Rosemont Art Advisory Exclusive interview with Leonidas Kambanis, managing director of YellowKorner Monaco.
This interview is part of series of artist interview, released every month in our newsletter.
As a way of introduction YellowKorner was created in 2006 by two friends, Alexandre de Metz and Paul-Antoine Briat, both passionate about photography since childhood. From this encounter came an idea and an ambition: to make art photography accessible for all and YellowKorner the leading publisher of art photography.
The concept thus stems from a very simple equation: instead of offering 10 prints for 5 000 euros, YellowKorner chooses to publish 1 000 for 50 euros while preserving irreproachable standards of quality for all of the prints, finishes, and in selecting photographers.
We are honored to sit down with you just few days before your grand opening of the Yellow Korner in Monte Carlo.
YellowKorner democratises art photography through a network of nearly 80 galleries worldwide and now you have joined the ranks, please tell us what was your motivation behind bringing the concept to the Principality and and why the choice of Monaco ? When is your opening day and which artists will be featured ?
Monaco and the broader region shows great appreciation for art and art photography. Being passionate about art and having already invested in other art-venues abroad, it was a natural evolution for our group to open a gallery in Monaco. Among the numerous art galleries here, we recognized a gap in limited art-photography and brand recognition of YELLOWKORNER. Our gallery has already received very warm comments and quite a few clients for the few days of operation.Our gallery’s formal opening is June 26th and we welcome all photography enthusiasts to visit us.
Who are the artists you are going to exhibit and what is the criteria of selection for any future photographer to be exhibited at your gallery?
YellowKorner wants to provide a place for talent from different photography trends to be expressed. The only constant is the artistic excellence required to feature in the YellowKorner collections. Thus contemporary artists are found alongside the greatest names in photography (Man Ray, Jean Dieuzaide, Bert Stern, Matthieu Ricard, Oliviero Toscani, Yann Arthus-Bertrand…), YellowKorner photographs are selected by a committee composed of a dozen experts under the authority of the founders. Each member of this committee is a specialist of a particular photographic trend from 1880 to today. As talent spotters, they are also responsible for selecting international young hopefuls in the world of art photography, from amongst the most talented of their generation. Several of these artists, who were yesterday’s hopefuls, are included amongst today’s most renowned photographers. YellowKorner therefore shone a light upon Formento+Formento, Laurent Baheux, Kourtney Roy and Lee Jeffries right from the start of their career. YellowKorner thus intends to be a springboard for young photographers as well as promoting internationally renowned photographers.
Who is your favorite photographer and what do you collect ?
Out of so much talent and diversity in style, I could only mention a few like Olivier Lavielle who shots airplanes and cars of passes eras that I adore, Frank Bohbot a city photographer that loves shops and colorful signs, Slim Aarrons whose motto was: to photograph "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.", Richard Silver bringing us photos from any corner of the planet and of course Laurent Dequick a true lover of urban architecture. Laurent Dequick did the tropicalization, the photos of Monaco that one can purchase in our gallery.
Will you be focusing on educational projects with the local community ? For example will one be able to take a photography class with one of your experts team
As I mentioned earlier, YellowKorner Monaco intends to be a springboard for local young photographers. We plan to organize in our gallery in coordination with local groups and schools exhibitions of young talent and host events with visiting professional photographers.
What is your favorite museum and which art fair do you like to go to?
It is hard to identify one single museum as a favorite, but if I could name a few, on top of my list would be Musee National Monaco, the Met Cloisters, the Whitney and the Guggenheim in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Boston MoFA, Le Louvre in Abu Dhabi, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Modern Art in STOCKHOLM, Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence and the Musee Oceanographique in Monaco that brings memories from stories of the great explorers that I grew up as a kid. When it comes to art fairs, we try to visit Art Basel and Les Rencontres d’Arles , which is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 that has an international impact by showing material that has never been seen by the public before.
Thank you very much for the interview.
Discover Yellow Korner in Monaco here. For more information, please contact Karolina Blasiak at k.blasiak@rosemont-mc.com
Credit Pictures:
Iro Vaharis,
Leonidas Kambanis, Owner and Director of YellowKorner Monaco
YellowKorner Monaco