What a year for Artnome! An art exhibition in China, two more in Switzerland, an invitation from the Princess of Bahrain to moderate panels on AI, and presentations at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

We also had 28 blog posts, including guest posts by artists Casey Reas and David Young, as well as an interview with John Maeda on his new book How to Speak Machine. We formed two business partnerships, both with companies founded by strong female entrepreneurs. The first partnership is with Kate Vass Galerie to promote up-and-coming digital artists and the second to fight art forgery using machine learning with Art Recognition.

2019 was Artnome’s best year by far, but 2020 is already giving it a run for its money. We are thrilled to share that we have officially kicked off the year by writing the cover story for the January edition of Art in America!

Art in America, January 2020. Photo and cover art by Sougwan Chung

How did all this happen? I keep waiting for things to slow down so I can document it and make sense of it all, but the time never comes. So this past week I woke up at 4:00 a.m. instead of my usual 5:00 a.m. to find the time to write it all down to share with you, because without you, there is no Artnome!

Part I - Quit My Job With No Plan And Fly to Bahrain

McDonalds in the Manama Airport, Bahrain

In January of 2019, after four incredible years at Tamr, one of the hottest machine learning startups in Boston, I decided it was time to take a leap and pursue Artnome more aggressively. Leaving a fantastic job with a great team and with no idea how I would make money felt crazy. It was like jumping out of a moving car into the middle of traffic just to see what it feels like to get run over. To make things more interesting, I had just been diagnosed with Lyme disease for a second time right before striking out on my own and my legs all but stopped working with both knees swollen to the size of cantaloupes.

I was scared to death, but I wasted no time in taking advantage of my newfound freedom. I received an email inviting me to fly to Manama as a guest of the Princess of Bahrain to moderate several panels on AI and art. This invitation was exactly the type of out-of-the-blue opportunity I had been turning down in the past to hold down my nine-to-five office job. But along with the anxiety of having no job came the flexibility to jump on these opportunities.

Map on the back of the seat in front of me on the flight to Bahrain

I'd never traveled to the Middle East and didn't know what to expect. I received a lot of well-intended but misguided warnings from my fellow Americans. They told me that Bahrain was dangerous and that I needed to be careful. I should dress modestly and pack only long-sleeved shirts and pants as not to show any excess skin. I'm a beer guy, and more than a few people warned me that there would be no beer and that I'd get arrested if I drank any alcohol. I received bad info.

An hour after landing in Manama, I was partying at a bar on the balcony of a five-star hotel. It was a lax atmosphere, and nobody was dressed modestly except for me. I met a Bahraini that night at the bar who had just been to my home state Massachusetts to take his daughter to Boston Children's Hospital for a rare medical issue. It reminded me that we are all brothers and sisters just trying to do the best for our families. The world is a small place.

Bahrain was beautiful, and its people were warm and immediately welcoming. My hosts could not have been more accommodating and arranged excursions to museums and cultural sites, as well as fantastic and memorable meals. The best part was bonding not only with the locals, but the leading thinkers in art in tech whom they flew in from around the world. I built friendships there that have already changed the course of my life.

Left to right: Mario Klingemann, Robbie Barat, Aparajita Jain

The first panel I moderated in Bahrain included two of the most important artists working with machine learning today: Mario Klingemann and Robbie Barrat.

Mario Klingemann had just sold his work Memories of Passersby at Sotheby’s in London before flying to Bahrain. Klingeman has long been at the forefront of exploring generative art, and his dark and challenging works are finally getting some of the recognition they deserve. In addition to selling his work at Sotheby’s, Klingemann’s work The Butcher’s Son won the Lumin Prize in 2018.

American AI artist Robbie Barrat had just come off of a successful show in Paris collaborating with French painter Ronan Barrot. Barrat, a generative art prodigy, made headlines when it had became clear that the French artist collective Obvious sold a work at Christie’s for $450,00 that was largely based on Barrat’s work and code. Undeterred, Barrat continues to innovate at a rapid pace, regularly producing new and cutting-edge work.

