Room with a view

Room with a View

By Melissa Kandel

The secrets to selecting the world’s best hotel art

If you’re leaving Las Vegas, waiting for your car to arrive in the valet line at the ARIA, you might not think about looking up. But you should.

When you do, you’ll see a gigantic floating installation – “Truisms” by Jenny Holzer – that casts strips of unexpected light onto the ceiling of the Aria Hotel North Valet station and twists around the massive driveway, a serpentine collection of words dancing between concrete ceiling beams. It’s radiant, fascinating and it’s there largely because of Michele C. Quinn, an independent fine art advisor and appraiser commissioned to enrich once-blank spaces like the Aria valet with work from the world’s most creative minds.

Quinn, whose eponymous firm Michele C. Quinn Fine Art Advisory LLC specializes in Post-war and Contemporary art, has been a gallerist and private art consultant for more than 25 years. Her company provides advisory, strategic planning, collection management and appraisal services for collectors and corporate clientele, including Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts and Station Casinos.

In the mid-2000s, Quinn proposed and developed the $40-million art program for MGM Resorts International and her signature style has helped Las Vegas progress with the kind of immersive art that’s now a distinct feature of the city. We spoke with Quinn to find out exactly how these monumental hotel projects get started and how from the millions of artwork on the planet, she’s able to identify The One.

ONE LUXE: You’ve accomplished so much in your amazing career. What’s it like working on these big art projects that millions of people will see?

QUINN: Each job has its own process, so it depends on the client and what they’re looking for. As an example, for Harrah’s corporate office, they wanted to start off with a concept that fit their mission and what they stood for as a company. We wanted the art to create a sense of that strength, stability and forward-thinking approach, so when we looked at works, we selected pieces like Robert Longo’s “Wave,” which has a very forceful approach. That's the first thing you see when you walk into corporate headquarters, so sometimes it’s about coming up with a thematic thread that goes through the collection – a connection point – and in this case, it wasn’t meant to be just purely decorative; it was about imparting their vision through the art.

Can you walk us through the selection process?

Whenever you start a project, you have to think about the functionality of the space and ultimately ask: “What is the goal?” You also have to figure out where things are going and ask: “How does this work fit in?”

We want to identify works that fit within that environment but also have a strength of their own. We’re always trying to make sure the work stands out and doesn’t get absorbed by the surroundings, especially in Las Vegas.

As long as there’s an understanding that what we’re trying to do is acquire works with quality and with intrinsic value – it opens up a wide range of possibilities. We’re really meant to create a sense of space and place and not just have art that exists on the wall. Most of these spaces in Las Vegas want to make a statement. They want something that’s memorable. Art in its finest form does just that.

How do you know when you’ve found the right – or wrong – piece for a space?

There’s so much visual competition and you have to think about all that during the process. A good example is when we were working on CityCenter, [67 acres of mixed use space in the center of the Las Vegas Strip], we looked over at least 100 pieces for that job. One was Ai Weiwei who made these big chandeliers. They’re great as sculptures inside of a gallery or museum but in Las Vegas, it’s just going to look like a chandelier. There would be no differentiating between the sculpture and the rest of space. It would just sort of fall flat.

I look at the Jenny Holzer installation at the ARIA valet. It was this dark, cavernous area and we were given the task to make an ugly space better in some way with shape and form. I proposed these great artists who do light installations. We looked at Jenny Hotzer and Leo Villareal, who did the bridges in San Francisco. He does brilliant work and he’s become known for bridges now, like his “Illuminated River” on London’s Thames River.

So, we looked at both of those artists. We had proposals from them both. Ultimately, it was a tough decision between the two but we went with Jenny Holzer. The piece is so amazing in that space and it’s such a hidden piece. It’s one of the most important pieces she's done in a public space and because of the nature of where that location is, not everyone sees it, which is unfortunate but also a hidden surprise when you go down there and you’re wowed.

How many valet pickups make you feel that way? The work envelopes you – it’s 250 feet at its highest level and it’s about 20 feet high. There’s a metal ceiling, a reflection that bounces off the top of the space and goes to the windows behind it. The light goes above you, behind you, around you, and you watch this thing and it’s mesmerizing as you go by.

That piece alone has been one of my most successful projects. There’s reflection everywhere and it becomes this immersive experience … and it was immersive before immersive was a thing.

You’ve been so instrumental in orchestrating some of the most impressive pieces of Las Vegas art. Where do you think art in Las Vegas is going next?

Art in Las Vegas started with Wynn and the art gallery there, which was very much four white walls and very traditional-looking. Then, Chihuly's art blossom ceiling in the Bellagio changed the definition of art in Las Vegas. That kind of ceiling had never been done before, but it wasn’t until the 90s. The history of Las Vegas art is that it changes every decade.

Now, art has taken a step back from an economics perspective but what we’ve seen off the strip is still a sense of immersion, like Ugo Rondinone’s “Seven Magic Mountains” just outside of Las Vegas. MGM helped bring him to Las Vegas and that kind of large-scale public experience is still part of the vision, even though there hasn’t been as much new construction since CityCenter.

People also saw what happened at the Palms Casino Resort with that two-story Damien Hirst suite [which was available for guests with over $1 million in credit or for $200,000 for two nights]. It was very successful but some of the art in there was private collection that was moved out when the Palms was sold. You still have the Damien Hirst suite, it’s still a big part of the property, but now it’s being used in a commercial way.

