“There’s no algorithm to collecting,” note Rob and Eric Thomas-Suwall, better known as the Icy Gays on Instagram, where they share their enviable trove of work that includes pieces by Salman Toor, Dominique Fung, and Anna Weyant. Starting the account was more out of necessity than aspiration for virality, as the pair sought to get involved in the art world from their remote location in Minot, North Dakota. “Social media is all about connections, and so is the art world," they say.
Travels to New York, San Francisco, and other hubs helped round out an education in the contemporary players, many of which the pair brought home with them to Minot. After a recent relocation to Richmond, Virginia, the surgeon and political theorist are continuing to grow their collection of emerging women and queer artists, although hung in a slightly different configuration. Here, the Thomas-Suwalls offer a peek inside their new abode, and tell us about the pieces that provoke the most conversation, the artist they’re most excited about, and the thrill of collecting before the rest of the world catches on.
How has the local art scene in Minot, North Dakota, influenced your collection?
Happy to give CULTURED the exclusive scoop that we no longer live in Minot. We recently left North Dakota for balmy Richmond, Virginia. As Rob has been telling everyone: We are slightly less icy... but no less gay! Even still, this is a wonderful question because, truthfully, there was a very limited arts scene in Minot. However, this dearth of culture inspired trips to the de Young in San Francisco where we discovered Hockney, the Whitney in New York where we discovered Wojnarowicz, and Instagram where we discovered incredible artists all over the world and brought them home to North Dakota.
Richmond, on the other hand, has been the utter opposite. Here, there is an intersection of arts and history in a community willing to engage with the past while looking to the future. It was always striking how many artists in our collection got their start at Virginia Commonwealth University. Now, having connected with the amazing art department, we get it! It's also incredible to have the VMFA putting on world-class shows while also celebrating emerging artists and we would be remiss not to mention the ICA at VCU bringing the cutting edge to our new hometown.
What do you see as Instagram’s role in the art world? How have you been able to leverage it?
Social media is all about connections, and so is the art world. Because of this reality, our geographic isolation proved quite the blessing and the curse. It is certainly more challenging to connect with the larger arts community when you are so rural, but we realized that digital connections could lead to real life friends and proceeded to make the most of our online presence. Also, humor can be sorely lacking in the art world, and when your nom de plume is a pun, it’s a breath of fresh air. There’s no algorithm to collecting, but by showing the Internet what we loved, we connected with like-minded artists, galleries, collectors, and institutions. Gradually, our digital lives morphed into IRL experiences and voilà!
What was your biggest influence in fostering your passion for art?
Rob: Department store façades, Easter eggs, and pythons. Seriously. When Eric was young, his parents would take him to the Best Product stores headquartered in Richmond, founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis. The façades of many of these stores were elaborate architectural trompe l'oeil constructions suggesting trees growing out of the building or the entire storefront peeling off. Eric's parents explained that these crazy constructions were because of the owner’s love for contemporary art. Eric also discovered that the Lewises had donated a huge collection of modern art to the Virginia Museum, and he was and still is obsessed with going there to see it.
Eric: Rob's journey was a bit... different. He asked his parents for a python when he was 10 years old and his mother told him he could have one if he could buy it himself. Being the little entrepreneur that he is, he learned how to make Ukrainian easter eggs from a Russian history professor at his church, sold them at a craft fair, and bought Lucille Ball, the ball python. He no longer has Lucille but has kept a passion for color, pattern, and design that began with the art of Pysanky.
Which work in your home provokes the most conversation from visitors?
That would have to be Spider, a sculpture by Julie Curtiss. It’s a wall-mounted piece asking the question: When is a hat not just a hat? This particular chapeau is covered in hair, with intricate braiding evocative of elongated spider legs and swaths of lighter and darker strands implying an arachnid abdomen. The entendres more than double with references to female beauty, anatomy, childbirth, phobia, and even science fiction. Essentially, what was implied in Méret Oppenheim’s tea set becomes humorously explicit in Julie’s sculpture. As one of our friends in Minot somewhat sarcastically said, “I love your art, but I shudder at that hat.”
Which artist are you currently most excited about and why?
