July 26, 2012

Meet artnet Galleries Account Executive for Latin America and Spain, Jimena

Want to know more about the Latin American Art market? We sat down with Mexican-born Jimena to talk about working in art, artists she’d like to meet, and the future of the Latin American Art market. 

1.      What were you doing before you came to artnet?

Before artnet I was managing a small gallery in London. It mainly focused on emerging artists.

2.     Did you always want to work in the art world?

Not always. When I was 6, I wanted to be a princess, when I was 14, I wanted to be a lawyer, and when I was 19, I had no idea what I wanted. When I started college I was taking art history classes as well as business classes, so it wasn’t until then that I realized I wanted to put them together.

3.     Tell us about what you do at artnet

My job is to get galleries from Spain and Latin America on our gallery marketplace so they can put their inventory online and have greater exposure, thus generating more sales and a stronger reputation worldwide for them, not just in their specific countries.

4.     What is your favorite art period?

I can never answer that question with just one answer. I have always liked the 18th century; that is probably because I wish I had lived in Versailles and had tea and pastries on Marie Antoinette’s Sèvres porcelain. However, the transition from the Rococo style of the earlier part of the 18th century, to the more sober and refined Neoclassical style of the 1760s and onward, is probably what I like the most.

5.     Who is your favorite artist?

This is another question I can’t answer with just one answer. There are way too many artists that I like, and they are all completely different. I really like Monet and Cézanne, but I also love Warhol, but then again who doesn’t. Gerhard Richter is one of my favorite living artists. I also really like urban/street art so I’m a big fan of Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Mr. Brainwash etc. There are way too many. 

6.     If you could own any artwork, which would you choose?

Well now that Munch’s Scream is worth US$120 million, I wouldn’t mind owning that one. Too bad I actually don’t really like the painting itself. If I could have any artwork, I would want Monet’s Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond. I feel like no matter how many times you look at it you can always get lost in it; it is absolutely beautiful.

7.     Which art events are you looking forward to this year?

Well there are a lot of art fairs coming up, but Miami Basel is always great. There are many events, parties, and other small art fairs going around it; it’s a very busy week. I think it’s a great way to end the year, and everyone in the art world is there so it is quite the fun/important week.

8.     What are some of your favorite museums/galleries in New York?

The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum. Galleries… hmm there are too many.

9.     If you could have dinner with any three artists living or dead, whom would you choose?

  - Salvador Dali: That would be the craziest dinner of my life.

  - Francisco de Goya: That would be interesting; he said he was “hunted by demons.”

  - Either David LaChapelle, Andy Warhol, or even Frida Kahlo. Depends on the type of dinner I’m looking for.

10.     You’re focusing on the South American art market. Where do you see it going in the next few years?

I think the Mexican and South American art market hasn’t hit its boom yet, and when it does it will only continue to go upwards. Right now it’s a pretty steady market, but to make it grow, there has to be more Latin American Art sold outside of Latin America and Mexico. There is so much undiscovered potential.

11.     Your favorite motto?

“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” Andy Warhol