Podcast

The Art Angle Podcast: Marc Spiegler on the Evolution of the Art Business (and Life After Art Basel)


Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Midnight Publishing Group News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more, with input from our own writers and editors, as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

For Art Basel, the most well known art fair in the world, the fourth quarter of 2022 marked the end of one era, and the beginning of another. In early November, leadership of the company transitioned to Noah Horowitz, who returned after a roughly year-long stint at Sotheby’s to become the first ever CEO of the same fair brand where he served as director of the Americas from 2015 to 2021.

But clearing Horowitz’s path to the chief executive’s office was the one and only Marc Spiegler. Spiegler shocked the art world in October 2022 by announcing that he would end his decade-long campaign as Art Basel’s global director at the end of that year (though he will stay on as an advisor through June of this one).

During his time at the helm, Spiegler oversaw a transformation of the company across multiple dimensions, including doubling the annual number of Art Basel fairs; dramatically expanding the company’s digital presence; quintupling the size of its staff; responding to a global pandemic; and much more.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that, if you look closely at these shifts, they mirror back some of the most important ways that the art business as a whole has morphed during the 21st century. Spiegler sat down for his first extended interview since announcing his exit from Art Basel with Midnight Publishing Group News’s Tim Schneider, to discuss the past, present, and future of the art world.

 

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The Art Angle Podcast: How Art Basel Did (and Didn’t) Change After a Two-Year Hiatus


Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Midnight Publishing Group News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more with input from our own writers and editors as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

 

 

An art industry ritual returned after an unprecedented hiatus—on a Monday evening last week, art advisors, dealers, and collectors ceremoniously filed into the formidable fairgrounds of Switzerland’s Art Basel.

The premier art fair’s 50th edition was set to take place across a balmy week in June 2020, but it slid back nearly a year and half, its plans marred by a raging public health crisis, limitations on travel, and restrictions on events and gatherings. After so much uncertainty about the state of the art market, more than 270 dealers calculated their risks and ultimately took a leap of faith and brought the best of their rosters to the Rhine. It seems the gambit really paid off—by the late afternoon on preview day, gallerists seemed to really exhale for the first time in months or even a year.

Was it business as usual? Yes and no. The event ran with incredible smoothness, with no issues save for a few spats on Twitter over whether the absence of U.S. collectors was a boon for European deal-making or not. Restaurants were booked out across town for lavish dinners, but being on the guest list wasn’t the only prerequisite—proof of vaccination was required. Sales were strong, but not quite like the old days. And NFTs made a flashy debut.

On the whole, everyone seemed deeply relieved to be back in their booths or perusing the aisles. On this week’s episode, Midnight Publishing Group News’s European Editor Kate Brown was joined in Basel by European Market Editor, Naomi Rea, and Senior Market Editor, Eileen Kinsella to take the temperature of the scene.

 

Listen to Other Episodes:

The Art Angle Podcast: Writer Roxane Gay on What Art Can Teach Us About Trauma and Healing

The Art Angle Podcast: Keltie Ferris and Peter Halley on the Mysterious Joys of Making a Painting

The Art Angle Podcast: How Facebook and the Helsinki Biennial Share a Vision for the Art World’s Future

The Art Angle Podcast: Artists in Residence at the World Trade Center Reflect on 9/11

The Art Angle Podcast: Genesis Tramaine on How Faith Inspires Her Art

The Art Angle Podcast: The Bitter Battle Over Bob Ross’s Empire of Joy

The Art Angle Podcast: How Britney Spears’s Image Inspired Millennial Artists

The Art Angle Podcast: How the Medicis Became Art History’s First Influencers

The Art Angle Podcast: How Two Painters Helped Spark the Modern Conservation Movement

 

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The Art Angle Podcast: Keltie Ferris and Peter Halley on the Mysterious Joys of Making a Painting


Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Midnight Publishing Group News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more with input from our own writers and editors as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

 

 

Artists Peter Halley and Keltie Ferris first met sometime in the mid-2000s, at the height of the abstract painting revival. Halley, a pioneering Neo-Conceptualist renowned for his disciplined grids, was head of painting and printmaking at the Yale School of Art; Ferris, a graduate student with a knack for wielding fluid materials like spray paint.

Nevertheless, their work had a lot in common: a love of color, especially jangly fluorescents; an embrace of digital influences; and a desire to release painting from both its figurative and abstract forebears. Through the course of the teaching relationship, each found a respect for the other’s practice, and the conversation has continued—even if the two artists don’t actually talk as much as they once did.

