Interview with Thomas Gallery
At 315 East 91st Street on the 6th Floor you will find Thomas Gallery www.tomthomasgallery.com who recently relocated from East 59th Street. I interviewed its founder Tom Thomas Gargiulo
VG: You started as a collector …
TT: Yes of pieces of contemporary arts and furniture prototypes
VG: Such as…
TT: Andre Serrano (http://andresserrano.org/), David Wojnarowicz http://www.ppowgallery.com/
Title: Something from Sleep II 1987-88 mixed media on canvas 36” x 36” and
Sally Mann http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Model_Family.html
That was in the 80’s and I liked people who were where challenging social structure: Mann with nudes photos of children, Wojnarowicz who challenged the capitalist nature of the healthcare system in the face of the 80’s crisis and Serrano who explored the themes related to sexuality and religion with body fluids etc.
VG: And in terms of furniture…
TT: In the 80’s I got interested in the work of Memphis (http://designmuseum.org/design/memphis )and one of the artist I collected was Massimo iosa Ghini http://www.iosaghini.it/progettiByYear.asp?nav=worksNavItem&?tipo=byYear&year=1989
who was working with parabolic forms in furniture.
I also loved primitivism and collected unknown twig pieces such as a desk and unusual corky things.
VG I think you also collected early pieces of French designers Garouste & Bonnetti…
Yes in the 80’s from the New Barbarian collection from the gallery
En attendant les Barbares www.barbares.com/, and also from France pieces by Andre Dubreuil.
VG: How did you find the pieces from France?
TT: originally through auctions when there was not a market for them yet and therefore prices were very low.
VG: Once you opened the gallery did you keep collecting?
TT: yes I fell in love with the work of Andre Arbus http://www.architonic.com/dcobj/search/arbus/2/1, Gilbert Poillerat (http://www.architonic.com/dcobj/gilbert-poillerat/8102878/2/1), Jacques Adnet http://www.architonic.com/dcobj/search/adnet/2/1 and initially bought the pieces to furnish my apartment.
VG:How did you become a dealer?
TT: I really discovered my passion for fine and decorative arts and I wanted it to become my business, my main activity so I decided to leave my profession.
I studied both art history and decorative arts history and eventually gave lectures and taught classes at Parson’s school of design focusing on French 40’s decorative arts.
Decorative history continues to fascinate me because it is important to understand the thinking of a time period and how people relay to objects.
VG: Thomas Gallery has an incredible inventory where you find pieces designed by important artists as well as great pieces by unknown artists…
TT: Yes great pieces can be made by unknown artists and they too can reflect the spirit of the time just as much as the ones by someone who was known and working in Paris.
VG Among all your pieces I selected these:
Tell me about this table
TT: I thought it was a very classic piece, I was attracted by the hand hammered quality of the piece which imbued the work of the 40’s because it was the last time in France when furniture was completely hand made in a widespread fashion. The marble from Levanta is of exceptional quality.
VG: what about this sculpture from Togo?
TT: A fascinating anthropomorphic sculpture, simple and expressive at the same time
VG: I love this crystal ceiling fixture, how did you find it?
TT: One of the things I love about France is that you can find beautiful things in any region. I started visiting the South of France more than a decade ago and have made a number of contacts.
I liked the simplicity of this piece, not fussy, just right and crystal is always interesting in how it reflects light
VG: And this Rene Prou cocktail table?
TT: The curves are very sexy, simple but the way the iron slowly tapers and also curves is very sensuous and at the same time simple, very elegantly done
VG: You’ve also collected Swedish pieces what can you say about this stunning Hjort Chandelier?
TT: It is among the most stunning and daring pieces that I own. The way the spikes emanate from the stem and the fact that it has 2 light sources and the glass is different: a ball and an oval globe each sandblasted and decorated. An entirely imaginative work.
