The Art World Works From Home: Monique Meloche Is Hosting Gallery Visits by Appointment and Rewatching the Documentary ’13th’

The art world may be on lockdown, but it certainly does not
stop. During this unprecedented time, we’re checking in with
art-world professionals, collectors, and artists to get a glimpse
into how they are working from home.

Chicago art dealer Monique Meloche built her career—and a thriving mid-size
gallery—based on a knack for spotting talented artists who
would go on to hit it big, including Amy Sherald and Rashid
Johnson. Today, she’s spending her time working to foster the
careers of artists including Ebony G. Patterson, Maia Cruz Palileo,
and Nate Young.

Her gallery in Chicago recently re-opened by appointment only
with an exhibition of work by Young, which continues his
investigation into excavated bones thought to be from the horse
that once carried the artist’s great-grandfather during the Great
Migration. This interview originally took place in May, but
has been updated to reflect the gallerist’s response to current
events.

Where is your new
“office”? 

I have recently been going back and
forth between our home in Chicago and our beach house in Indiana,
depending on whether I’m needed to tend to things in the
gallery. Right now, I am writing from my kitchen
table in Miller Beach at our mid-century modern home built into a
dune staring out onto Lake Michigan—which looks like an ocean from
this vantage point. We can see the silhouette of Chicago’s skyline
on a clear day. It is quite surreal in our serene
setting, knowing all the protests and trauma going on in the city,
and we are heading back to do our part.

What are you working on
right now (and were any projects of yours interrupted by the
lockdown)?

At the moment, we are sharing our
message of support and outrage by the loss of Black lives in
America taken by those who have vowed to protect
us. We have also been encouraging our art
community to take real action now and join us in making
contributions to organizations including the Chicago Community Bond
Fund, the Chicago Freedom School, the Bail
Project, Black Visions Collective, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,
Communities United Against Police Brutality, and the ACLU. We are
checking in with all our artists for emotional support and asking
any who desire to add their voices to our
platform. In the midst of all this trauma,
Chicago is now at phase three and the gallery is allowed to
reopen. We are doing that slowly and safely and
inviting folks to make appointments for private viewings of Nate
Young’s solo exhibition… It is a timely exhibition and we hope the
conversations we have in the gallery are meaningful and help to
heal and move forward toward justice for all.

How has your work changed
now that you are doing it from home?

Our team has been really efficient
working remotely, and we try to maintain our gallery hours of
Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., but of course it is
easy to lose track… Our weekly Wednesday morning meetings over Zoom
have become more productive and streamlined, although today’s was
three hours long, as I think we all miss seeing each other’s faces!
My husband and I work out daily, so it is nice to be able to slip
out for an afternoon run, bike, or hike in the Indiana Dunes. I
also take frequent gardening breaks to tackle the
weeds. 

What are you reading, both
online and off?

We have paused posting any
extraneous content during these past two weeks of necessary
protests and many others in the arts community have respectfully
postponed online programming. However, I was spending a lot of time
watching talks and studio visits on Zoom and Instagram Live. My
favorites are Anita Zabludowicz’s weekly chats with collectors
around the globe sharing intimate tours of their collections, as
well as “PARLOUR” with Larry Ossei-Mensah and Troy Carter, which
brings together interesting groups of artists, curators, dealers,
and more. Actual books on the bedside table are God Save the
Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy
Iandoli and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi
Coates.

Have you visited any good
virtual exhibitions recently?

Our Nate Young exhibition of course
[which was digital before we reopened the gallery], but I was also
amused by Josh Smith’s “High AF”
rooftop exhibition at David Zwirner. The current group show at
Vigo Gallery in London has pretty terrific
virtual tour, which has made our team obsessed with their
floor-to-ceiling window view of the “London”
countryside.

Have you taken up any new
hobbies?

Nothing new, but my gin game has
improved considerably.

What is the first place you
want to travel to once this is over?

I discovered that a client of mine
owns an amazing yoga retreat in Bali, so I’ve been dreaming about
that!

If you are feeling stuck
while self-isolating, what’s your best method for getting
un-stuck?

Jump on the Peloton bike or go out
for a run

What was the last TV show,
movie, or YouTube video you watched?

Just revisited Ava DuVernay’s
13th, a necessary film exposing how the American criminal
justice system got so corrupt.

If you could have one famous
work of art with you, what would it be?

Anything by Kerry James
Marshall.

Favorite recipe to cook at
home?

I cook a lot, but kind of like to
wing it! My go-to honey-peppered salmon is a staple—and anyone who
has been to our post-opening dinners at our home in Chicago knows
that it can easily be scaled up to feed 40 people. Always in our
fridge at the beach house are my homemade “quickles.”

What are you most looking
forward to doing once social distancing has been
lifted? 

Being back in the gallery, taking
clients through our exhibitions, and working toward a more just and
equitable future.

The post The Art World Works From Home: Monique Meloche Is
Hosting Gallery Visits by Appointment and Rewatching the
Documentary ’13th’ appeared first on artnet News.