Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/262375
62 BAL HARBOUR SELF TAUGHT Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld is shaking up the traditional art gallery structure, one collaboration at a time. BY JULIE BAUMGARDNER Though Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld studied film, he has become a force in the art world. At left, his Upper East Side project space. While the great debate in higher education still rages, history has seen a slew of innovators who never were schooled in the fields they went on to change—Abraham Lincoln, John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates are prime examples. While Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld went to college (University of Southern California to be exact), he studied neither art history nor business. In fact, the scion of fashion icons Carine Roitfeld and Christian Restoin earned his degree in film. "I consider myself to be very new to this business," Roitfeld confesses. But make no mistake, the 29-year-old has become a force in the art world, especially since opening his project space on the Upper East Side last year, although Roitfeld has been staging one-off happenings since 2008. "The way I started was kind of unconventional," he says. "Five or six years ago, there weren't that many pop-up exhibitions going on." And while his famous last name may inspire some to whisper slurs of slander and nepotism, "all of my energy is focused on the space." Roitfeld, who slumbers on the third floor of his 78th Street townhouse live/work space, is adamant that he's not a gallerist but rather a devoted dealer to his artists. "I've had to learn to try and build a program," he explains, "I did not want to open a gallery. I enjoy flexibility and freedom, and like to show different things." Come March, Roitfeld unveils an eight- week exhibition of Berlin-based painter Shannon Finley, whose colorful geometric abstractions have also caught the eyes of those in the know. In a world of "Do what you love, love what you do," Roitfeld makes the case that passion begets professionalism. "It's super competitive, but at the end of the day it's what drives you," he says. "There is really nothing else that I would want to do than what I'm doing." Gratitude must run in the family— when his idolized editrix mother Carine famously abdicated her throne at French Vogue, it took her little time to land on her feet. Why, some may ask? Well, as Karl Lagerfeld said to her: "You are quite modest." Fastidiousness too is a Roitfeld trait. Last year, not a month went by that Vladimir didn't have a show he curated hanging in one exhibition space or another—and not just at his own domain. In continuing with his pop-up roots, Roitfeld co- curated "Mercy Merci," with Vogue-darling Christine deMessineo at 980 Madison Avenue (where powerhouse Gagosian has a gallery space), as well as collaborations with the galleries Lehmann Maupin in New York and Cardi Black Box in Milan. By championing younger artists such as Nicolas Pol or Clare Rojas as well as established artists like Peter Lindbergh or Tom Wesselmann, Roitfeld has invigorated his project space with a variety of shows that suggest a confident dexterity across the art historical and market landscape. "We're a small operation, so we have close relationships with the artists we show," he says. For a dealer-curator one- two punch, one would assume he too has a taste for acquisition. "You have to collect," he says. "I've only started collecting about a year and a half ago—not established artists, but the up-and- coming and the new generation." Who they are, he will not say— and, with much to be wary of in shady backroom dealings and price-fixing pieces, Roitfeld is shrewd to keep mum. For someone whose ken comes from the school of life, it seems he's learned the lessons of the trade never found in books. PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY