A Minute With March Gallery
Hi! This is a newsletter about artists I like.
I began acquiring art through some friends that worked in galleries. I started small, working on a limited budget, for stuff I could afford. As time passed, my collection grew, and it was exciting to watch many of the artists I'd collected go on to bigger shows and critical acclaim.
My goal with this newsletter is to make a digestible resource for anyone interested in artists that are making great (and still affordable!) work, whom you haven't heard about... yet.
March is one of those galleries that was the reason for me starting this thing. Maria Owen, the director of March Gallery, has answered countless emails and DM’s of mine regarding various shows and artists represented and I don’t think there are many that would take as much time to reply and educate like Maria. When I first became aware of March, I couldn’t figure them out in. They had a space in New York…..fairly normal right, but then there would be an exhibit in some random place in Kentucky, or a roaming show across the country of a represented artist. It was all so strange but in the best way possible.
My opinion is that I still can’t figure out March but they have their own thing going on and creating their path of how rad a gallery can be. Having worked in the clothing world most of my career, I have worked for some brands that immediately get you hooked and longing to be a part of it in any way possible, and I feel that March is creating the same universe. It’s nothing new for a gallery to have some great artists but it stops and starts there because most people out there, can’t afford the work and thus, will never buy into it, literally/figuratively, but I think you can take a stroll on the IG of March and peak into their special world.
This is supposed to be an easy read so I’ll stop blabbing but you get the point.
Thanks Maria for doing this interview!!!
Can you talk about March and your connection with Kentucky? As an outsider, what’s the connection there? I’ve seen you all put on exhibitions and performances there.
MO: The founder of MARCH––Phillip March Jones––and I are both originally from Kentucky. I had grown up visiting his non-profit in Lexington, Institute 193, but we actually met somewhat kismetically in a gallery on the Bowery. After realizing the connection, we went on to work together on a New York location for 193, and eventually on MARCH.
Phillip founded Institute 193 in Lexington, Kentucky in 2009. The nonprofit's mission has always been to provide opportunities to artists in the southern region of the United States and ultimately contribute to a greater regional art historical archive. Their current exhibition is photography by Oraien Catledge––more on that here. They’ve also partnered with Emory University on an exhibition of Ayé Aton’s (another Kentucky-born artist and musician) paintings––more on that soon!
MARCH was founded in New York in 2020 as a public-benefit corporation––this means making recurring contributions to non-profit organizations working in arts and culture. We work with artists from all over the US, with a number of them hailing from the Southern region. During the height of the pandemic, we created several online exhibitions hosted by Kentucky sites––for example, Aaron Michael Skolnick’s Between Two Suns, which was installed in an abandoned farmhouse and photographed for online viewing. We continue to work with Kentucky-born artists through MARCH, including Skolnick, Lina Tharsing, and the Mike Goodlett Estate.
Long story only slightly shorter, I have deep roots in Kentucky and hope to continue to engage with the region in any way that makes sense. The more I can understand a place and the communities and movements that are born there, the more meaningfully I can interact with it.
It seems that your gallery is playing by its own rules which I think is really refreshing from co-producing shows with other galleries in other cities (Reyes Finn & Parker Gallery, contributing to organizations at the cross section of social justice & visual culture, and the overall way you have structured your gallery as a public benefit corporation, I guess the question is where do you find the time to do so much?
MO: MARCH’s primary goals have always been to support artists and to promote growth and diversity on every level. Partnerships like the ones with Reyes Finn, Parker Gallery, and Summertime Gallery and our emphasis on community create opportunities for exchange between artists and collectors, but also among curators, writers, coordinators, and teams of people with shared interests and ethics. In that vein––it’s easier to do more when you have passionate collaborators!
That said, I don’t think of it as doing “more,” only doing things a bit differently in the hopes of making positive change and creating new opportunities. I think that when you put artistic vision first and steer other elements toward supporting those visions, the rest comes pretty naturally.
What’s coming down the pipeline for March that has you excited?
MO: Right now, I’m very excited about our current show, Aaron Michael Skolnick’s Under the Eyes of a Dry Mountain. Working with Aaron on this project has allowed for so much conversation and investigation around ideas many of us hold dear (things like home, belonging, nature, etc.), and seeing his big series of plein air paintings come together in the gallery space has been so powerful. More on Aaron’s show here for the curious.
I’m also looking forward to bringing some of Ayé Aton’s paintings to MARCH next year. Aton was born in Versailles, Kentucky and went on to play drums and percussion with Sun Ra & His Arkestra from 1972-1976. He was known for creating outer space-themed murals and later, paintings. Once upon a time I was an art history student, and so the opportunity to exhibit work so deeply connected to music history (plus the Kentucky ties) feels special.
Is the next show Claudia Keep? Can you chat about that one?
MO: Yes, Claudia Keep is up next! Her show will open on December 14th with a body of recent work elaborating on fundamental themes of solitude, presence, and universal experience. It certainly feels like it’s been a long time coming. It’s hard not to gush about Claudia––as a person and artist, she has an almost supernatural ability to sense and observe things that others cannot. She’s an emotional seismograph of sorts, and I think that comes through in the paintings.
As this is a casual way to hopefully get more people into supporting artists and galleries but may not be in a major “Art city,” what are some things you have found helpful/resourceful that you can share with our readers? This could be a magazine, book, IG account, etc.
MO: As someone who did not grow up in a major “art city,” I was always looking to Instagram and online to discover new artists and programs. However, I think it’s equally important to engage with the art world present in your city––however small it may be. Taking an interest in and supporting local art organizations and artists can lead to so much growth.
When it comes to looking outwards, my only advice is to identify your interests and let them lead you. There’s no one book or magazine or Instagram account that has all the information; so much of art (and life) is incredibly subjective. That said, Grayson Perry’s Playing to the Gallery is a good place to start when it comes to learning about how galleries (traditionally) work. Some other things that have stood out to me over the years: Ellen Winner’s How Art Works, Marina Abramovic’s memoir, Walk Through Walls, Marcie Begleiter's Eva Hesse documentary (particularly relevant after the recent exhibition of her restored sculpture at the Guggenheim), and pretty much anything by Etel Adnan. If you’re interested in learning more about art in the Southern region, then get your hands on a copy of Walks to the Paradise Garden, and Burnaway is a great place to start online.
Who should we have on next? Could be an artist, curator, collector, etc.
MO: Claudia Keep, of course!
Linkage Report:
Ficus Interfaith @ Zut Paris. Follow on Ficus IG for info etc.
We are looking forward to Pace Taylor’s show at La Loma Projects in November!
Strange Desires is one of our favorite accounts and her 100 year old Halloween finds are next level….