Guest Club
Removing the stuffy stigma attached to the commercial art world, is Guest Club the future of art collecting?
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Martin Behrman
Artist Oliver Beer and Guest Work Agency International Curatorial Associate Anais Lellouche at OMA, a solo exhibition by Oliver Beer at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, September 2020. Photo - Martin Behrman.
Oliver Beer, Recomposition (Domino), 2020. Fragments of the artist's grandmother's piano, coloured pencils, glasses, chess pieces, domino pieces, a book about music, tobacco pipe, violin fragments, metronome fragments. Photo - courtesy of the artist and gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, London.
Photo - courtesy the artist and gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, London.
Founded by art lawyer, curator and art advisor, Alana Kushnir, Guest Club is an art membership that invites collaborative art-viewing without the unnerving experience of commercial art gallery and fairs. Unless your art knowledge is preceded by a formal art history degree or a career in art galleries (and even with these!) knowing where to start with an art collection can be an overwhelming venture.
“Through my work as a curator and art lawyer leading Guest Work Agency, I’ve built a strong local and international network of artists, curators, galleries and collectors,” Alana shares. “I could see that there was a growing cohort of art lovers and aspiring collectors who did not know how or where to start when it came to experiencing and buying art.”
As such, the all-round art guru wanted to start an art experience that was both educational and welcoming. Alana tested the waters with informal events under the Guest Club name and immediately recognised a demand for their business model. However, this was before COVID-19 hit and the world went into lockdown. Melbourne, Alana’s hometown, was then faced with the longest, strictest lockdown in the world.
“The programming and structure of Guest Club is designed to peel away the mystique that can create a lot of uncertainty for novice art lovers or first-time collectors,” says Alana Kushnir. Pictured - artist Oliver Beer and Guest Work Agency International Curatorial Associate Anaïs Lellouche at OMA. Photo - Martin Behrman.
“When COVID-19 struck, it required a bit more of a strategic rethink, and we moved into an all-virtual format,” Alana reflects. “To our initial surprise, this is when Guest Club really took off. With more of us stuck at home and unable to access galleries or art festivals, Guest Club became a pathway to connect with the art world for so many.”
Surprisingly, their membership base has grown by 180% since March and now includes members all around Australia, as well as a growing number of members based overseas.It’s shown the collective that there are ways to engage with art, successfully, online, while building a community of like-minded investors.
“Online formats for engaging with art have so much potential, and while they don’t replace the experience of seeing a physical artwork in person, they do open up new possibilities for engaging with art that we may not be able to see otherwise. ”
One event that stands out for Alana was the recent virtual tour of British artist Oliver Beer’s new exhibition, Oma at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in London. Alongside a tour of the gallery, the event featured a discussion between the artist and Guest Club’s International Curatorial Associate, Anaïs Lellouche.
“The virtual format enabled a sense of intimacy with Beer as he addressed guests about his highly personal work, and Anaïs was the perfect host to carry us through the multiple facets of the exhibition,” Alana shares. “After the event one of the members even reached out to me to say that she was nearly in tears (in a good way!), hearing first-hand from the artist about how central music was to the close bond he shared with his late grandmother.”
Artist Oliver Beer at OMA, a solo exhibition by Oliver Beer at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, September 2020. Photo - Martin Behrman.
The next event, and final one for the year, includes a virtual tour of the2020 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne on November 19. Gallery Director Anouska Phizacklea will lead the tour of the prestigious prize with contemporary artist and 2020 finalist Dr Christian Thompson AO.
With a range of affordable memberships offering VIP and exclusive access, Guest Club is the contemporary way to engage with the art world. From the Frieze Art Fair to Australia’s top galleries like STATION, Neon Parc, roslynOxley9 and TenCubed, all from the comfort of your own home.