Michael Dunev

An Interview With...

Michael Dunev

What inspired you to enter the art world as a profession?

I have been interested in the arts ever since I was a child. Many of my closest friends have been artists, and I have always found enormous fascination in the creative process. I even studied to become an artist, and worked as a photographer, a film maker and even a theatrical lighting director for several years, before I concluded that I could present other people's work with greater dignity than my own. Perhaps it was a lack of confidence in my own work, but I felt a greater satisfaction working with artists whose work I respected. It seems as though I was always interested in the arts, if not to make it, then to be surrounded by it. I can't remember any specific moment of when this occurred.

What were your favorite subjects in school?

In school I always preferred history, literature, the social sciences, and philosophy. These subjects presented a worldview in a way I could relate to. The progress of Mankind was measured at a human scale and each individual's contribution made up for the rich and textured world in which we live. It permitted me to see the world as a mosaic of individuals, each piece inexorably connected with the next. I always struggled with subjects such as Math, Algebra, Physics or any of the applied sciences. Some of these courses were real nightmares for me. I couldn't understand the reasoning behind many of them, and only through the patience of my teachers and the classmates who helped me was I able to get through them.

What activities did you enjoy as a boy?

Although we lived for several years in countries such as England or Morocco, I basically grew up in Spain, mostly in Madrid with a few years in Seville. I was never very good in organized sports, but during winters I was an enthusiastic skier. Our family would summer on the Spanish coast, and sailing, skin diving and spear fishing became a big part of my vacations. I was fortunate to live in Madrid, where there are wonderful museums filled with important works of art. I remember going to the Prado Museum with my grandfather on numerous occasions and listening to his interpretations of the stories behind the large Velázquez paintings, and what they meant to him. Goya's powerful images and the delirious worlds of Hieronymous Bosch left profound impressions on me that have lasted to this day. My family was very interested in the arts: my parents' love for music and painting, my favourite aunt who was a fashion and interior designer (whom I sometimes helped on projects) and my grandfather's and uncle's passion for history and culture did much to instill in me a desire to have the arts play an important role in my life.

How did you become an art gallery owner?

After film school, I was looking around for work, and took a job for a year at a friend's gallery in San Francisco, where we mounted important exhibitions of artists such as Miró, Tamayo, Chagall and others. I enjoyed the work so much that I decided to try it on my own. I opened my first space in San Francisco with an exhibition dedicated to three Spanish artists: Antoni Clavé, Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies. It wasn't an immediate success, but I persevered and continued with my gallery in various incarnations to this day. Over the years, the San Francisco gallery moved, as my needs and the business climate warranted. My interest in printmaking and in particular my desire to work with artists, to be involved in the creative process, prompted me to start a fine art press dedicated to the monotype, a one-of-a-kind print, which still functions to this day.

One day my wife and I decided to look for some property in Spain, near the Mediterranean, where I preserved so many fond memories of my youth, with the intention of building something, attached to the arts, which would serve as a type of extension of or liaison to the projects I was doing in San Francisco. We looked in several places near the sea, settling finally in the Catalonian province of Girona, in an area known as the Ampurdán. It attracted us for its physical beauty, its history, climate, gastronomy and its easy communications to Barcelona and France. It was also an area in which many creative people lived, writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, designers, and many more who contribute to make the Ampurdán a rich and varied place to live. In the end, we liked it so much, that we decided to settle here permanently.

What education is required for this type of job?

People come into this type of work from all kinds of backgrounds. While some are collectors whose passion has driven them to dedicate themselves entirely to the arts, most are people who emerge from studies in the arts, such as artists or art historians. Educational requirements include a strong foundation in Art History, a good technical understanding of fine arts, the processes involved, and a thorough competence in art conservation. Many have a Fine Art degree (a Master's or at least a Bachelor's) with emphasis on criticism, curatorial and museological studies. Often, apprenticeships with established dealers are the norm before opening up a space. After that, each gallerist presents his or her own viewpoint, defending his or her perspective while promoting the work of those artists they are championing. A good dealer is known for his or her connoisseurship; they can be relied upon as a knowledgeable source of information.

What type of art do you display?

We often organize exhibitions of art-historical nature, such as the works of the German Expressionists from the beginning of the 20th Century or of African or Pre-Colombian art, or the vanguards of the Modernist period in Europe. But I mostly prefer to exhibit contemporary art, artwork created during our times by living artists. This enables me to work closely with the artist, to collaborate with him or her in the presentation of the work and in a certain way, to be involved in the creative process.

