Meet Gloria S. Kim | Co-Founder of Magdalene

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gloria S. Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gloria S., can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Magdalene was born from a random conversation we (Gloria S Kim and Denis Geary Lopez) had last spring, sparked by our desire to support emerging artists in Los Angeles seeking opportunities and community, as well from hypothesizing that arts could play a specific role in helping to revitalize urban neighborhoods especially with commercial real estate experiencing a serious downturn. In addition, our curiosity to learn more about the contemporary art market—so distinct from the private industries in which we typically operate—fueled this initiative, blending our passion for the arts with a drive to create opportunities for these talented, yet often underrepresented, artists.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a nomadic contemporary gallery, we provide a flexible platform for showcasing artists in diverse locations. In a world increasingly shaped by digital interactions, we believe that fine art offers a unique value by reconnecting collectors and audiences with a tactile, screen-free experience of creativity. We see technology as being primarily a means for scaling productivity, and while there are loads of interesting experiments out there that combine art and technology, especially in the category of innovative immersive experiences (think about the stunning AI leveraged work of Refik Anadol, the immersive experiences of teamLab, or Smith & Lyall and the exciting multimedia work they do in collaboration with the Chemical Brothers), our perspective is that art independent of technology offers greater long-term value for collectors, both financially and experientially

Our exhibitions reflect the importance of art fairs, online galleries, and platforms like Instagram. In this evolving landscape, we want to explore new ways of engaging with art. Our exhibitions so far have taken place in both a traditional gallery setting and a residential space (in Los Angeles and Montreal respectively). We learned that being nomadic for the time being has its advantages in the current economic environment, as it allows us to cut overhead and capital expenditure, and gives us flexibility to collaborate with partners in different locations. We are currently working on creating an exchange between San Francisco and Los Angeles by way of art field trips, a coffee table book featuring emerging artists we want to highlight, collaborating with emerging curators, partnering with like-minded galleries, and incentivizing sales by donating a portion to local nonprofits in support of social good.

We invite artists, curators, galleries, and nonprofit organizations interested in collaborating with us to reach out—we’d love to connect!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Food
Kura Revolving Sushi Bar in Little Tokyo is always super fun if you haven’t been to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant before. And then grab SomiSomi for ice cream after!
True Food Kitchen for dinner after Norton Simon. Great ambiance and healthy, sustainable food that’s also very tasty.
Wurstkuche – great hotdogs with some very exotic options if you’re feeling adventurous. Ever had a rattlesnake hotdog?
Tartine on Green Street in Pasadena is a nice quiet coffee shop and bakery that feels like a slice of San Francisco in LA.

Drink
The Revolving Lounge at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Amazing views of LA from the 34th floor. Also, the hotel itself is so cool. Really interesting architecture that’s worth checking out even if you don’t drink.
Library Bar in DTLA. Cozy and like the name says you feel like you’re in a darkly lit library.
For coffee, we are a fan of the coffee, architecture, and landscape design behind the new coffee shop ‘How’s it going to end?’ in the perennially underdog neighborhood of Montrose, CA

Galleries and Museums that we recommend from the East side to the West side
Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena
Simchowitz at Hill House
The Pit
Sea View
Vielmetter
Hauser & Wirth
Make Room
Regen Projects
Night Gallery
Good Mother Gallery
MAK Center for Art and Architecture
Perrotin

Hang out
The Huntington Gardens is a great way to spend the day

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We want to thank our friends, family, and the incredible artists who made our first exhibition possible: Austyn de Lugo-Liston, Molly Champlin, Katie Marshall, Melora Garcia, Chloe Higginbottom, Joshua Lary, and Simone Montemurno. We are also grateful to our first guest curator and gallery collaborator, Dulce Pinzón of Plateforme Artebase in Montreal/Mexico, for her invaluable expertise and contributions to our first international exhibition.

Website: https://www.magdalenegallery.art/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magdalenegallery/

Image Credits
Sam Lee