From art delivery to a new “physical” gallery with the ambition to become a point of reference for national and international art. Daniele Comelli shares with us his journey through contemporary art.
Daniele, before you decided to establish your physical gallery in Genoa, you had in 2018 an entrepreneurial intuition that brought you to create a gallery online, first.
We’ll start with an inevitable question, therefore: what prompted you to make this second step? Was the project already planned?
When I decided to leave the family gallery, I did it with the goal of creating my own gallery. I knew I had to face many challenges, but I would have never expected a world pandemic to revolutionize my plans. With the spread of Covid-19, I understood how difficult it was for me to open a physical place, and that I had better go fully digital. I invested many resources and time, then, to build a solid online presence, striving to reach as many clients as possible, worldwide.
However, I believe that now the moment has come to take the leap and do what I have always wanted, which is opening a place really reflecting what I am. Despite the enormous online success I encountered, I feel that there’s still something special in having a physical space where clients can see live artworks and directly relate to me and my staff.
How do you think the audience of art galleries has changed over the last few years?
I can’t make a real comparison, because I had to build my reference customers from zero. To say it better: when I decided to “walk alone”, I really didn’t know where to start. Of course, my father’s clients were elderly and I
needed a new, younger audience. After some research, I started to create my offers based on what I personally loved – and it all began to happen. That’s why I say I created my public from zero.
You travel a lot worldwide, attending contemporary art fairs and events. Should you take a picture of today’s situation in Italy, how would you see it compared to other countries?
Contemporary art fairs, in Italy, are an important opportunity to have meetings and exchanges with artists, collectors, gallery owners and art lovers. However, when you compare these events to art fairs abroad, you can notice that Italy is still kind of standard level. One of the reasons could be the lack of an adequate mentality and organization: it takes a remarkable preparation and professional management expertise, if you want to offer a high quality experience to your visitors and exhibitors.