Since I now live in Catalonia, I work primarily with Catalan artists, many of whom are not well known outside of this area. One of the principal tasks of our gallery is to promote their work outside of Spain, by organizing exhibitions of their work in foreign galleries. We also have a program for visiting artists, who are invited to stay at our center and work on specific art "projects" in our studios. This has enabled artists from other countries to come to Spain and work, producing a body of work, which is then exhibited here or sent abroad, and to meet the dynamic art community that has settled in the Ampurdán. This exchange of ideas between artists of different nationalities is very interesting to me since it promotes communication between cultures and widens our view of the world.

This summer we will be exhibiting the work of Jaume Amigó, a young artist from Barcelona who has just returned from an expedition into the Forbidden Kingdom of Mustang, high in the Himalayas, where he and several other artists traveled (on horseback for a month!) in order to create some site-specific artworks at Ghampi Hospital, the only hospital in the country. Another artist that will show during this season is Joaquim Chancho, a highly admired painter from Barcelona who has been a professor at the Fine Arts Academy for years, and whose work is being exhibited at prestigious venues around the world.

When you look at a painting, what do you see?

I first seek an emotional response to a painting, to try and feel the expression the artist is placing in his work in a visceral way. Then I let my brain examine the work, analyze the artist's technique, the use of materials, the medium used, the format and the sincerity inherent in the work. Then I try to establish a dialogue with the iconography in the work and whether I can understand the artist's visual vocabulary.

I believe that for an artwork to be successful it must stand alone and express itself independently of any explanatory text or apologia from critics, curators or even the artists themselves. It must evoke emotions from the viewers and try to create some sort of communication or link between the creator of the work and the public. The contemporary artist is responding to the same issues that affect us all in our world, and it is their task to create a language by which we can connect to this universal gestalt. The successful ones do precisely that.

What is your definition of "good" art?

That's a question that many have posed, and a tough one to answer. The best definition I've heard to date to the question,

"How do you know if it's good?"
"When you're jealous."

I wrote a story called The Secret Cabinet of Doctor Ambrosius as the introductory text to a catalogue announcing the exhibition programme scheduled for the 2003 season. The story makes a link between the act of "seeing" and how viewing art might enable visitors to develop their "eye" and decide for themselves if what they see is "good".

Do you have a favorite artist or artistic style?

I have many favorite artists and many favorite styles. I like jazz just as much as samba or salsa or classical music; I like abstraction just as much as figurative or landscape painting; sculpture just as much as drawings. It is quality, sincerity and the artwork's own will to prevail, to leave a lasting impression that moves me. See definition of "what's good" above.

How does an artist make a career in Art?

While it is true that art schools cannot teach Art, they are important in helping the artist develop techniques that will help him or her find their own voice. They also offer creative environments that lead to the exchange of ideas and introduce to the artist concepts, trends as well as issues occurring around the world in the arts that are vital to the shaping of an individual's point of view. Many schools also provide a strong base of Art History, offering young artists a rich wellspring of extraordinary artworks, created over the centuries, and the importance of their relevance to their times.

What advice do you have for young artists and others interested in developing an appreciation of art?

The most important thing to develop, in my view, as an artist or an art appreciator, is the eye. In order to do so, one must look and look, and look some more. Try to open up your mind to as many different means of expression as you can. Try to learn the artist's intention, and how he or she uses the means at their disposal to express what they want to say. Go to museums; see gallery exhibitions, read books.

Where have you lived as an adult and growing up? What were some of your favorite things about places you lived?

I lived in Peru for several years, high in the Andes in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There I raised horses and traveled frequently into the mountains to explore ancient Inca ruins. It was a breathtaking area of exhilarating sights, inhabited by gentle people who still clung to the ancient pre-Colombian traditions. I learned much from them, their extraordinary culture and the beauty of their artistic heritage as evidenced in the wonderful architecture and artworks that survive to this day. I also lived for several years in Brazil, where I worked as a photographer. It is a marvelous country with extraordinary people, filled with a spirit and a joy for life that I have not found anywhere else. I also have traveled to many different parts of the world, each of which has taught me how unique each country is, and how everyone's point of view is just as important as anyone else's.

Do you have a favorite quote?

Too many to quote, but one I heard last night is worth repeating, although I don't know who said it. Its meaning is quite obvious, I think:

"Serás dueño de tus silencios, pero esclavo de tus palabras." (You are the master of your silence but a slave to your words.)

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Michael's Art Gallery

Interview in Spanish

- 23 April 2004

Last Updated:
8 May 2004