OBSERVER
USA
Art Collector Spotlight: StudioTwentySeven Gallerists Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska
“Our collection is filled with pieces that bring us immense joy—animated, vibrant in color and often large in scale”
Words Christa Terry
Photo William Jess Laird & Sean Davidson
Location STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN New York Gallery
Visit Observer
“Our gallery has become an extension of our home,” STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN founder and creative director Nacho Polo and managing director Robert Onuska tell Observer. Partners in both business and in life—Polo founded the gallery in Miami in 2018; Onuska came on later—they’ve built an admirable art collection with paintings by André Butzer, Brent Wadden, Carroll Dunham, Katherine Bernhardt and Ron Gorchov; sculpture by Daniel Arsham and Lynda Benglis; and photographs by Alex Prager, Bruce Weber and Marilyn Minter, among many others
There are, at any given time, large-scale pieces from their private art collection on display in their New York and Miami galleries. They live with their art and work with their art, much in the way they are partners at home and partners in STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN. The Tribeca flagship, it’s worth pointing out, just opened this past February with 7,000 square feet of space in the Henry J. Hardenbergh-designed Textile Building on Church Street, across from Anish Kapoor’s somewhat controversial ‘mini bean.’There are, at any given time, large-scale pieces from their private art collection on display in their New York and Miami galleries. They live with their art and work with their art, much in the way they are partners at home and partners in STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN. The Tribeca flagship, it’s worth pointing out, just opened this past February with 7,000 square feet of space in the Henry J. Hardenbergh-designed Textile Building on Church Street, across from Anish Kapoor’s somewhat controversial ‘mini bean’
The kind of immersion alluded to above—private and public; work, life and love—isn’t for everyone, but it energizes Polo and Onuska, who have in recent years markedly expanded the gallery’s roster of artists and artisans. Visitors to STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN are treated to a glimpse into the couple’s world by design. Open by private appointment only, the gallery offers an anodyne aesthetic experience of carefully curated visual elements, audioscapes and stories that are shaped both by the designers’ works on view and the couple’s personal and professional journeys
Observer recently caught up with Polo and Onuska to ask about how their art collection took shape and how they see trends in the art and design worlds influencing that collection in the future
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First, tell me more about your art collection—what was its genesis and are there any overarching themes that have evolved?
Our art collection began while we were designing the interior of our apartment in Tribeca. Initially, we wanted to add a few pieces to enrich our space, but this quickly evolved into a profound appreciation for art and its integration into our daily lives
Our first piece was Wet Kiss by Marilyn Minter. Its large scale makes a strong, powerful statement. Today, our collection is filled with pieces that bring us immense joy—animated, vibrant in color and often large in scale. We are drawn to the emotionality of each piece. We like living with works that inspire us daily, and will often elicit an occasional smile
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How big of a role does consensus play in your collecting? And is the same true when you’re considering work for the gallery?
When we first met, we found a deep shared connection through our work and tastes in design, fashion and art. Consensus is crucial in our collecting process; we both need to feel a strong connection to a piece before it becomes part of our collection and our home. In this way, each piece in our collection reflects both of our sensibilities, aesthetically and conceptually
This same principle applies to our gallery. We seek works that inspire and evoke an emotional response, only presenting pieces that we, too, would want to live with. Art will always be part of the narrative, and always evolving
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How much overlap is there between your gallery work and your collection? Do you take your work home, so to speak?
Our gallery has become an extension of our home, with our Tribeca apartment—where our passion for collecting ignited—just steps away. With STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN, it was important for us to create an environment where guests could experience a rich dialogue between art and design, appreciating each piece within a unique context. The pieces in our collection constantly rotate between our homes and galleries, allowing us to live with the art and experience it among the work of the exceptional designers we represent. This fluidity ensures that both we and our guests can continually discover new dimensions of each work
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Do you have a favorite piece in your collection?
We are always excited when we acquire a new piece of art. Currently, we are really excited to add Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Anxious Bruise Drawing (2023) to our collection. After looking for Rashid’s work for a couple of years, we finally found the perfect one. Although a work from Yoshitomo Nara, Untitled (2000), was just delivered to our home in New York City from his last show “The Bootleg Drawings 1988-2023” in Geneva, which we are also very excited to install
What artists are you currently excited about?
The list is too long but to name just a few, Thaddeus Mosley, Kennedy Yanko, Alex Katz and George Condo are on our radar
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And finally, what trends are you seeing in the art world right now and how do you see those influencing your collection in the future?
We love to explore overlaps between industries and forms of expression. Art, design and fashion have all become increasingly intertwined. This fusion creates exciting new possibilities that we are eager to explore. For instance, the concept of functional art—or the trending of design toward more expressive and abstract forms—presents interesting opportunities to rethink furniture as sculpture, and vice versa
We’re also very drawn to works of scale and would like to cultivate more of this in our collection. Having exhibition spaces allows us to play with scale in unexpected ways, like with our works by Paola Pivi. We first acquired Pivi’s sculpture Time for Bed (2019) for our home, and at the gallery, we were able to place That’s What I do for Fun (2020), a massive hanging bear sculpture installed in the corner window, offering guests and passersby an unexpected moment of bold color and playful surprise. Otani Workshop is another artist that we first acquired for our home, a bronze 28-inch tall sculpture Girl (2019) and then commissioned a 97-inch-tall sculpture Owl and Boy (2022) for the entrance to our gallery. Katherine Bernhardt is one more artist whose museum-size painting Dr. Teeth + Doritos (2021) was in storage for eighteen months until we were able to install it in the gallery
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