Today we’d like to introduce you to Quintin Blumka.
Hi Quintin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Quintin Blumka, and I have wanted to be in the business of art my entire life. I grew up in an art-dealing family, actually I guess I am now technically the 5th generation art dealer in my family. When I was a kid, my father and his edition of Blumka Gallery were my main sources of exposure to the world of art. My father is a dealer of Renaissance and Medieval sculpture, and growing up, the gallery itself took up the first two floors of my childhood home. I like to joke that every time I came home late in high school, I had to apologize to a Madonna and Child sculpture on almost every floor.
Over the years, I built up my art historical knowledge and had the opportunity to work in some of the world’s best art and auction institutions. One day I was approached by an artist friend of mine, and we started batting around ideas for our own exhibition. Over the course of the year, this built up and spiraled into something much bigger, and after a lot of planning and building new connections, I ended up launching my gallery, Blumka Contemporary.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have been and hope to continue to be very lucky. The road could have been much bumpier, although there have been plenty of stressful hurdles. That being said, everything has worked out as hoped or been exchanged for equally exciting opportunities. From what I have experienced in the art world, the opportunities are there, the art is there, and helpful colleagues are there. This does not mean they are easy to find, but with enough searching, they will pop up. The largest struggle was finding quality show spaces in a major city. But after meeting a variety of gallery owners, interim spaces open up, and it’s up to you to capitalize on them quickly.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Blumka Contemporary is an online and pop-up art gallery. Although we hope to have events and exhibitions all over the country and later the world, our events are mainly located in New York City. While we work with contemporary art and seek out popular trends, concepts, and movements to curate a collection of extremely high-quality artworks by emerging and up-and-coming artists, we find it incredibly important to find ties to the past. Many of our current and upcoming objects find correlations with or are inspired by major periods, styles, and techniques of more classically taught art history.
This gallery works incredibly closely with our artists. As a smaller company, Blumka Contemporary does everything it can to bring the artist’s vision to life. Instead of just plucking a decent artist off the street and pressing them into a cookie-cutter template for success, we are working directly with our artists to bring out their trustiest selves in their art and find that quintessential idea’s place in the vast and beautiful world of art.
We are currently working with four fantastic contemporary artists:
– Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Colton Kruizenga received his BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in 2013. Kruizenga works predominantly with graphite, pastel ink and charcoal media, creating drawings as subtle narratives that demonstrate consideration for technique and mark-making.
– Steven Montinar is a New York City-based sculptor and installation artist. Constructed from found objects and acrylic plastic, Steven’s work centers around Teleology, Black Cultural Studies, and Hip Hop Theory.
– Justin Cole is a visual artist working primarily in painting and drawing. Cole creates paintings that are more emotionally stimulating rather than stringently narrative. His work touches on the human condition, levels of consciousness, and death. He illustrates these themes through a unique combination of classical realism and abstract expressionism.
– Shawn Bullen is a contemporary fine artist based in NYC dedicated to creating uplifting and ambitious artworks that push the boundaries of art history. Shawn showcases his work around the world with a focus on painting, public art, photography, filmmaking, and fashion.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Blumka Contemporary’s mission is to build on a fourth-generation gallery and transition into the 21st century using veteran experience to champion rising artists. The gallery merges its knowledge of contemporary art with traditional art history to best connect the past and present and offer work that ties together centuries of themes and styles. Blumka Contemporary seeks to shepherd young artists, allowing them to organically grow and capitalize on cutting-edge trends in the art market.
We are also continuously and actively looking for talented contemporary artists. Anyone can apply to be featured or represented by the gallery by emailing Blumkacontemporary@
All the best and man many thanks,
Quintin Blumka
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blumkacontemporary.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blumkacontemporary/