Art in Las Vegas today is something that needs to be part of what hotels provide for their clientele at the top level. Even mid-level casinos and smaller ones will integrate decorative works to some extent but there hasn't been that full immersion of art like we’ve seen at the CityCenter and maybe the Palms in a few years.

For someone who wants to get started as a collector, where should they begin?

If it’s a new house, a client will have parameters, so I’ll ask: “What are the focal points you want?”

Once we identify those, I explain that art is a personal process and you can’t think about it in the same way as you would buying your furniture. This is something you want on your wall that should have value, so working with someone like me in the beginning is very helpful because it will help you avoid a lot of very expensive mistakes. It’s difficult to understand why one piece is more valuable than another, even by the same artist. And after 30 years of doing this I just know.

It can be overwhelming to start. I’m not coming in asking you to buy 20 pieces of art. That’s not fair to anyone. For me, it’s about learning who a client is, understanding their visual taste and then trying to merge that with artwork of quality that will hopefully hold value if not increase in value over time.

So that’s one goal – valuable art – but you don’t want to get too focused on value. There’s no guarantee of value increasing but I do like to say that people research cars more than they research art. I find that unconscionable. I don’t understand spending almost the same amount of money and not putting as much thought into the buying decision.

How do you help guide people in making that “right” buying decision … if there even is one?

People often say, “Oh art is subjective.” Well it isn’t, not really. You can certainly like whatever you like. I would never say you shouldn’t like something. I’m here to explain that there’s a reason why one artist is heading in the right direction, being shown in museums and at great gallery shows, and another is not.

In this process, I like to look at the artist's work over time and then try to buy something. It’s harder to do these days because work is selling so quickly but if I’m looking at what I call the Classic Contemporary artist from the 60s and 70s, you have to look at the history of art, then decide what resonates with you, and what is personal to you. For instance, if a client likes basketball, Jonas Wood is an amazing artist and has basketball representation in his work. If another client is a Yankees fan, Robert Rosenberg has a picture of a Yankees player in his work. Or Raymond Pettibon, who does baseball player drawings that are incredible, and they’re some of his most sought-after works.

Once you’ve identified some artists, what happens next?

I always ask: “How do I make this process enjoyable and not tedious?” Ultimately, someone gets as involved or uninvolved as they want. They can go to galleries with me or I can just send them JPEG files. It’s up to the client but I tend to think the more personal it is, the better it is. And just looking at it from a name brand association doesn’t do anything. People lose interest. The art doesn’t become part of their life and this is a lifestyle you’re creating. You can spend the rest of your life going to art fairs but again, it depends how much you want to be involved. Nine times out of 10 the people who make their way to me are people who see this as something that’s a great experience and not just decorating.

Can I match a couch? Yes. Do I look at the work in the context of the space to make sure it can fit the wall? Yes. Do I have to find things that are practical? Yes. But I also want to push the boundaries.

Does the right art for a given space come to you immediately or does it sometimes take a while to know what would work where?

Because I feel like I have this visual memory bank, I can look at a space and say, “Oh this will be amazing here,” knowing who is out there and who is doing work at the scale we need.

I certainly don't know immediately. It’s not always clear. I wish I could say there’s a magic answer but sometimes you have to go through a lot of options and proposals. It can take a couple tries. My job is to go through the millions of artists out there in the world and narrow it down to the top 3 or 5 for my clients. And then from there, let’s make a choice that makes everyone happy. 

Can you tell us about one of your favorite projects?

All of them are my favorite but with CityCenter, I was pinching myself in every meeting because I grew up in Las Vegas and to know that I was bringing this level of contemporary public art to the city for free meant everything to me. We don’t have a museum here so that was a lifetime achievement to work with CityCenter and create the closest thing to a museum in the city. When you grow up in a place that didn’t have access to the art we have here now it’s like, “OK, kids today can see these pieces of art.”

Another memorable one was the Yayoi Kusama project in San Francisco. We started with her sculpture and this was pre-Kusama mania. When I showed her flower to the clients they said, “We love it.”

And that company doesn’t just do plop art – they don’t like to stick something in a space and move on; they want to incorporate it into the experience of the architecture, so I was able to approach the Kusama studio through the gallery and she designed the grounds of the plaza around the sculpture. Ultimately, we made this immersive space before immersive art was really getting popular. I was super proud of that and also because it was an incredible showcase for her work. Everything just came together, and when everyone is on the same page and excited about what’s happening, those are the best kind of experiences you can ever hope to have.

What type of art inspires you?

I’m constantly looking at art even if I don't have a project. I’m just constantly looking. It’s my life. It’s my lifestyle. All my travel is for art – art fairs, art galleries. That’s what I've been doing for the last 30 years and I love it. I certainly can't complain. A tough day at work is that I had to see 30 galleries and that’s not the worst thing in the world!

What do you do if you’re lacking inspiration?

When I start seeing bad art after bad art – and it can happen in an art fair – I think, ‘Oh my gosh what is all of this? What am I looking at?” But my job is to look at a lot of different stuff and find the needle in the haystack. I know there’s a good piece of work somewhere, I just have to find it.

Sometimes, I’ll need to step back from the commercial side of this industry. After an art fair, I can feel a little deflated about the push push push. A great museum show,returning to the classics, usually helps. I just went to the Neue Galerie New York and it has the most incredible Gustav Klimt in exhibition in the collection. I stand in front of a great piece of art and I breathe. I feel it physically. I know it sounds cheesy but I do and that’s when I know, ‘OK there’s a reason for all of this.’