What I Buy & Why: Art-Fair Director Kamiar Maleki on the Artwork That Got Away (and the One His Son Can’t Stop Trying to Play With)

by admin

Apr 13, 2020

artnet

A version of this story first
appeared in the spring 2020 Artnet Intelligence
Report.

What was your first acquisition?

Technically, a piece by Japanese photographer Tomoaki Makino
from the now-defunct Museum 52, in London. But what I’d consider my
first serious piece was a Ged Quinn painting, The Wintry Wind
of the Bone, which I bought for under £8,000.

What was your most recent acquisition?

A painting by a young Iranian artist called Amir Khojasteh, from
a group show at Gazelli Art House.

Which works or artists are you hoping to add to your
collection this year?

I don’t have a specific list, but some of my favorite artists
right now are Sanam Khatibi, Cassi Namoda, Louise Bonnet, Robin F.
Williams, and Genesis Belanger.

Amir Khojasteh, The Painter
(2018). Copyright the Artist. Courtesy Carbon 12, Dubai.

What is the most expensive work of art that you
own?

I don’t value art by its price. My favorite pieces are from Ida
Ekblad, Neil Beloufa, Dean Levin, and Melike Kara.

Where do you buy art most frequently?

From art fairs, galleries, and degree shows.

Is there a work you regret purchasing? If so,
why?

One never regrets any purchase. I always buy art that I love.
There are a few that I regret not purchasing!

What work do you have hanging above your
sofa?

A Paul Kneale inkjet on canvas [in the living room], and in the
bedroom above the sofa, I have a Parker Ito and a Kour Pour.

What artwork, if any, do you have in your
bathroom?

Sadly, I don’t have any artwork in the bathroom. My parents, on
the other hand, have plenty of art hanging in their bathrooms.

Paul Kneale, Various Magics
(2015). Courtesy of the artist.

What is the most impractical work of art you own? What
makes it so challenging?

A Prem Sahib football that is made out of resin. While I love
it, my son keeps trying to play football with it!

What work do you wish you had bought when you had the
chance?

A Lucas Arruda I saw in Mendes Wood DM’s booth at Art Basel Hong
Kong around six years ago. It was one of the few big pieces he’s
made, and it was stunning. To this day, I regret not pushing harder
to buy it.

If you could steal one work of art without getting
caught, what would it be?

The Fighting Temeraire, Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be
Broken Up (1839) by J.M.W. Turner.

A version of this story first appeared in the spring
2020 Artnet Intelligence Report. To
download the full report, which has juicy details on how A.I. could
transform the art industry, Inigo Philbrick’s rise and fall as a
wunderkind art dealer, and how titans of the finance industry are
infiltrating the auction houses, click here.

The post What I Buy & Why: Art-Fair Director Kamiar Maleki
on the Artwork That Got Away (and the One His Son Can’t Stop Trying
to Play With) appeared first on artnet News.