To pit their paintings against each other today is like seeing estranged cousins reunite: time has changed them, but you can’t deny the shared DNA.

As New York’s first IRL art fair kicked off last week with the Armory Show, both Halley and Ferris presented new works at Independent Art Fair, known in certain circles as the “thinking person’s fair,” which debuted at the Battery Maritime Building in downtown Manhattan. Ahead of the fair, the teacher and his former student reunited to catch up and exchange ideas in a virtual chat moderated by Midnight Publishing Group News reporter Taylor Dafoe.

What followed was a rare glimpse at two artists talking shop, in a freewheeling conversation about about color, working methods, and what it means to make non-figurative painting in a time when figuration reigns supreme.

Listen to Other Episodes:

The Art Angle Podcast: How Facebook and the Helsinki Biennial Share a Vision for the Art World’s Future

The Art Angle Podcast: Artists in Residence at the World Trade Center Reflect on 9/11

The Art Angle Podcast: Genesis Tramaine on How Faith Inspires Her Art

The Art Angle Podcast: The Bitter Battle Over Bob Ross’s Empire of Joy

The Art Angle Podcast: How Britney Spears’s Image Inspired Millennial Artists

The Art Angle Podcast: How the Medicis Became Art History’s First Influencers

The Art Angle Podcast: How Two Painters Helped Spark the Modern Conservation Movement

The Art Angle Podcast: The Hunter Biden Controversy, Explained

The Art Angle Podcast: 18-Year-Old NFT Star Fewocious on How Art Saved His Life, and Crashed Christie’s Website

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The Art Angle Podcast: How a Tech Giant Helped Helsinki Create the Biennial of the Future


Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Midnight Publishing Group News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join us every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more with input from our own writers and editors as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

 

 

Some of the most impactful stories to surface this past year have revolved around three major issues affecting the world as a whole: there’s a worsening climate emergency, a global health crisis and—in the fold—a breakneck acceleration of technology that’s increasingly entangling itself into every aspect of our lives.

When it comes to the art world, we can probably agree it’s time to ask some hard questions. Should there be so many art events? How should we gather? Do we need to experience art in person to understand it?

During lockdowns around the world over the last 18 months, we’ve been learning just how fluidly art can transition into the digital realm—and how clumsy a failed attempt can be.

Among the art events that managed to pull off successful ventures this year is the first edition of the Helsinki Biennial, which took on these questions. Taking place on an island off the coast of the capital of Finland, the exhibition, called “The Same Sea,” meets our collective moment, exploring concerns around our interconnectedness, nature, and sustainability. And it’s not just in theme: the Helsinki Biennial is calculating and trimming its climate footprint every step of the way with a goal of becoming the first carbon neutral biennial by 2035.

In the middle of a pandemic and rising temperatures, 41 artists are presenting works that carefully consider the surroundings of Vallisaari Island and the array of plants and creatures that populate it. To reach a wider audience when travel is both restricted and carbon-intensive, the biennale, which is on view until September 26, has partnered with Facebook Open Arts to explore how technology might help connect audiences with artworks peppered on the island.

This week, we’re thrilled to welcome Maija Tanninen, director of the forward-thinking Helsinki Biennial and the Helsinki Art Museum, and Tina Vaz, Head of Facebook Open Arts, to discuss the Helsinki Biennial’s unique approaches to greening a biennial, and how technology can be used to bring us closer to nature in meaningful ways.

If you enjoy this conversation, please join our panel conversation, “Helsinki Biennial and Facebook Open Arts – Future Visions / Art & Tech”—which will be available to watch on our Facebook page on September 22.

 

Listen to Other Episodes:

The Art Angle Podcast: Artists in Residence at the World Trade Center Reflect on 9/11

The Art Angle Podcast: Genesis Tramaine on How Faith Inspires Her Art

The Art Angle Podcast: The Bitter Battle Over Bob Ross’s Empire of Joy

The Art Angle Podcast: How Britney Spears’s Image Inspired Millennial Artists

The Art Angle Podcast: How the Medicis Became Art History’s First Influencers

The Art Angle Podcast: How Two Painters Helped Spark the Modern Conservation Movement

The Art Angle Podcast: The Hunter Biden Controversy, Explained

The Art Angle Podcast: Legendary Auctioneer Simon de Pury on Monaco, Hip Hop, and the Art Market’s New Reality

The Art Angle Podcast: 18-Year-Old NFT Star Fewocious on How Art Saved His Life, and Crashed Christie’s Website

The Art Angle Podcast (Re-Air): How Photographer Dawoud Bey Makes Black America Visible

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Bob Ross’s Former Business Partners Hit Back at a ‘Slanted’ Netflix Documentary That Alleges They Seized Control of His Legacy


As most of the world knows, Bob Ross shot to global fame in the ’80s and ’90s with his calming instructional painting TV show, The Joy of Painting. A just-released Netflix documentary, Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed, chronicles the surprising—and distressing—back story that runs counter to the beloved PBS painter’s aura of untroubled positivity.

