Brian Paul Clamp at the Clamp Art Gallery.
Although he is one of the younger gallery owners in the fine art photography world in New York City today, Brian Paul Clamp is also one of the more scholarly art dealers among them, with over thirty publications on art.
He is also one of the more marketing savvy of the bunch and has worked hard with his artists to get them good, if not great, press.
I sat down to speak with Brian on April 4 to discuss how and why he’s been in the art business for almost ten years now, and what distinguishes him from the fray. Following are excerpts from our conversation.
When did you first become so passionate about art and photography?
In 1988, during my senior year in high school I took an art class and the teacher went through several slides of great photographers like Nan Goldin and Diane Arbus. Their work turned me on to photography and the fire was lit.
Prior to this moment I really hadn’t had any exposure to fine art. My mother was craftsy, but that was the extent of it.
However, it wasn’t until my junior year at the University of Colorado, where I was studying for a degree in mathematics, that I realized that art was the passion I wanted to pursue.
I was in an abstract math class and suddenly I found myself asking, “Are these the kind of people I want to hang around with the rest of my life?”
That’s when I switched to being an art history major, with a minor in advertising because I still felt it was important to study something practical, something that was going to land me a job after graduating.
So why didn’t you land in advertising?
After college I moved to New York City, using all my money for the first month’s rent. I tried to find a job in advertising, but there was none to be had.
Instead, I went to a temp agency, which placed me in the back room of a gallery on the Upper East Side sticking labels on envelopes.
I happened to have a conversation with the owner of the gallery who was quite surprised to find out that I knew who all the artists were on the gallery walls.
After a while of working temp, they offered me a full-time job.
In 1999 you decided to return to school to get a degree in Critical Studies in Modern Art from Columbia University. Why?
Although I realized that being at the gallery was a viable career option, after five years I realized that the I could never break off on my own in the 19th- and early 20th-century American art market. The price for entry was too high, and I simply didn’t have that kind of capitol to start my own business.
So I decided to return to school to give myself more credibility and to also focus on art I really liked, which is primarily modern and contemporary photography. Moreover, art in this realm was more affordable, so while I was working at the gallery I also began collecting on my own.
What inspired you to make the big move from Colorado to New York City in 1993?
I had taken a trip out to New York in high school and found it to be an interesting and exciting place.
So after I graduated from college my best friend, a friend of his who was an aspiring actress, and I decided to make the more together.
It’s been 16 years, any regrets?
No, not at all, especially since I’ve figured out the direction of my career, because if you’re in the art business this is the place to be.
Besides, I love it here, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Everything is happening here.
Moreover, being that I’ve always been a night owl, the lifestyle is just right for me.
These are hard economic times, have you ever considered moving elsewhere where there is less competition?
Times have changed and with the advent of the Internet you definitely don’t have to live in New York City anymore to be in the art world, but you also have the highest concentration of fine art photography dealers here as well. This is where you go to find the best of the best.
Besides, being one of the younger players on the block I’m adapting as need be. A lot of the big players, like the AIPAD dealers still retain an old school mentality. The new kids on the block tend to be less medium specific and we find ourselves experimenting a bit.
For example, although the acceptance of digital photography over analog is still developing, people are no longer afraid to offer and buy prints made digitally. I think it often is a matter of a generational difference.
Moreover, I believe that the concept underling the work is more important than the material used. It’s what the work is about, not the paper it’s printed on.
What kind of ideas turn you on and do you feel are worth representing?
I’m attracted to artists that can convey their ideas and who are aware of their place amongst the cultural landscape.
I also like artists like Brian Finke, who has essentially grown up with the gallery, because he is hardworking and quite appreciative. And besides being talented, he has vision, is forward-thinking and can see beyond his current project.
Like other artists I represent, his work has soul, and that’s of great importance to me. A lot of work that was being created before the recession was lacking that vital element.
And I suppose the exhibit I have up now, Kids Behaving Badly, represents my affinity for all things rebellion as well.
For More Information
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Artists & Photographers
Mark Kessell
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Curators & Dealers
Bonni Benrubi
Howard Greenberg
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