I want to be part of the story of art. A Conversation with Franco Valli

By Irene Sperber

“I can explain why an artist is a master, why you need to believe in an artist,” says Franco Valli, a man with a clear mission to bring select artists to their pinnacle, speaking of plans to expand on his life’s work as a patron of the arts.

Ebullient and well supported by a skilled team, he possesses comprehensive, hands-on background to support the vision. Valli sees, as part of his strength, the ability to compose a working group of artists built on a strong foundation. His philosophy is about structuring his own team properly, then shaping a team of artists, forming “a creative laboratory of ideas within the art community.” His immediate unit consists of co-owner/spouse Melissa Bovolenta, in charge of marketing, along with Soledad Picón, who heads the PR and press office, and Adriana Vergara, his art advisor. It’s a pleasant and very capable mix.

Franco Valli, director at Valli Art Gallery. Photos: Malena Assing.

Valli Art Gallery is located smack dab in the middle of Wynwood’s epicenter. The gallery is a hub to create his passion projects while also embracing work with artists, keeping them involved and an integral part of private art collections and top international art fairs.

“I’m more of a manager than a gallerist,” Valli says. He develops projects with artists, helps organize those projects and is vital in finding solutions. The goal is much wider than selling individual pieces; they are “thinking into the future.” He is quick to point out that he expects the artists to want, and achieve, success in a larger sense of being museum quality and to attain long-term goals in that direction. “I don’t work just with an artist’s work, but with the artist,” he says. Accordingly, he looks for people with a similar vision. “In the end it’s all about the artist. Art is communication, about the story of life.”

Fabrizio Corneli, Halo, 2014, acrylics on aluminum, iron, led and optical ball, wire and transformer, 39.4” x 39.4.” All images are courtesy of Valli Art Gallery.

In addition, Valli is an art advisor and consultant to elite architects and developers, working with Property Markets Group (PMG), assisting in collections and/or selecting the art for myriad building ventures. Based in Manhattan, PMG is the developer of about 70 prestigious luxury buildings in NYC, as well as projects begun in Miami four years ago, including a Sunny Isles luxury high-rise called Muse, designed by well-known architect Carlos Ott.

Javier Martín, Dollar, 2013, UV print on wood and mirror, 42.5” x 30.7.”

The Wynwood space opened as a public gallery in June with a focus on contemporary art, featuring an array of media from sculpture to graffiti, photography, painting installation and video. Valli has been leading up to this moment, adding to the building blocks of his art patronage for some time. Born in Lago d’Orta, Italy, he earned a degree in chemistry at the Technical Institute of Borgomanero. He owned his own successful logistics company for 11 years before starting a private transportation company and an advertising and marketing agency. He received unparalleled education from clients such as Italy’s most knowledgeable art collectors and dealers, including Milan’s Bruno Dongetti. Here he found his calling, learning the intricacies of the true grandeur of the masters of Italy from one of the most important galleries in the country, owned by the Ferrarotti family in Milan. “I learned like an agent/manager,” Valli recalls. “I can do everything for an artist. I have a lot of experience in working with details and know exactly what is needed.” He is indeed a patron of the arts, thinking beyond merely selling and more about improving his artists’ long-term prospects.

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Installation view of Nina Surel’s “Journey to Byzantium.” Valli Art Gallery, November 2015.

Irrepressibly upbeat, Valli’s journey from his Italian homeland to Wynwood was not unlike the inevitability of falling dominos reaching their natural conclusion. He began by representing one artist in Italy. Three years ago he came to Art Basel while representing this artist to expose him to the U.S. and Latin American markets. After a very successful visit, Franco decided that Miami was where he had to be. After one year of “amazing work,” Valli had developed a different idea of how to work with artists, realizing that he should choose like-minded artists with whom to work. He looked for a space, insightfully settling in the current teeming core of Wynwood, while concurrently calling for his family to join him. The space was originally a place to store artwork as well as serve as an office and private studio before Valli expanded it to include a public gallery six months ago.

During that fateful Art Basel trip, Valli said he believes he “saw the potential of the city, not just for construction but also for what this city is; a gateway for Latin American people, art, collectors, everything. Of course, for my work, New York is the natural city, but it is very hectic for me. New York already has everything; Miami is a growing city and I want to grow with it. I can make something very good in Miami.”

He uses Miami as a logistical base and his home, as well as a foundation to find work for artists in Chicago, New York and all over the world. “If I sell you the artist, I do not sell just one work, I sell a part of a big project.”

Olga Andrino, A City in America, New York, 2015, acrylic, oil, paper and gesso, 99” x 59.”

Five artists are included in the Valli Art Gallery contemporary group: Olga Andrino, Fabrizio Corneli, Kenor, Javier Martín and Nina Surel are the multicultural selections from Argentina, Italy and Spain. Valli’s strategy is to help artists find a market in the U.S. and Latin America, as well as aid resident artists in their quest. The exhibition during Art Basel will integrate the five artists, illuminating their diversity of style and culture, mirroring Miami’s mix of influences. Kenor will have his murals on the gallery’s exterior walls; Corneli works with sculptures of shadow and light, both artificial and natural, inside and outside. He works with templates strategically placed in position, with light illuminating the intricate cutouts onto backgrounds of various textures and positioning. This exhibition will bring the existing Valli Art Gallery artists’ disparate works into synchronic diversity.

The late-November gallery offering highlighted Nina Surel’s installations, mixed media and video titled Journey to Byzantium, a “powerful statement about aging and self-awareness, misconceptions and self-confidence: death and rebirth.”

Valli envisions concepts for the luxury markets art projects. For now, this is his headquarters while he positions his artists around Miami and beyond, selecting artists for galleries, luxury buildings and developments. For instance, Martín will have a large, 50-foot-long, interactive light-and-video mural featured in PMG’s in-progress Vice building on Biscayne Boulevard.

Kenor, Incubation, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 39.4” x 39.4.”

I wondered what the future holds for Valli and his fine-art establishment. “I will open a foundation (in the coming year) with a cultural strategy to promote the arts and (produce) cultural events,” Valli said. “I want to find a budget to support people without an opportunity to make art and show their talent. We want a connection with schools, with education. It is part of our philosophy. My dream is one day my son will know me as being spoken of as a legacy, for my generation and many generations to come.”

Valli Art Gallery is located at 124 NW 25^th Street. Wynwood Art District. Miami FL, 33127 / Phone: 305 747 5287 / www.valliartllc.com.