The Collector's Corner

My guest today is one of the most eclectic collectors I've come across. Linda Du is the founder of fintech startup Moola, splitting her time between Berlin and London. She's drawn to the overlaps between art, tech and money: three worlds that rarely speak to each other, but which she moves between seamlessly. One example: she applies the economic concept of utility to her collecting. In a nutshell, a way of measuring satisfaction rather than money, in this case the joy she gets from the art she acquires.

I was particularly struck by how woven art is into Linda's life. Art seems to be much more than a backdrop or a set of personal anecdotes for her, rather something that moves in lockstep with however she's living at the time. Many of her pieces were gifts; the ones she bought herself tend to mark meaningful moments. Linda collects largely outside the traditional art ecosystem, gravitating toward smaller regional galleries and artist-led spaces, while also buying blue-chip editions through Avant Arte.

In this episode, we talk about how Linda turned a piece of family history into one of her most meaningful artworks, why the resale side of the art market is murkier than people expect, how Burning Man shaped the way she thinks about experiencing art and in the spirit of ecclctisim, are even given glimpse into her own crypto strategy.

References from the episode:

• Ai Weiwei
• Dima Melancholiac
• Gabriela Těthalová
• Dirimart Gallery
• Themba Khumalo
• Sebastian Welzel
• Ahmad al Shareef
• Nicolas Scalbert
• Blue Lobster
• Avant Arte
• Christine Ödlund
• The Art Journal Next-Gen Collectors Interview
• Twilight Sculpture Garden (Jardin du Crépuscule)
• Naïve Art
• Niki de Saint Phalle
• Il Giardino Dei Tarocchi
• The Borderland
• Benjamin Langholz
• Triple Trouble
• Damien Hirst
• Shepard Fairey
• Invader
• Fotografiska Berlin
• Zhang Huan

After a couple of months of a somewhat forced summer hiatus, I'm very excited to be back with today's interview.

I'm obviously passionate about art, but I've also long nurtured an interest in design, mostly vintage, or as today's guest calls it, historical design. So when I first came across collectible design, I'll admit I was a little unsure: is it decoration, is it furniture, is it art? As I learned in this conversation, it seems to touch all of the above, and so much more.

My guest today is Liv Vaisberg, co-founder of COLLECTIBLE, the most significant fair dedicated to contemporary collectible design, running for almost a decade between Brussels and New York. Liv is a lawyer by background who always wanted to work in culture, and forged her own path into it. COLLECTIBLE is far from her first fair; she's spent years building fairs in both art and design, starting while she was still practicing law.

Beyond Liv's unlikely path, we talk about what actually makes something collectible design, why it struggles to be valued the way art is, and why despite often being perceived as "lesser" , design carries just as much depth as art, including as a space for identity and politics.

Designer referenced in the episode:

• Saadane Afif
• Johan Viladrich
• Sabine Marcelis
• PAD
• Laurids Gallée
• Xavier Lust
• Chaeyoung Lee
• Familiar Form
• Barry Llewellyn
• Anna Aagaard Jensen

This is a support test

When Jorg Rozier first reached out to tell me he had found a method that systematically allowed him to identify how an artist's trajectory was evolving within the art canon, I was obviously intrigued. He'd decided to put his model (yes, as in Excel model) into a book so that more collectors could use it. That book is The Canon Index, and that's how today's interview came about.

Jorg's collection, in his own words, is built around one idea: a fight. The model he developed to build it is grounded in a peer-reviewed study published in Science in 2018, accessible to anyone, for free. But when I read his book, I was disconcerted. The contrast between the elusiveness most people perceive from the art market and the analytical lens this research provides felt like finding out about something I shouldn't know. And Jorg chose to apply it systematically to achieve his dream: building, within his means, a museum-grade collection.

In our conversation we talk about how the model works, why auction might be the single best place for new collectors to buy, and why despite all of this, good art advisors will never be out of a job.

Note: the Fraiberger et al. paper referenced in this episode was published in Science in 2018, not 2016 as stated during the conversation.

