About
Proyectos Monclova was opened in 2005 by Teófilo Cohen, Polina Stroganova, and David Trabulsi. After 10 years of representing contemporary Mexican artists, the gallery decided to expand its program to represent international artists as well – with the aim to create a space to facilitate a dialogue between local and international artists from different generations.
https://www.artsy.net/proyectos-monclova/
Location
Mexico City
Proyectos Monclova Gallery Directors Polina Stroganova and Teófilo Cohen. (Not pictured: David Trabulsi.)
About Proyectos Monclova
Proyectos Monclova opened in 2005 and quickly became a preeminent space for contemporary Mexican art in Mexico City. After 10 years of establishing a strong local presence, gallery partners Teófilo Cohen, Polina Stroganova, and David Trabulsi introduced new international artists to the program to facilitate dialogue between Mexican and international artists. While the gallery agreed to continue working with contemporary Mexican artists using the same tactics that fostered success in the previous 10 years, in order to support its exhibition program’s expanded focus, Proyectos Monclova worked with Artsy to adjust its marketing and sales strategies.
The challenge
Before Proyectos Monclova expanded its focus, the gallery relied on art fairs, newsletters, and press releases to market an exhibition program highlighting contemporary Mexican artists. But Stroganova and her partners knew that those tactics alone were not enough to provide their artists with international visibility. Stroganova, assessing the practical limitations on relying on art fairs for new collectors, says they realized that “even if we’re doing fairs, people have a limited attention span, and we’re not seen by everyone who enters the fair.”
How did Proyectos Monclova use Artsy to expand its exhibition program to support both local and international artists?
Ištvan Išt Huzjan, De Métrico a Imperial, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova.
Steps for Success
1. Treat online collectors the same way you would treat in-person collectors
From a dedicated gallery liaison to messaging software, Artsy equips galleries with tools and resources to help them connect with the serious art enthusiasts and collectors they meet through Artsy. Stroganova leverages these tools to form long-lasting relationships online and offline.
Whenever Stroganova travels for work, she contacts the collectors she’s been messaging via Artsy who live in the area. “If we’re doing an international fair—let’s say Art Basel in Miami Beach—then I will reach out to the collectors in the United States because maybe they’re coming for the fair,” she explains.
“I’ll say something like: ‘We’ll be bringing work by this artist you were interested in, and it would be wonderful to meet personally,’” Stroganova continues. “The people who have been replying to my messages [on Artsy] will usually then also reply to this conversation, and we have an opportunity to meet.”
With Artsy’s help, Proyectos Monclova seamlessly merges its on-the-ground strategy with a digital one, creating an effective marketing and sales strategy suited for today’s global art market. The result? Long-lasting relationships—formed online—that will support the gallery and its program for years to come.
“There was one particular case where I sold a piece with Artsy, and it was wonderful because this collector and I became friends,” Stroganova reminisces. “She came to Mexico, and I gave her a full tour of the gallery, and she also bought a work from the show that we had on in the gallery. We’ve kept in touch and we have a really beautiful relationship.”
“There was one particular case where I sold a piece with Artsy, and it was wonderful because this collector and I became friends,” Stroganova reminisces. “She came to Mexico, and I gave her a full tour of the gallery, and she also bought a work from the show that we had on in the gallery. We’ve kept in touch and we have a really beautiful relationship.”
Polina Stroganova, Proyectos Monclova
Michael Sailstorfer, Clouds and Tears, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova.
2. Leverage Artsy’s analytics to gain insight into collectors’ tastes and inform your strategy
As a Preferred partner, Proyectos Monclova can use Artsy’s analytics to see which artists and works are most popular among collectors, via page views, likes, and geographic data of the users.
Stroganova finds this information especially helpful when traveling abroad for fairs. As Proyectos Monclova continues to expand its global reach, Stroganova consults Artsy’s data for insights into what kind of inventory is popular in local markets, simplifying the time-consuming and costly task of choosing which pieces to ship to international art fairs. “Artsy is an interesting testing pool for us to see what kind of work clients from these regions are reacting to,” she explains.
“Like everybody else, we’ve been actively thinking about Asia and how we might have a presence there, but it’s always a risk,” Stroganova says. “We have to think about what we would bring, et cetera. It’s interesting to see the Artsy members from specific regions and see what type of work they’re looking at. It’s helpful for us to get a first feeling for what collectors in those regions are looking at.”
“Artsy is an interesting testing pool for us to see what kind of work clients from specific regions are reacting to.”
Polina Stroganova, Proyectos Monclova
Josephine Meckseper, DDYANLAALSATSY, 2010. Image courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova.
3. Take advantage of Artsy’s recommendation algorithm
On Artsy, discovering new artists is easy for collectors. Users browsing the site can search for works based on medium and time period. They also benefit from personalized recommendations powered by Artsy’s classification system, The Art Genome Project, which uses an algorithm to recommend related or similar artworks to collectors based on artists, styles, and periods they like. This opens collectors’ worlds to hundreds of new artists, giving them access to find works that match even the most eclectic tastes.
Stroganova explains how Artsy’s recommendation algorithm has provided more visibility to a sometimes-niche exhibition program by introducing its lesser-known artists to collectors who otherwise might not have discovered them.
“I thought it might be interesting to [use Artsy] to provide more visibility for artists that, commercially speaking, are a bit more challenging for us,” she says. “Artsy has proven to be a nice tool to be in touch with clients who are searching for something in particular, or within a certain criteria.”
Stroganova, having seen benefits from Artsy’s artist pages play out for Proyectos Monclova, explains how “collectors might have seen a work by one of the artists elsewhere in a group show. They they come to Artsy, like, ‘Let’s see what else she’s doing.’”
When gallery partners join Artsy and upload the works they want to present, they create pages for the artists that don’t have a presence on Artsy. Artist pages centralize content associated with an artist on Artsy, which makes it easy for collectors to discover, learn, and browse an artist and their works in depth.
The combination of Artsy’s recommendation algorithm and the artist pages that link out to the gallery have benefited Proyectos Monclova’s business. “It is just easier and quicker for a user to go onto Artsy and see what an artist has been up to,” Stroganova says. “They will not even go to the website of a gallery.”
Because Artsy’s users and collectors span the globe and are able to continually discover new artists and works similar to what they’ve shown interest in previously, collectors who may not be able to find works they love in their home city or at a fair can easily find those artists online, creating a more democratized commercial space.
“It is just easier and quicker for [an online collector] to go onto Artsy and see what an artist has been up to,” Stroganova says. “They will not even go to the website of a gallery.”
Polina Stroganova, Proyectos Monclova
Chantal Penalosa, El panorama, sobre todo si uno lo ve desde un puente, es prometedor, 2016. Image courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova.
What’s next for Proyectos Monclova
Proyectos Monclova will continue to fulfill its mission to support a program of Mexican artists while infusing the local scene with international artists. With Artsy, the gallery has had the opportunity to leverage analytics to inform its regional strategy, reach and establish relationships with new collectors its partners would’ve otherwise never met, and expand and support a unique and broad exhibition program. As Stroganova travels to the United States, Europe, Asia, and beyond, she’s well-prepared to engage each community and build long-lasting meaningful relationships.
