Olivia Davis, Author at Art of Choice

11 Questions with Pete Scantland

Olivia Davis — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 01:04:46 +0000

11 Questions with Pete Scantland

We had the opportunity to sit down, albeit virtually, with Pete Scantland, the founder and CEO of the advertising company Orange Barrel Media, and Columbus-based contemporary art collector. Over the past four years, Scantland has amassed quite an impressive collection of some of the most sought after names in the art industry today. Scantland’s home illustrates his deep passion for art and for building an important collection — “I focus on artists of my generation, with a particular emphasis on artists that present a global and diverse perspective on the most important issues facing us as individuals and as a society,” he says.

Installation view of Maia Cruz-Palileo, The Duet, 2019; Amoako Boafo, Green Shirt, 2019, and Jasmine Little.

Can you tell us a bit about your background in media and what your role as CEO of Orange Barrel Media looks like?

Our company develops and operates iconic outdoor media displays and in 30 major cities. From the beginning, we’ve been focused on growing by developing a business model that delivers benefit to the communities we operate in, and we do that by partnering with artists, institutions, and other stakeholders at the local level to create a platform they can use to advance their mission and to share their work in an extraordinarily public way, and also, by sharing revenue such that the cities benefit economically. I spend most of my time working with our team to develop these relationships. This work allows me to unite my interest in art and design with our business, and is a major point of differentiation for our company in our industry. For example, we just launched a new project in West Hollywood, on the Sunset Strip. We partnered with the City to set a new ambition for what a sign could be – from a formal standpoint, from a content standpoint, and for how the business model could work. The project was awarded an AIA award – we believe the first for a billboard ever, and we will have a number of major original art commissions this year. We just finished with the Propeller Group, and have just debuted a new work with Nick Cave, who has developed a new execution of Truth Be Told, his work that was ordered down at Jack Shainman in Kinderhook. It’s launching on this project in West Hollywood, and then going nationwide on more than 200 of our other digital screens on the Fourth of July. Later this year, we have projects with Pipilotti Rist, Catherine Opie, Cauleen Smith, and others. We use our platform to try to improve civic discourse and enrich people’s lives. For example, last year, we partnered with Jenny Holzer, Jeffrey Gibson, Carrie Mae Weems and Tomashi Jackson to launch a nationwide Get Out The Vote campaign that reached 300 million people before election day.

Installation view of Robin F Williams and Gina Beavers.

Do you think art plays a role in the world of media? If so, how?

Absolutely. Most artists today have a lot of interest in engaging a much larger and more diverse audience than they would by limiting their practice to the studio. Think about an artist like Hank Willis Thomas. His public practice is impacting the lives of millions of people. He’s incredibly sophisticated not only as an artist, but as a communicator and as a marketer, and his work shapes the dialogue far beyond the artworld.

Installation view of Somaya Critchlow.

When did your interest in art begin? What was your first experience?

I’ve been interested in art my whole life, and studied art in college, but thought I could have more impact by being adjacent to art rather than as an artist. I was attracted to advertising because it leverages many of the skills you learn as an artist. Honestly, I believe the business world would be a better place if we had more people trained as artists. When I reached a point I thought I could begin to contribute, I began to get involved in arts in our community. I was the youngest trustee at the Columbus Museum of Art, where I’ve been on the board since 2009, and I’m on the Wexner Center for the Arts board as well. Together with my family, we’ve recently endowed the director of learning position at the CMA and also made the first gift in what will be an ongoing commitment to helping the museum build an important collection capturing this period in our history.

Installation view of Naudline Pierre.

When did you begin collecting?

I bought my first work while in college, but began what I would consider to be my mature collecting career about four years ago.

Installation view of Gahee Park.

What attracted you to emerging artists over established?

I love art from prior eras, but I didn’t believe I could build a great collection from an earlier period. Focusing on art from my generation (loosely defined) allows me to be more fluent in the ideas explored by the artists, and as a result of that, I think I’m far more capable of knowing who and what is going to be important. Putting aside the economics and the availability of material, which would also make it impossible, you could never do that by focusing on another area. The ideas explored by artists of this generation are more relevant and interesting to me, because they’re focused on the world I’m also living in. And you can build a relationship with galleries and artists that are my contemporaries, and carry that through their careers as a gallerist, as an artist, and mine as a collector. Of course, today, many of the artists I started with just a few years ago are much more established, and I’m continuing with them, but also super excited about artists just finishing school.