Also participating on the artistic creation panel was the visionary Nature Morte Gallery director and co-owner, Aparajita Jain. Jain, who curated one of the first AI art shows (Gradient Descent) in her gallery in New Delhi, shared her thoughts on the new challenges and opportunities that AI presents to traditional art galleries and the art market. Rounding out the panel was Attorney Ed Klaris, CEO of KlarisIP & Klaris Law. Klaris delved into the many concerns and considerations around copyright and IP that are associated with this new medium.

Left to right: Jason Bailey, Cristobal Valenzuela, Andrew Shum, Zike Wu, Robert Norton

The second panel featured an equally impressive group of panelists, this time focused on AI and art solutions. It kicked off with a demo of Cristóbal Valenzuela’s machine learning tool for artists and designers, RunwayML. Runway ML puts the same tools used by artists like Mario Klingemann and Robbie Barrat into the hands of less technical artists and designers, almost like a machine learning version of Adobe Photoshop. I was also thrilled to have Andrew Shum, CEO of Thread Genius, on the panel. Shum shared some of the strategy and thinking behind his Spotify-like approach to recommending artworks to Sotheby’s collector base. Co-founder of ArtVenture Zike Wu and CEO of Verisart Robert Norton rounded out the panel and added their expertise to the engaging conversation.

Part 2 - “Automat und Mensch”: How I Became an International Art Curator

Left to right: Robbie Barrat, Herbert W. Franke, Mario Klingemann, Kate Vass, Jason Bailey, Georg Bak

I have long dreamed of attending an art exhibition that presented the full range of generative art. Ideally it would start with early analog works of the late 1950s and range all the way up to the new work being done with machine learning in the last few years. To my knowledge, no such show has ever been curated. Just to attend such a show would be a dream come true for me.

So when the Kate Vass Galerie proposed that I co-curate a show on the history of generative art, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. While I love early generative art, especially artists like Vera Molnar and Frieder Nake, my passion is really centered around contemporary generative art. So pairing up with my good friend Georg Bak, expert in early generative photography, was the perfect match. Georg brings an unmatched passion and detailed understanding of early generative art that firmly plants this show in a deep and rich tradition that many have yet to learn about.

I'm incredibly proud of Automat und Mensch. I believe it is one of the most comprehensive surveys of generative art ever held.

The show featured over thirty artists, ranging from the earliest pioneers to the most exciting artists working today. To give you an idea of the range in ages, we had both 19-year-old generative art prodigy Robbie Barrat and 91-year-old generative photography pioneer Herbert W. Franke at the opening. Thirty is an enormous amount of artists for a relatively small gallery, but we were able to pull it off because of the tireless work of both Kate Vass and her assistant Alessia Realis. They handled all the logistics and hosted a fantastic opening that was well attended and will not soon be forgotten. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.

Seedorf Switzerland. wins the award for the most beautiful/peaceful place I traveled in 2019

I snuck in a short trip with my wife through the Swiss countryside after the opening of Automat und Mensch, and we absolutely fell in love with it. The photo above is the view from our dinner table in Seedorf. I would love to find a way to get back there at some point.

If you are interested in more details about the Automat un Mensch exhibition, you can learn more in this Artnome post and see all the works that were included in the show on the Kate Vass Galerie website.

Part 3 - Four trips to NYC in One Month Followed by Christie’s Art & Tech Summit

CADAF NYC - Left to right: Georg Bak, Jonathan Watkinson, David Young, Shirin Anlen, Kevin Abosch

I'm not great at planning. I'm even worse at saying no. So somehow, I ended up agreeing to four speaking engagements in New York City in May — the problem being that I live four hours away in Massachusetts. I could not have predicted at the time that I would also have a tube sticking out of my arm for most of that month so that I could take intravenous antibiotics for my Lyme disease (though this gave me the use of my legs back for the most part).

