When we recently visited to browse around the Volcan exhibition of visual art works by Ildefonso Aguillar housed at Lanzarote Art Gallery, we were struck by the privileged positions the works were placed in, afforded by generous space and subtle lighting. This was certainly not one of those galleries where the venue itself gets in the way of the art it displays. The receptionist on duty that day kept a protective eye on the art as we wandered, (and also to ensure that we observed covid protocols) but she was friendly and helpful when we approached her with a couple of queries. When we returned a few weeks later for the inauguration of an exhibition of work by the female artist Masqali, the Gallery owner himself was undertaking meet and greet duties on the front door. This he, too, performed in a friendly and helpful manner. He was certainly not one of those gallery owners who gets in the way of the art he displays. In fact he graciously agreed to allow us to interview him for these pages so come follow your art the sidetracks and detours of the collectable-art world and let´s look at art from a collector´s point of view.
At the professional level he excels as an Architect and Urban planner, with 35 years of professional experience in top companies, (Isolux Corsan, Dragados, Agroman,Techint), managing large works and professional teams. Since my beginnings, in 1977 I have led in construction companies, as Project Manager and Construction Director, trying to develop and stimulate the people who participate in the projects, enriching their lives and transmitting hope that things can always be better, committing them to the project as architectural professionals. In this capacity, and with this attitude he has served as Civil Construction Manager with the Al Toukhi Group Of Contracting and with Trading Company Saudí Arabia. He has also served as Director of Construcción at Grupo Isolux Corsan. His career has also seen him function as Project Manager for large works at Dragados y Construcciones and as Group Manager withAgroman. He has also been Head of Works for Pipelines at Techint Group.
However, Eduardo Ferini alos has a Master’s Degree in Art Market and Business Management, and uses his knowledge in that area to advise private collectors and institutions in the formation of their collections and investment in art. He also offers guidance on how to use art as an innovative means for project development. His services on Collection Management includes procurement advice, mediation in the purchase and sale of works of art, as well as appraisal and tax studies and details of the finer points of corporate collecting. He also offers bespoke courses in Art Management, Patronage Management and Institutional Relations
Although my life is architecture my experiences and contacts in that filed are useful in my role as an art collector in the fundamental role of positioning artists, in front of an audience in the right setting. Collecting art my great passion and I find it very enriching and one of the best things that has happened to me in life.
´I always remember as a collector, that even when I was young I gathered coins, cards and stamps. As early as the 1980s in the U.S., I visited the Metropolitan of New York and MOMA, and began to travel and get to know the most important museums in the world: the Pompidou in Paris, the TATE in London. I always have a line. ´I don’t buy art to decorate my house.´
´Being a collector for me is a way of life that goes beyond the accumulation of works. ´For more than thirty years I have been a serious collector,¨ Eduardo told Lanzarote Information when we spoke to him recently, ´and yet, still, the passion of the heart often guides me to purchase a piece.´
´I have had to learn how to form a collection, rather than to simply buy random pieces I like.´ he says. ¨I have attended debates, and courses such as Menéndez Pelayo, in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art. I learned never to worry about the current value of the market and to buy, instead, what I think is a real work of art.´
Being a collector, though, is for me a way of life that goes beyond the accumulation of works.
Now, my collection is composed of several hundred works of contemporary art. I love to share my experience in the field of art, my success and my mistakes, my secrets, my passion and interest and my motivation´.
Eduardo enjoys recounting for people the exciting sidetracks & detours he has followed since buying myhis first work to create his current large collection.
His gallery here on Lanzarote and his home in Madrid are full of wonderful works of art.
Eduardo not only invites artist to exhibit at Lanzarote Art Gallery but also helps them to sell their works during, and beyond, the period of the exhibition. He does this for reasons that are beyond mere profitability. He wants each piece of work to reach its maximum potential viewing audience, of course, but he also knows that artists often employ their works for altruistic purposes. He cites recent exhibiting artist, , who after attending the opening night of her Lanzarote Art Gallery exhibition, flew home to Seville, as a case in point. He told Sidetracks & Detours that she diverts up to 50% of any profit she makes from her art to support and benefit young under-privileged children in Africa.
As Director of Lanzarote Art Gallery, Eduardo has also presented exhibitions, with different artists, in The Albermarle Gallery in London and the Timeless Gallery in Trelleborg in Sweden 2015. He has also helped display artists´ work in galleries in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Valencia in Spain. 2017. Apart from at his Lanzarote Art Gallery in Coasta Teguise he has exhibited artists elsewhere on the island, in Haría and Tias, for example, and all over the rest of The Canary Islands, and in Malaga on the peninsula.
Eduardo finds art ´peaceful´ and feels that must be a view shared by people all around the world, as evidenced by the fact that whilst 20% of sales he makes from the exhibitions are to people residing on The Canary Islands, the rest of the sales are truly global and he has helped artists place their works in locations as diverse as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, New York, Dubai and India.
The lockdowns and curfews of the last year have obviously been difficult for arts curators, but the Gallery´s most recent exhibition was well received. Identity And Travellers by Gaucimara Hernandez fully deserved the positive and comprehensive review we published on these pages after its official opening in February.
My understanding though, is that for Eduardo will wait to see what new regulations are announced before deciding on when he will next hold an exhibition of an artist´s current work. He will instead keep the gallery open with selections of work from his collection and will keep the wonderful gallery web site fully updated of any revised opening times and such like.
Art collector Eduardo Fariña has created at The Lanzarote Art Gallery a haven of art and contemporary culture, offering a new way of aking bringing culture closer and more approachable to society. His project is a model of Galería Viva, being a new concept, a dynamic and ephemeral gallery as a meeting point hosting different artistic disciplines in the same space. This gives an easy way for experts to share knowledge to make it easier for those of us who are, more simply, arts-lovers, to understand the breadth and diversity of artistic forms, be it Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Engraving or Photography The result is therefore a parade of works of art which, renewing each short space of time, give us a complete view of the works of our most noted artists.
He informed us this week that the inauguration of The Art of Collecting Exhibition will be held on March 19, 2021 20:00 hours In Lanzarote Art Gallery, and would be an opportune event at which to start the adventure of being a follower of the venue and its artists.
Just by looking at The Lanzarote Art Gallery website you will discover the answers to many questions you may have always had, by from the words of prestigious experts in collectors and excellent and exciting artists.
Eduardo hopes and believes that our planet and its art forms will recover from covid and continue supplying thought and wonder to art lovers everywhere. the world, he think, might have taken from the covid crisis a greater determination to consider carefully how and why we value art.
An overview from the website in advance and your attendance at this inaugural event would, I´m sure, encourage you to become a frequent visitor.