Frank Maresca, New York - MEET THE COLLECTOR Series Part Thirty
I have seen Frank Maresca from Ricco/Maresca each year that I have taken part in the Outsider Art Fair in New York, but it was only really this year that we had a proper conversation. Frank has worked in the business many years, and his Gallery is about to increase in size on the same floor in their New York block! Read on to find out more about Frank’s life, his incredible ‘Vernacular Loft’ and future plans for his Gallery in part thirty of my ‘Meet the Collector’ series …
Frank Maresca, Stephen Romano (gallery manager), and Roger Ricco outside of Ricco/Maresca Gallery at 152 Wooster Street in 1997. Photo by Donna Ferrato
1. When did your interest in the field of outsider/folk art begin?
My interest began very early on. In a way, probably, at age 5; an uncle who was assistant curator at the Brooklyn Museum asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him I wanted an 18th century Persian mortar and pestle — which I had become aware of in the window display of my local drugstore. So, he brought me to an antique store on Allen Street in New York's Lower East Side. There on the dusty shelves were a number of antique brass mortar and pestles and I chose the one that spoke to me. Many years later, in 1976, I heard of an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum titled Folk Sculpture USA - which was, as they say, an epiphany for me. Through my uncle, who was also a collector, I became aware of tribal sculpture (primarily African) and through the exhibition I became aware of American Folk sculpture. I had knowledge of it through books, but had never seen it firsthand. Walking into the exhibition, and moving from object to object, just hit me... hard. I bought the catalog for the show and virtually memorized it. I knew then that this would become a significant part of my life. Twelve years later (in 1988), Alfred A. Knopf published Ricco/Maresca's first book American Primitive: Discoveries in American Folk Sculpture which became the premier publication on the subject.
2. When did you become a collector of this art? How many pieces do you think are in your collection now? And do you exhibit any of it on the walls of your home or elsewhere?
Almost immediately after leaving the exhibition Folk Sculpture USA, I began to seek out American Folk and Self-Taught art. I bought what I could afford and later, as my income increased, I began to buy better and better pieces — often selling lesser works to put the money into better ones. That process continued and, to a certain extent, continues to this day. However, rather than "better" works, I might be selling or trading to buy different works. Today my collection is housed in my residence in Chelsea (Manhattan) which I've named the "Vernacular Loft,” where at least 75 two and three-dimensional works are always on view. In total, my personal collection is probably double that number, I have a storage facility that enables me to periodically rotate works. I've always liked the concept of visual change.
Frank Maresca’s residence (The Vernacular Loft). Photo by Stan Narten
3. Can you tell us a bit about your background before the Gallery?
When I was 21 years old, right out of art school, I started a photography studio (Frank Maresca Studio Inc.). It had always been my dream and intention to do fashion and beauty photography. I soon found, however, that this work was the most coveted and the hardest to get, so in the beginning I did everything from working as a photojournalist for Time Magazine, to photographing product still lifes for advertising agencies and cosmetic companies. Eventually through persistence, I worked on campaigns for Avon, Almay, Revlon, Estée Lauder, and Christian Dior among others — at first doing mostly basic "hand" shots, until eventually I was given faces. In time, my studio turned into a real business, which afforded me the luxury of collecting even better things.
4. So Roger Ricco told me that your Gallery the Ricco|Maresca Gallery in New York began back in 1982 – can you tell me about how it has grown over that time and if the represented artists have shifted since that time? Can you also explain to us what and where the vernacular loft is?
Yes, we started the gallery back then with Roger Ricco. However, our association goes back to 1979. I had met Roger maybe a year before that and it seemed that we kept running into one another at antique shows and auction houses. Finally, one of us said "hey, maybe we should do something together." Roger had a room in his living and working loft that he was not using (about 15 sq. ft with high ceilings). I looked at it and it was pretty much a wreck, but that was our start. We decided that we would each put in $10,000 dollars and turn the room into a gallery — while maintaining our independence. The money that was not invested in the renovation went toward buying art for our first opening and printing beautiful graphic invitations. We had mentioned to a mutual friend of ours, Herbert Hemphill, that we were starting a gallery. Herbert ("Burt") was one of the pivotal figures in American Folk and Self-Taught Art, one of the founders of the American Folk Art Museum, and a passionate collector of the material. Our plan was to send the invitation to our friends, but upon hearing this, Burt reached for his address book and said "here, take it." So that became our mailing list. All of a sudden it was opening night and it was a crush; I remember it being 10pm and wondering where we were going to get more beer, wine, and ice to cool it all down with. We were off and running.