Moniker Art Fair - From left to right: Jason Bailey, Steven Schindler, Katherine Wilson-Milne — Moniker Art Fair - From left to right: Jason Bailey, Steven Schindler, **Katherine Wilson-Milne**

My engagements for May included:

05/01/19 - Moniker Art Fair, Technologizing Fine Art
05/05/19 - CADAF NYC, Art and AI
05/10/19 - Ethereal, Innovation and Blockchain Art
05/18/19 - Rare Digital Art Fair, Rare AF 2, Return of the Rare

All of the speaking engagements for May went great, and they could not have been more different from each other. First, I presented with two lawyers next to a furnace in a basement at a street art fair. Then I moderated a panel in a room with projections from floor to ceiling on all four walls. On the next panel I hosted, they told us we had half as much time as we expected as we walked on stage, so I moderated in fast-forward. Finally, there was the keynote at Rare AF, which is always like a homecoming with so many very close friends there. I even got to carpool in to NYC for Rare AF with Joe Looney, the godfather of cryptoart. It was a welcome break after three solo trips to NYC and back in one month!

Art+Tech Summit at Christie’s: The A.I. Revolution

I've been lucky enough to speak at Christie's Art+Tech Summit two years in a row now. Both times the events ran flawlessly, featured terrific presenters, and were excellent for networking. Both years, Artnome advisor Anne Bracegirdle (now at PaceX) played a central role in organizing the events and was kind enough to include me.

For the 2019 summit, they gave me the freedom to chose my own topic. I decided to present on my passion for fighting forgery and improving the quality and quantity of data on art.

I was also given the opportunity to interview artist and good friend Robbie Barrat at the summit. Christie’s felt bad about overlooking Barrat’s work when they promoted work that relied heavily on his ideas and code. This gave him an opportunity to share his work and his thoughts. Robbie is incredibly well spoken as an artist and many people shared with me that our interview was the highlight of the summit.

The Art+Tech Summit has become one of the most important art and tech events of the year, and I hope Christie’s continues to host it. I'd happily present there again.

Part 4 - Taking a Break and Recharging

2019 was terrific, but my schedule was and is still crazy. In addition to all of my Artnome commitments, I started a tech marketing consultancy to keep the lights on at home. To my surprise, it quickly flourished and I had more work than I knew what to do with. The reason I can accomplish as much as I do is because I have an incredibly understanding and supportive wife. Erin makes tremendous sacrifices so that I can pursue my crazy dreams with Artnome.

My girls wondering when I am going to stop working and do something fun.

But by midsummer, it was catching up with me, and I needed to get into the woods. I decided to give myself a few months off from speaking engagements to recover a little and to focus on writing and my growing consulting practice. I was able to spend some time up in Maine working from my "mobile office," a hammock slung between two trees just feet from Lake St. George. In between floating in the lake and resting in the hammock, my family spoiled me by making me delicious meals.

Mobile office, Lake St. George, Liberty Maine

I also used this time to plan my next moves for Artnome. I am addicted to finding new and interesting digital art, but sometimes months go by where all the work I see starts to look the same. I was in that kind of a slump when I discovered artist Espen Kluge and his phenomenal generative portraits. I immediately fell in love, as did Kate, and we reached out to Espen for an interview and to offer him a solo show in November.

I had also been speaking on and off with my close graduate school friend Fan Xiang who teaches design at Parsons in NYC and at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Fan had been following Artnome and wanted to arrange a speaking tour for me in China along with an exhibition of generative art. She ended up getting too busy, but introduced me to Professor CJ Chen from Nanjing University. The two of us become best friends right away. We decided to do an exhibition in November.

So coming out of my midsummer break in the woods, I had committed to two more exhibitions: one in Switzerland and one in China. I also accepted a speaking engagement at Sotheby’s Institute to address the incoming class on the topic of art and tech. I agreed to write an article for Art in America. I then agreed to moderate a panel on machine learning at Art Basel Miami. The second half of my year was looking even busier than the first half.

