PORTFOLIO REVIEW + CONFERENCE
allen blevins
From 30 to 31 October 2019
At Hydra + Fotografía we are very interested in promoting photographic production in our country. The talent is undeniable, but the channels through which photographers can reach the public are limited by the complicated system of exhibition in museums and galleries and the costs involved. In addition, collecting in our country is still rare, partly due to the conception of this practice as an activity that is only available to certain social classes, and partly due to the lack of information available to those who have already decided to start collecting.That is why, starting in July, we have prepared a series of open talks and sessions of private portfolio reviews for all those who have decided or have already started a collection and wish to receive information about the best ways to start this activity: what are the most important criteria to take into consideration when making the decision to acquire a piece; to have notions about how the pieces are valued in the market and to take advantage of the spaces in which you can get in direct contact with the artists or the spaces that represent them.For people who have already started a collection, this program will offer personalised advice and portfolio reviews that can provide guidance on possible steps to take to grow a collection so that it coherently expresses their affinities and interests. In the case of artists, these reviews can also represent a valuable source of information about how to present their work to potential private or institutional collectors.Detonating Collecting will culminate in November with an auction of contemporary photography, an optimal opportunity for those who, after participating in program, or independently, wish to acquire photographic work and become collectors.
Allen Blevins
Allen served as director of the Bank of America Collection, from which he recently retired. One of the largest corporate art collections in the world, he developed the renowned program Art in our Community. Through this program more than 125 exhibitions have been shown in museums around the world.
He developed and managed the Bank's global arts programmes, including the Art Conservation Project. Under his direction, support was provided to more than 120 museums in 30 countries to conserve important cultural programmes. Works conserved through the project include paintings by Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Rembrandt; murals by Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo and David Alfaro Siqueiros; sculptures by Keith Haring and Salvador Dali; antiquities including an eighth-century Koran and four early medieval Irish manuscripts; and photography collections from the Arab Image Foundation.
Allen also established policies for the bank's Corporate Archives, one of the largest in the United States, with recordings spanning more than 200 years, and served as the bank's Historian. During his 30-year tenure at Bank of American, he held numerous marketing and brand leadership positions.
In Mexico City, Allen coordinated the art conservation grant awards for the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Museo Frida Khalo and the Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli; and coordinated the photography exhibition "Conversations" at El Colegio de San Ildefonso.
In 2017, he organised "In Focus / Enfoque: Contemporary Photography in Mexico", a series of 7 exhibitions throughout Charlotte, North Carolina.Allen currently serves on the Board of Directors of the McColl Center for Art + Innovation and previously served on the International Advisory Board of the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach California.
AMC BOOKS
We invite you to get to know the amazing publications of the Archive of Modern of Conflict publishing house, and we offer you some of them in our bookshop.