Artist references:

• Fraiberger et al. — Quantifying Reputation and Success in Art
• Anton Heyboer
• Sergej Jensen
• David Ostrowski
• Josh Smith
• Barnaby Furnas
• Pamela Rosenkranz
• Richard Serra
• Takesda Matsutani
• Marcel Dzama
• Kaws
• Alec Monopoly
• Joseph Klibansky
• Retna
• Daniel Arsham
• Anne Imhof
• Rosa de la Cruz Collection

Every gallery show has one: the text on the wall, or the sheet you pick up at the door, that is meant to help you understand the artwork. But how often does it actually do that? In this Behind The Mic episode, I talk about my complicated relationship with show texts, the validation I've been looking for in them, why they so often don't deliver it, and the afternoon at a Berlin gallery when one text finally changed my whole perspective.

Jesse Darling, The Contractor at Galerie Molitor

I hope you enjoy this episode - let me know your thoughts on Instagram @collectors_corner_ or on the podcast website!

The collector experience doesn't exist in isolation: it's shaped by the infrastructure around it, the web connecting artists to galleries, galleries to new audiences, and new audiences to the work. The problem is, that infrastructure has gaps.

Ade Sanusi, founder of Art Meets Culture (@artmeetsculture), has spent years identifying where it fails and building his own answer to it. Through events, brand partnerships, talks, and a brilliant podcast, he creates what he calls cultural infrastructure for the next generation of artists - in particular those trying to build careers without traditional entry points. He came up through the music industry, and in my opinion the parallels he draws make the picture very telling.

I am the first to tend to describe the art world as an 'ecosystem' but I like how Ade reframes it as infrastructure. Unlike an ecosystem, infrastructure feels tangible -it can be measured, objectively critiques and rebuilt. And that's exactly what he's doing.

References mentioned in the episode:

• Banksy documentary Exit through the gift shop
• Mr Brainwash
• DSYF
• Slawn at Saatchi Yates
• 1-54
• Daniel Arsham and Hublot
• Yinka Ilori
• Yinka Ilori & Lego: Launderette of Dreams
• Puretee Elusive
• Ken Nwadiogbu
• Koby Martin
• Club Bum
• Hebru Brantley
• KAWS
• Kehinde WIley

In this episode, I continue my exploration of art advisory with Prisca Pan, founder of Unframd. Based in the US, Prisca works with clients from tech, law, and finance and puts strategy and financial thinking explicitly at the centre of her practice, which I hadn't come across yet and therefore truly caught my attention. Her mission is to get more people collecting while understanding art as an asset class, which she directly compares to venture capital.

That last part is where things get complicated for me. My day job is in finance and alternative assets, so I understand the framework. But I've always believed art serves a role in our civilisation that's hard to price: it transcends individuals and generations, captures cultural relevance in real time, functions almost like a public good. When art gets repackaged as an investment vehicle, the market starts selecting for financial value, and I worry that slowly erodes the conditions that make culturally meaningful work possible in the first place. I'm not naive about it: artists need to make a living, and markets exist for a reason. I just feel like a line should be drawn somewhere. I can't fully articulate where yet.

Ultimately I do agree with Prisca that it's not about throwing away the old art world, but building on it as our broader world changes. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

References mentioned in the episode:

• Alvaro Barrington
• Moffat Takadiwa
• Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
• Alexa Hatanaka

Follow the podcast to see the guests' collections at ⁠@collectors_corner_⁠ !

I never seriously considered working with an art advisor. To me, 'having an advisor' was something for people with a lot of means and experience - ironically, those who might need it least. Tackling that limiting belief was one of the reasons I started interviewing art advisors, alongside understanding what they actually do.

Following my last episode with a Paris-based collector/advisor duo, I'm continuing with this format and introducing my first NY-based guests.

Kate Lee works in tech, started collecting five years ago, and the clarity and ambition behind her and her partner's approach is something I find genuinely inspiring. They focus on emerging artists from Asia and Latin America, a reflection of their own roots and identities, and have built the 603 Arts Foundation to support those artists beyond their private collection, through acquisitions and exhibition support across galleries and institutions. It's rare to see a young collector couple build, this early on, what they couldn't find but believed was deeply needed.