Part 5 - Back-to-Back Shows in Switzerland and China

Left to right: Kate Vass, Jason Bailey, Espen Kluge

I think of Switzerland as my home away from home now. I was excited to come back in late October for the second time in a year to see my friends Kate and Alessia. I knew from my interview that Espen Kluge and I would quickly become brothers. It was just a three-day stay, but I enjoyed every minute of it and spent a great deal of time getting to know Espen and his equally creative and amazing wife Ida.

Espen Kluge, ash when he arrives, every time - 2019 — Espen Kluge, *ash when he arrives, every time* - 2019

The opening was a hit. People really responded to Espen’s powerful portraits at the show. It was also a good time for Kate and I to connect in person and plan out 2020. It was a short stay, but a very pleasant one. From there it was back on a plane to fly to Nanjing for the second opening in less than one week.

Augmenting Creativity - Nanjing University

Augmenting Creativity - Nanjing China. Left to right: Jared Tarbel Substrate - 2003, Robbie Barret Balenciaga -2018, Sougwan Chung The Limitless, The Absolute -2017 — *Augmenting Creativity* - Nanjing China. Left to right: Jared Tarbel *Substrate -* 2003, Robbie Barret *Balenciaga -*2018, Sougwan Chung *The Limitless, The Absolute* -2017

As with Bahrain, I was given all kinds of bad advice about China from people who have never been there. I was told to watch out because they would try to steal my laptop or my wallet. It turns out that Nanjing is a bustling, densely populated city, but there is almost zero crime. I offered to walk the students home when we were out late one night for dinner. They laughed and explained that the city is so safe that there was no need to worry.

The students treated me like a rock star from the moment I got off the plane. I was even given the nickname “Treasure,” which was later updated to “Sparkling Goat Goat Treasure.” But it was CJ who was the real rock star and her students who are the real treasures. They did all the heavy lifting to organize and set up the show, and it came out phenomenally. People came from all around China for the opening, and we even made the Chinese national news.

The show was extended to the Nanjing University of the Arts, and one of CJ’s former students, Manchi Li, did a wonderful job walking through the exhibition in the video below. You can also learn more about the artists who were included and read the exhibition essay in this post.

I spent almost ten days in China and had the great honor of presenting in Shanghai at China’s largest library on the Artnome database. There, as everywhere else I went in China, I was treated with respect and gratitude and asked many deep and thoughtful questions about my work and research in art and tech. The head of the library took CJ and I, as well as our new friends from Europe who were also lecturing at the university, out to one of the nicest restaurants in Shanghai.

The whole trip was amazing. If I can find a way, I’d like to move to Nanjing for a few years at some point to learn, teach, and lecture. I connected with people in China in a way I typically don’t in the US. I found everyone to be incredibly thoughtful, kind, and generous. I miss the professors and students I got to spend time with, and I think about them often and the unparalleled hospitality they showed me. They are family now.

Artnome 2020

It is shaping up to be an another exciting year! In addition to the Art in America feature, I just recently completed a second commissioned piece for a publication (to be named later) that I really respect! I’ve already signed up to curate two shows: one in Montreal in March and one likely in Berlin in July (details forthcoming). I’ll be at SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin in March with some amazing panelists to share how digital art can save the art market. It also looks like I will likely be presenting on new research I have been doing on art price prediction in NYC in the fall.

Thank you for all the support, and hopefully you found my recap of 2019 enjoyable! I get asked sometimes how all of these opportunities open up for me, and almost all of it starts with this blog. If you are passionate about something, I’d encourage you to write about it. You may not think you have time, but wake up an hour earlier each morning and you’d be surprised how much you can write. Don’t expect amazing things to happen right away — it takes the better part of a year before anyone will notice — but once they do, the world opens up to you and becomes your extended family. Cheers and best of luck in 2020 to you all!