Conversation with Virginie Puertoas Syn
Freelance Art Consultant
If you weren't in your profession, what would you do?
I will be a writer. I always loved words.
What moments/events in your personal life has influenced you to choose your career path?
When I was a child I visited the Uffizi Museum in Florence and I had a "choc artistique/aesthetique" in front of Botticelli's paintings, and in particular "The Birth of Venus".
Later in Paris I attended Art History classes at the Ecole du Louvre. And when I moved to London in 2007, I became fascinated by the Art world: the galleries, the auction houses, the artists I engaged and worked with. London has definitely been the place where I realised I wanted to follow a career path, my own, in the Arts.
Who within the art world do you define/consider a visionary?
I was totally taken by Tomas Saraceno's exhibition last October at the Palais de Tokyo. I visited the exhibition four times and each time I was blown away. Saraceno offers a holistic approach to Contemporary Art where Science, Politics, Economics, Environment & Art converge. He pushes the boundaries of Contemporary Art and offers a vision of a new society beyond today's fossil fuel-based world order.
Tell us about a woman, well-known or not, whom you admire and why.
I have lots of admiration and respect for Rosemarie Schwarzwälder : a “Grande Dame” of the Art World. With her Gallery in Vienna, she has developed and supported artists for the past four decades. There is an intellectual rigour, knowledge, commitment and passion in what Rosemarie has been doing. I have been fortunate to work with her and I have learnt so much.
If you were to give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Be passionate, patient, consistent, hard-working, keep discovering and building up your knowledge but first and foremost don’t give up!
Who is the last artist who caught your eye?
I made two great discoveries this summer : the French-Algerian artist Mohamed Bourouissa at Les Rencontres d’Arles and Nadia Kaabi-Linke a Tunisian-Ukrainian, Berlin-based artist at the Domus Artists Residency in Puglia, Italy.