving force behind this movement. The art system may be the tip of the iceberg, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Studies, curators and critics are like Virgil for Dante, acting as guides for artists and researchers. Once the network is created and you meet an artist, you can engage in conversations that are not just about the monetary value of art but delve into the meaning of the works of art and the research behind them.
Often, these studies include texts on philosophy and aesthetics that influence the research behind artistic production. In recent years, there has been a reaction to the relativism of conceptual art, especially in Milan, which has led to a focus on the theme of neo-materialism. From there, I also began to reconstruct this path, gaining a deeper understanding of the reasons behind the works of sculptors and photographers. Today, there is a growing focus on figurative art, leading to fantastic images, because, according to curators, young people try to read reality in a more detailed and nuanced way that is part of their way of processing and narrating experiences.
So, is curiosity a fundamental characteristic for an art collector?
Exactly! It’s not just about knowing the market but rather understanding the nature and root of phenomena. Quality exists and should be sought in the workshops where it’s produced. Twenty-year-old artists today are thinking about what we will take for granted in twenty years, and having access to all this is a privilege. Collectors want to understand why different forms of art exist and have the opportunity to analyse economic, social, and political themes well in advance.
Art has been addressing issues like gender differences and environmental themes for over twenty years. It depends on what you want to extract from art; if it’s a speculative or financial theme, it’s one thing, but if you want to derive human intellectual benefit, the path is more complex yet more fascinating and analytical. Understanding the reason and motivation behind an artwork is crucial; the more you know about the artist, the more you appreciate their value. This is the hidden part of the iceberg that ultimately adds true value.
Is it difficult to reconcile those who do it for work and those who do it for passion?
Art collectors generally don’t do it for work. They’re non-professional actors in the art world, but they’re essential. The issue is more about how you do it because the better you do it, the more you benefit the entire system.