Eric: This one is easy because she is our first and favorite! Rob wanted to spend $5000 on a print and I suggested supporting an emerging artist doing something cool. We found just that back in 2016 with the artist Corydon Cowansage. She was making geometric abstractions and our very first purchase was Stairs #3 from her show at Miller Contemporary on the Lower East Side. She invited us to the Bronx for a studio visit which coincided with Frieze and the spark was lit. She has continued to expand her practice and last year had an amazing mural installation with Gucci at Art Basel Miami Beach. In addition, her biomorphic abstractions have recently broken out of their confines and reached a final form of shaped canvases connected in a libidinous flock. We lost our minds, immediately bought six, and live with an incredible grouping in the bedroom of our pied-à-terre in NYC. It’s been amazing to watch the evolution of her work and a joy to collect along with each iteration.
What was the most challenging piece in your personal collection to acquire?
It’s fascinating to consider this question because, thinking back over the past seven or eight years, there isn't really any work that comes to mind. Retrospectively, one may say that we can be a bit "on trend." However, at the time, we were never collecting based on the market, but rather simply buying things we loved. Since we tend to collect hyper-emerging artists that aren't widely known or celebrated, acquisitions haven't typically posed much of a challenge. That being said, the word gets out and we have found that, sometimes, the real challenge becomes buying a second piece!
Is there one piece that got away, or that you still think about?
Rob: I know Eric is about to say elephant teapots.
Eric: Elephant teapots. Early in our collecting journey, Karen Flatow of Hesse Flatow and Crush Curatorial had a killer show called "surreality" with an incredible line-up of emerging artists. In that show, there was a wonderful diptych of sumptuously painted teapots shaped like elephants. We immediately fell in love and reached out to Karen. However, life happens, and, though we talked about buying them, we didn’t, and the two sweet little paintings got split up. They were painted by the amazing Dominique Fung and we still miss them. Lucky for us, we went on to collect two wonderful Dominique Fung paintings (and one sculpture!) that we live with and love every day, but we’re sad about the elephants.
What are the three must-see shows this month?
Get ready to jet set! We would start with the beautifully disturbing ceramics of Jessica Stoller opening soon at P.P.O.W. in New York. Jessica interrogates the inherent qualities and baggage of her chosen media of porcelain while using it to craft monstrous indictments of contemporary culture. We would then travel to Los Angeles for Kyle Dunn's knock-out solo show at Vielmetter. We recently featured one of Kyle's paintings in our museum show, “FULL DISCLOSURE,” last year at Plains Art Museum in Fargo and his incredible mastery of light and interior is on full display in this show.
Finally, we would head to Hong Kong for Dominique Fung's upcoming show at Massimo De Carlo. It is unclear if there will be any elephant teapots, but we know for certain there will be gorgeously surreal interrogations of art history. Finally, we must bring up an honorable mention of the group show "Lovers" at Main Projects, a space co-founded by Eric, right here in Richmond, featuring incredible contemporary artists including Loie Hollowell, Gina Beavers, Diana al-Hadid, Amanda Baldwin, Chris Oh, and many more.
What is the strangest negotiation you've ever had with an artist or dealer?
Rob: Cold calling Ellie Rines of 56 Henry from the surgeon's lounge at a hospital in North Dakota, trying to convince her to sell us a seven-foot painting by a then-unknown artist, her having never met us and we having barely ever collected any art. The day started with a frantically excited text from Eric demanding I open a PDF. Our collector friend Jonathan Travis had connected us with Ellie, and she had shared a new artist to her program. There were paintings of young girls, hot dogs, and eggplants. We were immediately drawn to a larger work of two young girls doing yoga and staring directly at the viewer in fascination and defiance. A quick back and forth confirmed the work was previously on hold but had been released. The artist was Anna Weyant, we bought the painting sight unseen, we live with it to this day, and we remain completely captivated.
What piece of advice would you give someone who wants to get into collecting?
Pull the trigger. Buy something you love and hang it on your wall. Even if that artist doesn’t become super famous, you’re going to love living with the work and you are going to discover more about yourself and your world. The best time to buy a Monet was 150 years ago, but the best time to buy today’s Monet is yesterday. Great art is constantly being created. You just have to find it. Next, stay informed! Read Street Smarts in CULTURED. Ralph knows his stuff. Join the Critics' Table and let Johanna and John teach you something new. Challenge yourself to learn more about this incredibly expansive world.
Finally, take risks! Eric always says: don’t collect the list, make the list. Even in the avant-garde world of art, it can be challenging to forge your own way. However, as you continue to collect, one of the most rewarding results is developing a unique collection that reflects your own passions. Lastly, watch out! You may discover an obsession and end up needing to buy an apartment in New York City just so you have more walls to live with all of your art!
