At home with….Chela Mitchell
27 April 2021
Chela Mitchell, founder of Chela Mitchell Art (CMA) provides art advisory to private, public, and new collectors looking to navigate the contemporary art market. With experience as a collector and a deep understanding of the industry, Chela assists clients in all aspects of building a fine art collection.
In addition to art consulting, CMA represents a family of fine artists making unique contributions to the contemporary art canon. CMA has a strong focus on working with artists of colour and women as harbingers of radical change.
Last year brought about many changes because of the pandemic, were there any consequences for you as an art professional?
As an art advisor I love being in a gallery or exhibition, to be with the art, to see it up close and view the details. As beautiful as art is in an online viewing room (and I do think we’ve done the best we can to present art as beautifully as possible digitally), I cannot wait to see art in person, see an artist’s space and see how they work. Although I’ve been doing virtual studio visits, I miss the in-person contact; so much of my work evolves around connecting and meeting people.
So how did you keep in touch with the art world throughout this challenging time?
Instagram is a wonderful tool, many people have negative things to say about social media or even bad experiences but like anything else you make it a place of community, a way that people can reach out to you. You can connect and get to know others, it’s a great platform for artists and a nice preview and introduction to get to know their work. I was able to reach out, I met a lot of art advisors that way and it’s a great medium to share work. I made sales through Instagram, people spotted some work and messaged me directly to purchase work.
Were there any changes in the art market that surprised you, or any works or artists that stood out for you during that time?
I was really surprised that the secondary market was booming, there was no drastic decline. Collectors didn’t let the pandemic get them down, if anything they were more inspired to support as a lot of artists were struggling. A lot of artists were meant to have their first solo shows that couldn’t be viewed. I was under the impression that we weren’t going to have a lot of sales this year but I was pleasantly surprised as it seems the art market remains strong whatever happens and I am happy to be a part of this. I was still able to sell quite a bit of art after the first lockdown, even though people were a little guarded initially. It was clear they really wanted to support the artists and the art eco-system.
Many people who are new to buying art are looking for inspiration and guidance from those that have been buying art for a while, especially when it comes to buying their first work of art. Do you remember your first art purchase?
One of the first pieces I acquired was a photograph by Dee Dwyer, a black female artist from Washington DC, my hometown. The photograph is of a Brazilian grandfather figure with a young girl, about 5 or 6 years old. Dee was working in Brazil at the time and I think the work was sold as part of a fundraiser for the favelas. I was very connected to the energy of this piece as I had recently lost my father.
I’d like to say to any new collectors, some of the first pieces you buy will not be large-scale paintings but will probably be works on paper, maybe a print or a photograph, it is not about the size and scale of things, it’s about the art. Start slowly and start small! Whether you purchase a 5 x 5 in or a 4 x 4 ft it doesn’t matter, it is the work that matters.
Is there one stand out tip that you can give to those who are starting a collection or considering buying their first work of art?
My top tip would be to purchase a work that you wouldn’t mind seeing every day. We don’t want to live with regrets but if you buy a work you don’t like you’ll have to live with that decision. Take your time and make sure the work resonates with you. I am happy to look at the art in my home; you should feel lucky and happy to have the pieces that you have. Buy what you love and remember you have to live with it. It’s absolutely fine to love a work of art and not want to live with it. I love a lot of works from Francis Bacon, I love the darkness and the macabre elements, but I don’t know if I would want to live with them. I hope that when you collect, you want to hang it on the wall and not put the work in storage. Artwork is meant to be lived with!
Is there one work that you either own or would like to own that stands out above all others for you?
I don’t own it, but I would love to own Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque (2014) by the brilliant painter, the late Noah Davis. I love his work and I was able to see a show at David Zwirner just before lockdown. What I like is that Noah magnifies the beauty of the projects involving subsidised housing in marginalised communities. This painting depicts a project with ballerinas dancing outside, it moved me and made me think about my own childhood. People assume that when communities live in poverty, every day is filled with tragic life. Of course, there is a lot of tragedy and people shouldn’t have to suffer and be hungry, but for me growing up in a similar community, we had each other. There was a sense of community, caring for each other and needing one another. You can have a fun childhood without having ample resources and a lot of money. There is still joy in these neighbourhoods and it is important to highlight that. Noah managed to capture this beautifully.
Many collectors are looking to deepen their knowledge of the arts and the market. Is there a book that inspired you?
The Black Market, a guide to art collecting by Charles Moore is wonderful, that would be my first recommendation and the second would be Boom by Michael Shnayerson. It’s a historical reference book into the art market. There are a lot of parallels to the current market, it was crazy now, but it was crazy back then too. It was great to learn about the abstract expressionist movement and how people didn’t believe in what they did, but the artists stuck to their guns and made some of the most influential work in the history of art. The book talks about the galleries then who were at the forefront of the movement and about the money they made, and of course it features Peggy Guggenheim, whom I admire so much. I love her rebellious spirit.
I suggest read as much as you can, I collect many books about things that interest me. My current two favourite coffee table books are Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power and Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists about Bernard Lumpkin’s beautiful collection that I was able to view last year. And there’s also Charline von Heyl that I am a huge fan of. When I have a moment, I go through these books, they inspire me and make me want to work harder.
What do you feel is the role of art professionals and advisors and how do you think they can help collectors?
To me the role of an art advisor is to make your collecting journey as efficient, positive, and easy as possible. There are a lot of factors that come in to collecting, you may like the work and you may want to purchase it but it’s not that easy. There is a limited amount of good work and a lot of people that want them. It all depends on the connections that you have, you may not be first in line to get this work that you like.
There’s a lot that goes into collecting art outside of the aesthetics of it. It’s very business oriented so what an art advisor does is travel the world, go to the all the shows, see all the exhibitions, they are walking portals of art intel. Art advisors can help you acquire works, introduce you to artists and galleries, it is a great investment to have an advisor on your team, guiding you on your journey.
They know the primary and secondary market and they can really help you build a diverse collection. A diverse collection should have works by emerging, mid-career and blue-chip artists and just as many women artists as men and just as many artists of colour as white.
If you are a new collector or even a seasoned collector who doesn’t know what the focus of their collection should be, an art advisor can help find the threads between all your works, see how they connect and give it a bit more depth. Art advisors don’t tell you what to buy but we guide you to what would work for you, based on your desires.
What is the one thing you look forward to in the art world in 2021?
So many things! I founded a global arts club for artists and people of colour named Komuna, it is growing well and I recently created a digital membership. The feedback has been great, curators have contacted me to say it’s so good to have a space where I can talk to like-minded people. We’ve interviewed artists like Gabriella Sanchez and Jamea Richmond-Edwards for example. I am looking forward to growing the network and doing some in person events rather than just online.
I’ve also put on a new hat as a dealer and am representing my first artist, Vivian Chiu (Columbia University MFA, Master of Design and Abstract Sculpture), I look forward to working with her and to work on her solo show. I love working with women, I love their intuition and how nurturing we are and how caring we are for one another.
I look forward to seeing my peers, going to art fairs. I want to be out, and love life more than I ever have before and to show love and appreciate art in a way I haven’t done before. We take things for granted and when things are taken from us, we want them back and appreciate them more when we can. I am going to live life to the fullest and appreciate every moment that I have.