Installation view, from left to right, of Jennifer Rochlin, P-22 with Hollywood Sign, n.d.; Dominique Fung, Stay Home, 2020; and Firelei Baéz, Errantry (a minor key that alters the structure of the major form within), 2019.

Do you work with an advisor or source on your own?

I have help with collection management, and I will sometimes buy through an advisor if they have something interesting, but most times, I am dealing directly with galleries. I have lots of mentors and others that I find to be knowledgeable and interesting, and love getting advice where I can.

Installation view of Ebony G. Patterson.

Do you have a favorite piece in your collection?

It would be impossible to name just one, so I’ll name some recent acquisitions I’m excited about: Jade Fadojutimi, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Yesiyu Zhao, Hayley Barker, James Bartolacci, Danielle McKinney, Gina Beavers, Robin F. Williams, Mimi Lauter, Nadia Ayari, Jammie Holmes, Keiran Brennan Hinton, Brenna Youngblood, Cristina BanBan, Brianna Rose Brooks.

Installation view of Derek Fordjour.

Installation view, from left to right, of Sharif Farrag, Robert Nava, Rain Catcher, 2020; Simone Leigh, Stretch (black), 2020.

What’s next on your wish list?

I just saw the Janiva Ellis show at the ICA Miami, and I’m obsessed. I’m also very interested in Kenny Rivero, Maria Berrio, Guimi You, Sasha Gordon, the list goes on…

Social media has introduced so many great young artists. Are you ever torn between buying art that you love versus art that you think is a good investment?

I don’t ever buy anything because I think it’s a good investment, but I do believe that my collection will turn out to be a great one. Not that I would ever sell, and hope instead that it will help to advance the story of art made during this momentous time.

Installation view of Claire Tabouret and Aubrey Levinthal.

Installation view, from top to bottom, of María Fragoso, You’ve Heard This One Before, 2020; Tanya Merrill, GaHee Park, and others including hand-shaped chair by Pedro Friedeberg, 1970.

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Samantha Rosenwald Leans on Her Sense of Humor as a Mode of Social Survival

Olivia Davis — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 20:48:46 +0000

Growing up somewhat of an outcast in the, what some could say, superficial city of Los Angeles, Samantha Rosenwald has learned to rely on humor as a shield, socially. Samantha uses colored pencil, mostly making paintings on canvas, to make work about the conflicts and rapport between anxiety and comedy, and success and failure. Rosenwald (b. 1994, Los Angeles) received her BA in Art History from Vassar College in 2016 and her MFA in Fine Art from California College of the Arts in 2018. Rosenwald has shown with galleries such as Good Mother Gallery, CULT Exhibitions, and PS8, and has been featured in magazines such as VoyageLA, New American Paintings, and Art Maze Mag.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from originally and when did art first enter your life?

I was born and raised in LA, and I think growing up in such a vanity-centric juice cleanse namaste environment has really influenced the way I think about myself and the way I make art. I was always a comedian, and I guess, psychoanalyzing my childhood, I’d say that was in part a defense mechanism against the social pressure to be pretty and perfect and polite. But going all the way back, I’ve been making art and making jokes for as long as I can remember. I specifically remember making a whole series of drawings when I was around 4 that featured bunnies enshrined by a spiraling trail of their own shit. I think that sums up my childhood pretty succinctly.

Has your work always taken on the style it currently embodies?

Yes and no. I’ve always been interested in the dichotomy between funny and manic, and that has definitely taken on different forms in my work through the years. In the past, I was focusing more on the Petra Collins-esque one-two punch of showing a woman in vulnerable yet “unladylike” compositions — like shaving her body hair, picking her nose, etc. Currently, I’ve been thinking about comedy, zaniness, anxiety, and the understanding of women throughout history in maybe a more veiled manner, talking around these motifs in a visual language of allegory, existing and made-up symbolism, and puns. I think the partially encrypted message that lies behind these less straightforward compositions give the subject matter more space to exist and breathe and evoke the many layers of emotions, experiences, and concepts I’m thinking about when I make them.

