23.04.2020

Victor Lope Arte Contemporáneo is an art gallery founded in Barcelona in 2009. The mission of the gallery is to launch and consolidate the careers of emerging and mid-career artists who have a unique contemporary art approach, in order to deliver this value globally and consolidate it in the European and international art market.

Located in the gallery area of ​​Barcelona, ​​Victor Lope Arte Contemporáneo has two exhibition rooms with a total of 130 square meters. The Gallery organizes between 8 and 10 exhibitions a year, some by expert curators. The gallery also participates in various international fairs, loop festivals and the Barcelona Gallery Weekend.

We interviewed its founder, Victor Lope, who will share his vision of art and talk about the next exhibition at our Gallery Store Espai Paris. This new series by artist Max Gärtner is about a very special collaboration with the Gallery. Let’s start!

How did the idea of ​​opening an Art Gallery come about?

For a long time I have always been attracted to art, especially contemporary art. For years I visited many galleries, museums and read and saw a lot of art on the internet. In the end it was a natural step, I wanted to contribute my grain of sand by spreading and sharing my vision of what a work of art is and the importance it should have in people’s lives, beyond its value as an investment.

What does Art represent to you?

Art has something intangible that goes beyond the pleasure of viewing a work with a certain aesthetic or simply admiring the skill of an artist, such as its technique, format, or staging.

The true art for me also transcends its economic value and its decorative function. Art articulates a message, an emotion, makes it visible, gives it meaning and makes you question many things. And I think that message can be found in figuration, in abstraction, in tiny works and in giant installations, in poor objects and in sculptures of the most exquisite marble. Art is nothing and it is everything, it is this duality that captivated me and made my professional life revolve around it.

When and how is Galería Víctor Lope born?

The gallery was born in 2009, in a small space in the Gràcia neighborhood of 30 m2. I was in that space for 3 years, and I made about 10 exhibitions of some artists with whom I still continue to work and who are already friends. In 2012 I moved to the Eixample, in the area of ​​art galleries.

How was your reception by the public, artists and gallery owners?

The gallery started as a small and personal project, without making much noise. In those days I did not have the contacts of curators, critics, collectors or institutions. Luckily, I had approached the gallery as an international project, and from the first moment I participated in several art fairs in Europe, where I was able to discover many artists and make sales of the artists I represented.

Who is your artist by reference? Who would you like to show his work?

I like many artists, of various styles, from the simplicity and synthesis capacity of artists such as Imi Knoebel or Regine Schuman, to the impressive staging of Anselm Kiefer’s monumental works. I hope never to lose that eclecticism also in the portfolio of the gallery.

What is the process like for an artist to exhibit at the Gallery? How do you select the artists?

It is a personal decision, almost always considered, although sometimes I have been impulsive and I have started working with an artist from minute 0. When I see an artist’s work I know immediately if it can add value to the discourse of the artist. gallery, if it fits but at the same time does not replicate or conflict with the work of another represented artist. Then there are other constraints, economic and chemical with the artist that make the magic happen or not.

What audience is the Gallery aimed at?

The public is very varied, but if I had to segment I would say that my clients are liberal middle-aged professionals, with a true passion for art, and that they flee from the idea of ​​considering a work of art as a mere investment object. My clients look for works to enjoy, share, bequeath, criticize.

What are the next challenges that you have proposed?

Continue with the gallery’s internationalization process. Latin America is our pending subject, I would like to do projects there. I would also like to establish more collaborations with other galleries and Dealers, the artists need to reach more places.

What would you say is the hallmark of the Gallery?

As I said before, our line is quite eclectic, it is the result of a personal vision, it is the materialization of a passion for art and its plastic representation.

From hyperrealism to geometric abstraction, everything has a place. That if, in each line I want to work only with the best. I am not interested in the CVs of the artists, I am interested in their works, they are the ones that speak best of them.

How do you see the artistic scene today in Barcelona?

Barcelona ceased to be a pole of attraction for artists and collectors, and we continue in those. But it is the city where I was born and live, I cannot conceive this project if it is not here.

Tell us a bit about the collaboration with the Gallery Store –Espai Paris- and the exhibition of the artist Max Gärtner.

The collaboration with The Room Studio started just a few months ago and the results have been very good since the first project. I think there has been total harmony and trust on both sides. I am sure we will work together on many more projects in the future.

And I think that the Max Gärtner exhibition is a logical step in this collaboration, where the Gallery Store gives up its space to exhibit a recent selection of works, both its famous paper cuts and its wooden sculptures. “Geister und Götter” will be a great exhibition, of that I have no doubt. I can’t wait to see the large snake sculpture presented at the entrance to the space.

To conclude, what advice would you give to someone who wants to acquire a work of art.

The viewer’s relationship with a work is unique and indescribable. If you see a work of art, you cannot stop thinking about it and you can afford it, you must buy it, without a doubt. It will be a 100% success. If one of the two things fails, it is not the work you need, keep looking, there is a work for you waiting…

We want to thank Victor Lope for the trust placed in The Room Studio and add that we are very excited about this new collaboration with the Gallery. We are looking forward to sharing this great exhibition with you all as soon as possible. We wait for you!