Joshua Roth, the US lawyer-turned-agent, is using his talent agency United Talent to pick up and promote artists and their work. Is this ultimate commercialisation of art, asks Melena Ryzik.
The office of Joshua Roth, a lawyer-turned-agent at the United Talent Agency headquarters here, has all the trappings of a Hollywood player: the expensive swivel chair, the big flat-screen TV. It also boasts the outward signs of an art dealer. Issues of Artforum and Art in America are fanned out on his desk, alongside entertainment industry publications. On the wall hangs an ’80s-pink portrait by the Los Angeles artist Alex Israel. Works by the painter Jonas Wood and the ceramist Shio Kusaka line the space. And Mr. Roth’s assistant is busy planning his trips to scout talent — not just at Cannes and Sundance, but at Art Basel Hong Kong and the Frieze Art Fair in New York.
“I’m interested in artists who are re-envisioning the way to make art and re-envisioning how people experience it,” he said... Keep reading on The New York Times
The office of Joshua Roth, a lawyer-turned-agent at the United Talent Agency headquarters here, has all the trappings of a Hollywood player: the expensive swivel chair, the big flat-screen TV. It also boasts the outward signs of an art dealer. Issues of Artforum and Art in America are fanned out on his desk, alongside entertainment industry publications. On the wall hangs an ’80s-pink portrait by the Los Angeles artist Alex Israel. Works by the painter Jonas Wood and the ceramist Shio Kusaka line the space. And Mr. Roth’s assistant is busy planning his trips to scout talent — not just at Cannes and Sundance, but at Art Basel Hong Kong and the Frieze Art Fair in New York.
“I’m interested in artists who are re-envisioning the way to make art and re-envisioning how people experience it,” he said... Keep reading on The New York Times