Cultured Magazine Young Collectors Article 2019

Art collections are as varied as the individuals that curate them - in content, origin and motivation. For our second annual selection of young collectors, we focus on a diverse group that shares a common thread: The nurturing of conversations that tie art to larger context of the world.

MATTHEW CHEVALLARD. PHOTO BY SCOTT MCINTYRE.

Matthew Chevallard
Home base: Miami
Profession: President of Mc Italia and Stuff Inc. and the Office Mia Art Gallery

Tell me about the first piece of art you ever collected. I’ve always been into studying history and sociology. In high school, I was really focused on different cultural elements of the ’60s and reading all the literature around that period, particularly revolutionary bands. Through that, I developed a love for the Grateful Dead and started collecting the handbills that they used to issue and these trippy, cool, wild posters. I bought three or four semi-large ones.

What works in your collection are you particularly excited about right now? Arte Povera is far and beyond my favorite genre, and it’s probably the concentration of my collection. Arte Povera can be a loose term, but artists in my home include Michelangelo Pistoletto, Enrico Castellani, and Alighiero Boetti. I have a Mimmo Rotella—all of these post-war Italian artists, who were based out of Torino, where I was born. The Pistoletto is a brushed aluminum, so it looks like a mirror with a screen print over it, not fully sculptural, but with a little bit of dimensionality.

What is the vision of The Office, your new gallery space in Miami? My business partner, Daniel Berkowitz, and I work with a variety of artists: Matt McCormick, Jason Seife, Michael Vasquez and Corey Damon Black. There are a lot of Miami-based and relatively emerging artists who we are excited about. I collect a lot of the artists we are working with, promoting and introducing them to my friends. From there, we are building a greater vision.

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