From its conception in 2014, Mickys art was founded from a passion of art, creating, culture and the sub cultures that supported the artworld. Established originally as an online platform to connect first time buyers and collectors to contemporary talent globally, Mickys art enters Armadale with a flagship gallery opening in July 2022.
TALENT POOL
Clients have the ability to immerse themselves in their roster of talent, discover an artist and a piece that talks to them, then either buy a work that's readily available or work with the creative team and the artist to have a unique piece made specifically for a wall in their home.
MICHAEL MANCUSO (Founder)
For many, the art world can seem like a place for insiders only, but many forget that people from all walks of life exist in this space - creating, working and sharing their passion for art. We sat down and delved deep with Mickys Art founder, Michael Mancuso, to uncover his pathway into art, and how he got to where he is today.
“My mother worked at Christie’s as well as other prominent Melbourne art galleries as a Valuer/Gallerist. At the exhibitions, I worked as a bartender from the age of 15-17, so I was around that world and gaining insight early. Over time, I watched the price increase of certain pieces and that’s how I discovered the collecting and dealing side of things. I became fascinated with the art economy and wanted to start investing in it. I definitely feel like I had an eye for what would appreciate in value. I also used to spend countless hours researching and reading on emerging talent,” Michael explains.
Michael’s interest in street art and the subcultures supporting the art world had him investing in works by Blek Le Rat and Invader from a very young age. He bought pieces for $1500 - $15,000 that are now worth $300,000. Michael funded the purchase of his first home, an engagement ring and his wedding through buying and selling works, and has fine-tuned an innate instinct to identify talent and what will appreciate, before the rest of the market.
Michael's art collection now boasts work from sixteen artists including indigenous contemporary artist Reko Rennie, Adam Cullen, Steven John Clark, INVADER, Blek Le Rat and so on.
THE EVOLUTION OF MICKYS ART
Mickys art became bricks and mortar in 2021, just before the partnership between Michael and now business partner Oliver Gabelich (Artistic Director) formed. The pair share an eye for surfacing contemporary talent and the pairing of art with the Australian architecture and interior design landscape, and are due to open their Armadale flagship in July as a gallery and design consultancy - eight years in the making.
OLIVER GABELICH (Artistic Director)
Oliver curates art collections for clients that talk to the space each piece will inhabit, ensuring the collection is geographically diverse and collects from various styles, disciplines and career cycles.
“I’m inspired by the pairing of classicism with contemporary art and the bridging of art curatorship with interior design thinking. I like disruption and the wow factor. I like the look of styles that juxtapose the age of the home and talk to the tonality of certain rooms,” Oliver explains.
He is passionate about the execution of art curatorship inside a home and the pairing of art with the Australian design landscape. In his opinion, it is the most prominent in the world.
“It provides amazing environments to play bold with striking artworks and lighting plans that elevate the mood and the investment. For me, the size, style and colours are paramount. I have spent a lot of time with artists in their studios in the lead up to exhibition or in the planning and execution of made-to-measure commissioned pieces, and I understand the importance of finding the perfect piece for a specific spot in the house,” Oliver explains.
He has created ‘CURATED by Mickys art’ as a pathway to surface favoured ingredients from previous art works, identifying the perfect size, style and colour the pieces needs to be to fit inside the home. This removes the obscurity between the artist’s studio and the client’s wall.
The accessibility this pathway has now created, is extremely rare and unique to Mickys art.
CURATED by Mickys art
CURATED by Mickys art is an art advocacy and design consultancy that connects the interior design language with contemporary talent, both emerging and established to create impactful residential environments.
“At its core it is a made-to-measure, art centric buying experience, providing unique accessibility for our clients to some of the world's leading contemporary artists,” Oliver explains.
The program boasts a roster of forty artists globally and enables clientele to have their favourite pieces uniquely reimagined at a size that fits their wall/s. It's experience driven and provides incredibly rare accessibility to the artists' studio, ensuring clients buy what they love and that it fits a specific wall in the home.
“We recommend artists or artworks that blend with their existing art and furniture collection, and that speak to the age and style of their home prior to putting paint to canvas. We design lighting plans to elevate the investments from internationally renowned lighting studios, so you can enjoy your piece at Museum standards,” says Oliver.
THE EMERGING TALENT PROGRAM
Dedicated to unearthing raw talent from the corners of the globe, this program provides a platform for trajectory where artists spend time with the creative team to roadmap bodies of work for exhibition. This is designed to break barriers and explore new ideas, techniques and mediums.
The Mickys art residency program enables artists to work at scale and paint pieces for clients on the walls of the gallery and in curated spaces. The program builds communications around their practice and connectivity to collectors, creating consistency in their profession.
CLIENTELE
We work nationwide on projects, and a lot of our clients typically have an existing piece or two in their collection, or none and are looking to bring colour and mood to their space.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Our Armadale gallery will provide a new home and global design studio for our artists as we continue to connect our clients with international talent.
Mickys art, Armadale is a place to explore available pieces from a roster of international talent, or work with the curator and creative team to plan a piece that’s made-to-measure, specific for your wall.
Mickys art will open its Armadale flagship at 13a Rose Street in July, 2022.
Contact the gallery for more information.
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