Former Kavi Gupta directors Julia Fischbach and Emanuel Aguilar have joined forces to open Patron, the first major new gallery to debut in the Windy City in more than a decade. Art+Auction’s Sara Roffino caught up with the duo as they prepared for their first show, which coincides with Expo Chicago, running September 17 through 20, where they will have a booth.
Why did you decide to stay in Chicago?
EA: We were both born and raised here, and we have been passionate about helping young Chicago artists develop their careers and reach their goals. For the most part, the gallery scene is still fairly small, but there are some really great schools that produce a lot of great artists. Unfortunately, because the opportunities are limited, they tend to leave the city. We want to create something that can tap into the potential that Chicago has.
Over the past few years, collectors have started supporting local galleries and artists, and I think the lens of the city has started to focus on something very promising. The community is starting to champion the city and the artists here. A lot more is possible because everyone is on board.
JF: With all our vast experience, not only do we have the connections with collectors, but we also have an international reach.
What are you looking for in the artists you plan to show?
EA: We both have a passion for socially engaged art as well as art that explores aesthetics. We respond to practices that are in some sense poetic in nature, or that are archaeological, with a lot of layers. Among the artists who have joined our roster are Kadar Brock, Daniel G. Baird, and Alex Chitty. We also look forward to working with a number of Latin American artists. Through our travels, the art communities that have gotten us most excited over the past few years are in large
cities in Latin America—São Paulo, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires have very vibrant art communities. There’s not a lot of focus on Latin American contemporary art in the States, and less so in Chicago, so for us it’s a way to fill a void with something exciting and fresh and to add something to the scene.
JF: Part of what’s interesting to me about the art coming out of these areas is that a lot of it has a strong architectural bent. And with Chicago having a lot of architectural history, we can really integrate that into the program.
A version of this article appears in the September 2015 issue of Art+Auction.