About a year later we had outgrown that initial space and, through a series of circumstances, we moved to Broome Street in Soho — long before it was fashionable. From there, we relocated to 21st Street, then 19th Street, then to Hudson Street in Tribeca, then back to Soho again (this time on Wooster Street). Finally, 23 years ago, we moved to our current location in Chelsea. I think there were less than 10 galleries in the neighborhood at that time, there are now over 300. We were on the cover of ARTnews along with 30 of our gallery colleagues and dubbed the Chelsea gallery pioneers.
Frank Maresca’s residence (The Vernacular Loft). Photo by Stan Narten
5. What is it that draws your eye away from contemporary art to outsider/folk art? Or do you collect both?
I collect Folk, Self-Taught, Contemporary, and Modern art. It's all about the concept of crossover for me; I really don't make any differentiation between any of it. To me art is art, the rest is labels.
6. A conflicted term at present, but can you tell us about your opinion of the term outsider art, how you feel about it and if there are any other words that you think we should be using instead?
My feeling is that if we have to use labels, I want them to be accurate. My definition of Outsider Art is closely aligned with Dubuffet's definition of art brut, that is, art that is produced by people operating so far outside of society as we know it that they often need the help of caregivers — although there are of course some exceptions to the rule, Henry Darger being a notable example.
Secondly, I make an important distinction between Outsider and Self-Taught. The latter is simply art that is produced on the margin of the art historical continuum... non-academic art. The definition of Self-Taught and Folk often overlaps, with Folk predominantly coming out of learned traditions or apprenticeships, e.g. wood carving, quilting, metal-smithing.
7. What style of work, if any, is of particular interest to you within this field? (for example is it embroidery, drawing, sculpture, and so on)
To this day, and going back to my very early roots, I still gravitate toward art that has, in one way or another, a tribal aspect to it. I was quoted once a long time ago as saying: "I don't like anything that is cute." The medium through which something is expressed is meaningless to me, it's all about communication.
8. Would you say you had a favourite artist or piece of work within your collection? And why?
That's impossible to answer. It's really a variation on who's your favorite artist, what's your favorite song... While we all like what we like, within that, things seem to change with the situation or the mood. Art for me is a transportation device, sometimes it takes me in and sometimes it brings me out of my present moment in time; that's the wonder and power of art.
Frank Maresca’s residence (The Vernacular Loft). Photo by Stan Narten
9. Where would you say you buy most of your work from: a studio, art fairs, exhibitions, auctions, or direct from artists?
All of the above. Sometimes I look for art specifically, other times I like to think that it looks for me.
10. Is there an exhibition in this field of art that you have felt has been particularly important? And why?
American Folk Sculpture USA. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the Brooklyn Museum was also the second venue for a show that opened at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C: Black Folk Art in America: 1930-1980 (1982), which became a game changer. Another exhibition that had an impact in the field, and in me personally, was Parallel Visions: Modern Artists and Outsider Art, which opened in 1992 at the LA County Museum (now LACMA). The very first show of Martín Ramírez at the American Folk Art Museum was also incredibly important, and it led to Ricco/Maresca's eventual representation of the artist's estate.
11. Are there any people within this field that you feel have been particularly important to pave the way for where the field is at now?
From a very early time a personal hero of mine has been Sidney Janis. He was one of the earliest gallerists showing and making no distinction between self-taught artists such as Morris Hirshfield, and academic artists such as Jackson Pollock. In 1942 he wrote the book They Taught Themselves with a forward by Alfred Barr - then the director of the Museum of Modern Art.
12. You are about to open your Gallery in a larger space on the same floor in the same building. What’s shifted this need for a larger space and what do you hope from it?
Over the years we have occupied spaces of varying sizes. I don't think that a larger gallery is a better gallery... Our new, larger space will afford us the luxury of doing expanded shows, but more importantly, it will allow us to showcase the past, present, and future of Ricco/Maresca as a continuing story. We will also have more room for talks and educational endeavors. We feel strongly about education and the expanded space will help the public see more art firsthand, which is an experience unlike any virtual presentation. There is an inherent difference between pure knowledge and the emotional dimension that comes from being confronted by something in person.
Frank Maresca’s residence (The Vernacular Loft). Photo by Stan Narten