What’s a day in the studio like for you?

I love being in my studio, it’s my favorite thing to be doing. If I have the whole day to work on my paintings, I’ll usually wake up, make a list of things I want to get done that day, get some coffee and a bagel and get started. I’ll usually keep tv playing in the background on my laptop; right now I’m really into The Great British Bake Off haha. The contestants are all so polite and all making such cute desserts, it sets a really comforting vibe for me. My work is primarily colored pencil on canvas, which also brings me comfort, even though the process can, at times, be tedious and time consuming. I’ve been using colored pencils since I was a child, so the medium brings me back to being a goofy, constantly drawing little kid. Once I finish my coffee, I’ll probably move onto a White Claw and some lunch. I’ll then continue with the White Claws and the coloring until I and/or my hands get tired.

What’s next for you?

Just to keeping working steadily, making new paintings, and thinking of new ideas. I’m currently working toward my first European solo show, which is very exciting, and some group shows here in LA, New York, and Istanbul.

From where do you draw inspiration?

From a lot of places. I was an art history major in college, so I’m always looking back to the history of art as a recipient of mimicry and/or mockery. I’m also really inspired by fashion — not only for the contemporary styles and patterns and trends, but also as a force of social governance. It’s interesting and kind of scary to me that trends have this crazy power over people, can cause violence, and often have such acutely memetic associations: brands like Thrasher, Balenciaga, Supreme, they carry these immediate and ineffable social implications, stereotypes, and biases. Fashion is definitely a really affective tool in my art for those reasons. I’m also inspired by comedy. In a way, I think of my paintings as a very dissociative and manic stand-up routine. I try to hit the punchlines, gags, non sequiturs, and the pregnant pauses of my visual jokes and ideas with the cadence and balance of a wry comedian.

What source material do you base your work off of?

Most of the compositions I create are loosely based on art historical tropes, dreams, plays on words, and objects I think of or see that I find meaningful or funny. I try not to rely on source material too much, except if I’m directly quoting a painting or work of art. Most of the time, if I want to draw a bee, for example, I’ll look at a picture of a bee, but then I’ll put it away so my drawing turns into a weirder more surreal conception of a bee. The source material that I do use typically comes from gothic, ancient Roman, or Renaissance art. Those are the genres that are most commonly thought of as the greatest art historical genres so they’re absolutely loaded and perfect for sarcastically riffing on.

Does your work reference any Art Historical movements?

As I’ve mentioned, yes a ton. I think the art history we learn or see the most is so full of associations of perfection, virtue, and male power over a female muse. The words “art history,” especially to those who have never really studied it, immediately bring to mind the Italian Renaissance. Because the art of the Renaissance is so ubiquitously revered as this skillful, ornate pinnacle of fine art, it provides really rich fodder to the manifestation of the cynical and parodic compositions I make. In addition to the Italian Renaissance, I’m also thinking a lot about the Dutch Renaissance. The colors, the clay-like figuration, and the heavy application of parables and proverbs are all so weird and amazing. I also like to reference ancient Roman art, ancient Egyptian art, and contemporary art, among many other movements and genres.

What is your process like? How do you begin a work?

Much like the manic and anal themes I’m addressing in my paintings, my process is pretty anal and specific. I usually start out with an idea for a composition, though sometimes the title of the painting comes first. Once I’ve got an idea of what I’m making, I draw it out on paper and get it just right. Simultaneously, I’m building and stretching the canvas. The gessoing process takes quite a while because the surface quality has to be smooth and porous enough to absorb the colored pencil. Once I have the canvas ready and the sketch figured out, I map out a rough outline of the composition on the canvas with a #2 pencil and begin to color it all with colored pencil. I usually have a good idea of what colors I’ll use but sometimes that comes later on, depending on how the piece is looking and feeling.

At the end of every interview, we like to ask the artist to recommend a friend whose work you love for us to interview next. Who would you suggest?

I would love for you to take a look at the work of my very cool and talented boyfriend, Ben Quinn. His work is almost exactly opposite from mine, and is rich with existentialism, the hollowness of the tangible world, and post-psychedelic musings on the plasticity between our reality and other incorporeal or metaphysical realities.

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