Annette and Walt Kowalski were Ross’s long-time business partners, playing a key role in his rise to stardom. Along with chronicling a possible affair between Annette and Bob and the Bob Ross empire’s rivalries with other DIY painters, Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed highlights accusations from Steve Ross, Bob’s son, that the Kowalskis seized control of Bob Ross Inc. at the end of Bob’s life, while he suffered from cancer. (The film is the subject of the most recent episode of the Midnight Publishing Group News podcast, The Art Angle.)

Steve alleges that he has been shut out of the business despite his father’s desire that his son carry on his legacy. Meanwhile, in the decades since Bob’s death, the Kowalskis have created a massive Bob Ross licensing empire powered by the public’s continued love of the Joy of Painting.

Now, following the film’s debut on Netflix, the Kowalski family is firing back at the filmmakers, alleging an “inaccurate and heavily slanted portrayal of our company” in the film.

Steve Ross show painting in <em>Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed</em>. Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.

Steve Ross show painting in Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed. Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.

The Kowalskis write in their statement: “While the producers of the Netflix film did contact Bob Ross Inc. twice, in late August and October 2020, each request arrived replete with a confounding lack of transparency. At no time did they pose specific questions to Bob Ross Inc. or ask for any form of rebuttal to specific assertions they had decided to include in the film. Nor was it stated that they had a distribution deal with Netflix.”

The statement goes on to say that “the final narrative lacks considerable nuance and accuracy and carries a clear bias in favor of those who were interviewed.”

In their most concrete attempt to correct the record, the Kowalskis say that the documentary is misleading about the nature of Bob Ross Inc.’s history with Steve:

in the film, Steve Ross says, “I have been wanting to get this story out for years” – a statement that shapes the overall direction of the film, creating the idea that he was previously prevented from doing so. Bob Ross Inc. never pursued or threatened legal action against Steve Ross, and, in fact, no one at Bob Ross Inc. heard from Steve Ross for almost twenty years, until 2017 when Steve filed suit against the company without any prior communication.

They also state that after seeing media reports about the film’s summer release, Bob Ross Inc. attempted to reach out to the filmmakers in May 2021 to offer comment. “They did not return calls or emails and finally responded through their attorney. We provided a comprehensive statement, and the filmmakers chose not to use it.” (Before the film’s end credits, a text card says that the Kowalskis replied after the film was done, and that they “deny that their relationship with Bob Ross was fractured at any point.”)

Asked by email about the Kowalskis’ statement, the documentary’s director Joshua Rofé provided the following:

Our mission has always been to tell a truthful story about the life and legacy of Bob Ross. And we stand by the film we made. We would have loved for the Kowalskis to participate, as we had hoped to hear from all people closest to Bob, but they declined on more than one occasion. Once the film was completed, the Kowalskis agreed to answer questions in writing, and we included those specific answers at the end of the film.

In his interview with the Art Angle, Rofé said he had not set out to make a documentary about the behind-the-scenes drama. He claimed he began by trying simply to tell a story that filled in the details of a beloved public figure’s life, reaching out to Bob Ross’s former colleagues.

“We were coming up against two things: it was clear they all loved Bob…,” Rofé said. “The other thing was that they were all afraid to talk about him publicly for fear of some sort of legal retaliation by an entity they refused to name. It was in those moments that I knew I had to pursue making this film and to try to tell this story.”

Left to Right: Steve Ross, Bob Ross, and Dana Jester in <em>Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed</em>. Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.

Left to Right: Steve Ross, Bob Ross, and Dana Jester in Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed. Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.

Dana Jester, described as “Bob’s friend” and today a business partner with Steve, is seen in the film saying, “A lot of people are backing out that agreed to do an interview for this because they are are scared of the Kowalskis.” The documentary states that “more than a dozen people who knew and worked with Bob declined to participate… due to the concerns of legal retaliation.”

On social media, viewers of Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed expressed being heartbroken or joked about plotting revenge against the Kowalski family. “Okay so please boycott Bob Ross INC and don’t buy any Bob Ross merch because his son Steve doesn’t see any of that money what so ever and his name is being exploited against Bob’s wishes before his death,” wrote one.

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