Auction

Paddle 8 + Eye Collection

Alexandre Lemaire
interview by Regina Pozo

1. RP - In your own words, how would you describe the curatorial approach of Eye Collection?

AL: EYE COLLECTION is a collection that brings together pieces of design, decorative arts and some other pieces of plastic arts from 1920 to 1979 with a visionary sense. In everything I do there is a vision for the future. Since I was little I collect, gather, save and more than anything, I see people throw things away and I realize that over time things gain value and their history.

1. RP: How was this approach taken? (Also how does the name of the collection reflect that approach / focus?)

AL - Some are born to be a doctor, others to run companies. I think I was born to be a collector and fisher of design and art. When I was young I used to fish and I was always lucky. 

1. RP:The collection comes from different parts of the world, not just Mexico: How is the search process for new pieces?

I am sincere, I do not search so much, I say, as long as people ask me how I managed to get this or that piece, I answer that the piece came to me and not the other way around! In my travels, I always try to stay close to the market areas antique dealers ... and I always visit them from both sides! 4. Your reaction to the pieces is immediate or you stop to think more carefully about how and why they would fit into the rest of the collection. I think the collection is me, my eye. That makes life easy and I never wonder whether or not, when I see a piece, I can ask and I am interested in knowing about the piece but I know immediately whether or not it is for me or for Eye Collection. So I can answer that my reaction is immediate!

1. RP- What specific artists, designers, or works inspired you to become a collector?

AL- I think I never became a collector, I was born a collector. It is also a defect or an effect. Just as some are born with 4 fingers, others are born with such an effect. Of course I was born into an artistic entourage. I remember that when I was little Georges Mathieu impressed me a lot. Then it was Valerio Adami during my studies in Fine Arts. Finally, arriving in Mexico the first artist that fascinated me was Pedro Friedeberg.

1. RP. How is collecting design objects against works of art? Is there a difference?

It may be that yes, the design object has more interventions: the one who designs it, the one who manufactures it, the one who sells it... also, it is less personal because generally there are several runs or editions. They are made for a use that is not simply decorative; on the contrary works of art such as painting, has a pure aesthetic sense, the work is unique. They are different things… Based on that, I think there is to have from the 2 o'clock!