SHARING SUCCESS STORIES OF OUR PROGRAM ALUMNI V°11 AUGUST 2019 THE BUSINESS OF ART FEATURING Aileen Agopian, Steve Altan, Vasken Kalayjian, Kristine Woodward, and Thomas Kechikian CONTENTS V°11 SHARING SUCCESS STORIES OF OUR PROGRAM ALUMNI 03 The Editorial In Every Issue The Business of Art Issue Active Citizen 24 Serving Armenia’s Service Members 04 Private Eye How Razmig Arzoumanian is saving How bespoke art advisor Aileen and improving Armenian soldiers’ lives Agopian earned the trust of the world’s with support from the diaspora most serious collectors The Thinker 08 Street Smarts 26 The Historian’s Edge How graphic artist Steve Altan carved 16 Fluency and Proximity—Prof. Bedross out his turf in the pop culture industry Der Matossian’s keys to the front door of history 12 Fire Brand Giving Back Solving business problems through the power of art is Vasken Kalayjian’s 28 Turning Walls Into Doors burning passion Why Gevorg Abrahamian is the ultimate role model for AGBU summer interns 16 The Art of Community On the Home Front Powered by passion and instinct, gallery co-founder Kristine Woodward 30 The Time Traveler helped transform the downtown Matenadaran guide Naré Vardanyan’s New York art scene quest to preserve Armenia’s historical 20 memory 20 Lap of Luxury Making it Count Artistic director Thomas Kechikian is immersed in high-end, image-driven 31 Making it Count brands ThreeAGBU alumni ensure that Armenian identity thrives well into the future AGBU Programs 34 AGBU: The Inside Story AGBU programs help cultivate outstanding leaders of tomorrow 08 04 12 DOYEN ANTOINE HENDERSON; ANDREW MACCHIA; KANE ADAM STOCK ADOBE 2 THE INSIDER | www.agbu.org {THE EDITORIAL} From AGBU to You by ANI MANOUKIAN AGBU Central Board Member f a work of art can speak to the soul, touch the heart, or process, cultivating a creative community that has revitalized the expand a worldview, how do we assign value to that city’s cultural landscape. experience? The answer lies in the intersectionality of For global branding guru Vasken Kalayjian, a disciplined creativity and commerce that is The Business of Art. approach to designing some of the most recognizable and award- In this issue, we explore the many facets of this winning brand-identity programs of our times is a master in defin- complex dynamic through the fascinating stories of five ing the core attributes of a business’s culture without projecting his AGBU alumni who have scaled the heights of profes- own subjectivity into the mix. In contrast, New York graphic Isional achievement in two major art and business capitals of the designer Steve Altan has somehow managed to reap both psychic world—New York City and Paris. One measure of their success is and financial rewards by putting his personal stylistic stamp on how they reconcile the integrity of the artistic product with the whatever commercial endeavor he touches. Across the Atlantic, in demands of their audience, be it collectors, clients, or consum- Paris, Thomas Kechikian’s boutique advertising firm is raising the ers. Each is driven by a passion for the visual medium and an bar for luxury brands, in which value is judged by the flawless rep- entrepreneurial flair that affords them the privilege of doing resentation of a product as an aspirational ideal. what they love and earning due remuneration and recognition Whether you’re a connoisseur of art, a savvy investor, or an every- in the bargain. day consumer navigating the oversaturated jungle of pictorial We start with New York-based Aileen Agopian as she travels messages, this issue of AGBU Insider sets out to prove that there is the sophisticated circles of high-stakes global art collecting as a such a thing as mixing the pleasure of making art with the business private advisor whose negotiating skills are as impeccable as is of consuming it. her eye for the next meteoric talent. Fellow New Yorker Kristine And don’t miss the stories of other AGBU alumni who have suc- (Kazandjian) Woodward recently marked 25 years running a ceeded in their own fields of endeavor or are volunteering their time prestigious gallery in trendy lower Manhattan, building a reputa- as leaders in the AGBU global network. Success in any life pursuit tion for nurturing the careers of now iconic painters, and in the is an art in itself. Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Manuelian Art Director Levi Nicholson Editorial Staff Anita Anserian, Alex Basmajian, Christina Lalama, Gevorg Mnatsakanyan, Karen Papazian, Nana Shakhnazaryan Contributor Susan Klein, Jamie Thomson AGBU Insider is published by the Armenian General Benevolent Union 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022-1112 Tel: 212.319.6383, E-Mail: [email protected] Postmasters: Send address changes to the above address. Printed in the United States. A version of AGBU Insider is available at agbu.org/Insider This publication of the Armenian General Benevolent Union is mailed free of charge to members and donors of the organization. If you are not a regular contributor and wish to continue receiv- ing AGBU Insider, please send a minimum contribution of $25.00 by check to the address above or conveniently online by credit card. AGBU Insider is circulated in 28 countries around the world. ADAM KANE MACCHIA; ANDREW HENDERSON; ANTOINE DOYEN ANTOINE HENDERSON; ANDREW MACCHIA; KANE ADAM STOCK ADOBE © Armenian General Benevolent Union, August 2019. All Rights Reserved. www.agbu.org | THE INSIDER 3 Business of Art ISSUE Aileen Agopian Title: Art Advisor Company: Agopian Inc. Location: New York, NY, USA Affiliation: AGBU New York Summer Internship Program (NYSIP) NAME TK NAME MACCHIA KANE ADAM 4 THE INSIDER | www.agbu.org Agopian at the townhouse of a collector in New York who she helped acquire this 2018 George Condo painting ‘Expanded Profile Composition,’ among others. PRIVATEPRIVATEPRIVATEPRIVATEPRIVATE EYEEYEEYEEYEEYE How bespoke art advisor Aileen Agopian earned the trust of the world’s most serious collectors s the dizzying whirl- group; wielded her persuasive auctioneer’s of the global art world were planted in wind of events that is gavel to raise $3 million dollars for that Midwestern soil, carefully nurtured the New York Spring Barnard College; and avidly escorted dif- by her parents Raffy and Vicki Shoghag Art Fair season swirls ferent collectors through two art fairs to Hovanessian. Agopian’s parents made a around her, contempo- purchase works of art by established and quest of contrasting the bucolic setting of rary art advisor Aileen younger artists. their hometown with the sophisticated Agopian remains un- A calendar-exploding sprint of this world of art, bringing young Aileen and ruffledA and indefatigable. Casting her dis- intensity would test the mettle of the most her siblings to neighboring Chicago for cerning eye across this annual nexus of practiced art-world ninja, but the warm weekend cultural outings. global art and commerce, Agopian has and ebullient Agopian describes it as an “I have a vivid early memory of standing already logged dozens of miles shepherd- invigorating journey. in front of George Seurat’s ‘Sunday at La ing celebrity collectors to the work of “I intrinsically love everything about Grand Jatte,’” Agopian recalls. “It was the artists both ascending and acclaimed, contemporary art—seeing it, talking about prized icon of the Art Institute of Chicago, negotiating significant private transac- it, collecting it personally, advising clients and I remember being utterly amazed that tions between dealers and clients, and to buy it, being around it, and ideally, cul- when you stepped close to it, all you could shuttling them in taxis, on foot, and by tivating that appreciation in others. The see were dots on a canvas. Then you stepped ferry, among tiny studios, prominent passion comes first, the profit is second.” back and the whole incredibly complex galleries, marquee auction houses and Listening to Agopian speak with depth scene unfolded. That blew me away.” art fairs. and assurance about contemporary art, it “My parents would walk us through During these same weeks, Agopian is difficult to envision her growing up in what would now be called the ‘contempo- squeezed in giving a talk at Christie’s auc- a small town in Indiana. But the seeds of rary galleries,’” Agopian recounts. “They NAME TK NAME MACCHIA KANE ADAM tion house for her daughter’s school her accomplishments in the top echelons showed us that art wasn’t just landscapes www.agbu.org | THE INSIDER 5 and figures. It could be these enormous glossy household paint directly onto a Agopian’s internship at White Cube canvases that envelope you in pure color huge circular canvas on a rotating mecha- led to her working there for five years as and composition.” nism, splattering it everywhere,” recalls their director of sales. There she culti- While collecting art in the ’80s and Agopian. “He was like a child approach- vated the professional attributes that ’90s, Agopian’s parents became auto- ing the work with wild abandon, and I was serve her to this day—a trustworthy didacts, studying books, visiting art fairs totally transfixed.” advisor with an impeccable eye, strategi- and galleries around the world, getting Aileen began peppering the artist and cally guiding clients to build collections I intrinsically love everything about contemporary art—seeing it, talking about it, collecting it personally, advising clients“ to buy it, being around it, and ideally, cultivating that appreciation in others. The passion comes first, the profit is second. involved with the Chicago art museums, the dealer with questions, and within the of legacy and lasting value. After five and subscribing to contemporary art course of their colorful” and deep conver- years in London, New York literally magazines.