Anne Parke is building her platform to help a new generation of collectors step into the art world, removing barriers and bringing discernment to a space often oversaturated with content. She was the catalyst to Kate's entry into collecting and has accompanied her journey as a trusted friend and advisor since day one.

What I'm taking away from this conversation: working with an advisor is more accessible than I thought, and with the right person, it can accelerate your journey tenfold. But I’ll stop here for now and leave you to enjoy my conversation with Kate Lee and Anne Parke.

References from the episode:

• Neal Vandenbergh
• ShrineSilke Lindner
• Gladstone Gallery
• Karma
• Bortolami
• Ben Tong
• Zéh Palito
• Jennifer Carvalho
• MoMA PS1 Greater New York
• Maia Cruz Palileo
• Sylvie Hayes Wallace
• Adriana Varejão
• Rachel Youn
• Komal Shah Garg

Follow the podcast to see the guests' collections at ⁠@collectors_corner_⁠ !

I’ve always been intrigued by art advisors. Who are they, what do they do, why and how does one become one and what is their role in the ecosystem? I’ve encountered multiple and they all seem to define their work in a very unique way. So in an attempt to get my questions answered I decided to do a joint interview, an art collector and their advisor.

Back in Paris I sat down with Régis Decour - an entrepreneur with no formal art background who started collecting at age 19 - and Yana Kotina (@kartadvisory), his art advisor, who works across contemporary and modern art with both new and seasoned collectors.

Régis and Yana’s friendship evolved into a professional collaboration, built on 6 years of talking about art, visiting studios and exchanging on artists and which opened doors to new markets, new geographies, new mediums that Régis wouldn't encounter on his own.

This episode is about what it actually looks like to work with an advisor for Régis and Yana of course but also more broadly: how the dynamic works in practice and how it can wildly differ, how independence is maintained, and how you get paid.

So I’ll stop here and leave you to enjoy my conversation with Regis Decour and Yana Kotina

References from the episode:

• Shuo Hao
• Leonard Bourgois Beaulieu
• Alexander Ugay
• Poush
• Thomas Devaux
• Reena Spaulings
• François Malingrey
• Paris B Gallery
• Philippe Ramette
• Sayan Baigaliyev
• Peter Doig
• Jean Nipon
• Jean and Terry de Gunzburg

Follow the podcast to see the guests' collections at ⁠@collectors_corner_⁠ !

If there’s one thing I’m learning with this podcast is that there is no single or right way to collect. So speaking with Liza Shapiro (@lizashapiro) and Georgia Powell (@georgiabethpowell), the founders of CURA Art (@cura_art_), I was excited to get a bit more of a meta view on the topic. Since 2019, they've worked with a broad variety of private and corporate collectors between London and Los Angeles, to support them in the ongoing care and management of their collections.

To them caring for one’s art collection is akin to taking care of one’s physical health - an analogy they’ve seen eye to eye on ever since they first met while working together at the Redfern Gallery in London.

Georgia and Liza care deeply about the art they look after on behalf of their clients. However, what motivates them above everything else is developing personal relationships with their clients to help them build collections thoughtfully with purpose, integrity and intent, and ultimately allow them to embrace their role as custodians.

What differences are there between seasoned and new collectors, how do the London and LA art cultures compare, what is really the biggest threat to any art collection. Georgia and Liza share fascinating insights on this and more.

So I’ll stop here and leave you to enjoy my conversation with Georgia Powell and Liza Shapiro of CURA Art.

References from the episode:

• Frieze LA
• Frieze london
• Echo Soho art fair
• NextGen Collectors and the Art market by Georgina Adam
• Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air art programme
• Amy Mackay
• Ackerman Studios
• Wilder Gallery London
• Xanthe Burdett
• Tahnee Lonsdale
• Joy Simmons
• Henriane Mourgue d'Algue

Follow the podcast to see the guests' collections at ⁠@collectors_corner_⁠ !

Cover art picture by Jayne West Photography