By Angela Valente Romeo
Christian Hohmann was born into the art world.
Hohmann® Fine Art is the second generation of a family owned business. Galerie Hohmann was established in 1976 in Germany. In 2009, Hohmann® Fine Art opened in Palm Desert California, showcasing the work of contemporary artists who are selected, not only for the depth of their work but also for their commitment to their work. These are two very different concepts that Christian understands well.
“Aside from the artists and the artwork we represent, we have our 40 year history, a distinct European background and a great team. My parents founded the gallery in 1976 in Germany. I studied art history and economy to be prepared for this business. I lived in Europe until I was 28 and operated my own galleries in Hamburg and Berlin.”
“We have a fantastic team in our German and Palm Desert galleries. While some art dealers do everything by themselves, and I salute them, when it comes to large projects I rely on my team. We recently returned from the Art Silicon Valley, where we had a very prominent exhibition of large paintings by Robert Freimark and large sculptures by jd Hansen and Julian Voss-Andreae. That is not a project you can do on your own.”
This year Christian was asked to be the sole juror for Palm Springs Art Museum Artist Council Exhibition (ACE). Artists Council Exhibition is an annual juried exhibition and sale of artworks created by Artists Council members. Art works are sold with 50% of the proceeds going to the museum’s educational programs and 50% going to the artist. Works go on sale October 20 through December 6. An awards ceremony will be held on November 7.
Faced with over 500 entries Christian’s task was neither easy nor enviable. “For over 20 years I have curated art by viewing photographs. I do this almost on instinct, without much contemplation. So I thought ‘How hard can it be?’ to jury this show,” said Christian. “I was wrong. I had not realized the depth of the Artist Council talent pool.”
Faced with diverse entries, Christian narrowed the selection to 48 works. “Curating any exhibition requires time and consideration. My first viewing of the photos was very different from my second viewing. I found myself full of questions that a photograph and a small description from the artist couldn’t answer.”
“The main difference when curating for the gallery is that I draw from what I know. I know every artist’s work. I know the sizes. The texture and I can visualize a work in a space even if I have only seen a picture. I know which artists are compatible and which are not. I know each background story, each vision and often I know the work for years, so I can tell where it comes from and where it is going.”
“This exhibition is distinctly different. I did not know the artists. I saw three works that may or may not be representational of the artist’s work. The artists choose which works to submit. If one of our artists gives me three works to choose from I can instantly tell whether they are of quality in comparison to everything else they have done. For the ACE I had to make my choices based solely on the maximum of three works by each artist never having seen them in real life. It was a challenge.”
Art has a way of speaking to the viewer. “Choices started to fall into place, art works started to communicate with each other and I was able to assemble what is now the final selection of exhibited works. Art is very subjective and the commercial art world is competitive. I learned from my father that passion drives artists to create. As a curator I learned about quality, consistency, longevity and originality. Sometimes passion and talent are not enough conform to the tough standards of the commercial art market. But as I reviewed these submissions I recalled the passion that makes art so wonderful. Art is an expression of untamed emotion, creativity and non-conformism. This is an exciting exhibition of works selected on the passion of the artist. The exhibition is not just an accumulation of individual works that might appeal to the collectors I know.”
“The question about why I chose these specific works cannot be answered in one global reply. Each work that I ultimately selected intrigued me on one or more of three levels: quality, content and idea. I hope what visitors will see is the breadth of talent that is fostered in this area. It is quite impressive!”
“When I had to choose between a work that was crafted well and one that had a more original idea, I would select idea over craft. With that I hope that visitors and potential collectors will hopefully break out of existing viewing patterns and honor what is original instead of going for what is familiar. We are living in times where it is difficult to create something groundbreaking and one might not discover the next Gerhard Richter in this exhibition, but there are many promising artists that have potential. It is crucial to always re-invent and to look for something new, even if it’s subtle. But even after making the final selection, I knew there were many others I would have selected if I could.”
Christian also noted. “There is one thing that I would like to remind visitors of this show: Athletes get endorsements, musicians get royalties, but artists always rely on sales of their art works. If you see an artist that you like, please keep that in mind.”
For more on Hohmann® Fine Art visit www.hohmannfineart.com. For more information on the PS Art Museum ACE, visit www.psmuseum.org/palm-springs/exhibition/artists-council-exhibition-2015.
