Elvira and Isabel Mignoni, heirs of the gallery owner Elvira González: "Art is elitist"

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Art, with capital letters, is the life of

two of the three children of

, the most influential woman in contemporary Spanish art and who set up, more than five decades ago, the gallery that bears their name and that they run since 2016, when they picked up the

. A natural succession - "we never thought we could dedicate ourselves to something else", both tell us - that keeps intact the wickers that one day her mother established and that made her space a benchmark in our country.

For his gallery -specialized in

, especially European and American second half of the twentieth century, and the work of

- have passed artists like Miquel Barceló, Waltercio Caldas, Olafur Eliasson, Robert Irwin, Robert Mapplethorpe or Donald Judd, his next exhibition.

Art for them runs in the

: their grandparents were the dancer Elvira Lucena and the sculptor Juan Cristóbal, and their mother made it possible for exhibitions of the

most important

of this century

to be held in Spain for the first time

: August Rodin, Juan Gris , Pablo Gargallo, Julio González, Lucio Fontana, Joseph Albers, Francis Bacon ... Why do all the greats choose

gallery

and not another?

"The weight of history supports us," says Isabel, "they are sure that their exhibition will be fine."

"As we are an 'old' gallery, they know what we have done, our trajectory," says Elvira, "that is fortunate."

24 hour art

But behind that luck there is work, a lot of work. "Art has always been

in our life, and it continues to be so. Even when we travel for pleasure we take the opportunity to see related things. This world has the great

that there is no distinction between what is profession and leisure", says Isabel. "We are training all day, you cannot fit into your comfort zone", insists Elvira, "and that is wonderful, we dedicate all day and all our time to it."

And what is it like to work with the family, in two bands?

Do you always agree or do you argue a lot about what the next exhibition is going to be?

"Basically we agree, because we have the same

about what we like and what we think can be good," explains Isabel.

"There it is very noticeable that we have the same

...", points out Elvira, "we have been to the same university and we have seen the same museums."

New times, new rhythms

In a globalized world, the difference is marked by new technologies. "I always remember my mother hanging on the phone, but now we hardly pick it up, everything is done by mail or even WhatsApp," Elvira intervenes. Although what remains a constant is travel; most of the turnover of the galleries now moves in the international fairs. And you have to be. "A fair allows you to reach a much wider audience, and even many of the sales that are made later in the gallery are due to the fact that one day you met someone there," says Isabel.

At the moment, the reference is

, in Switzerland, "without discussion", says Elvira, "then there are many others, so many that it is very difficult to be in all of them, but they are of another level". Miami and China are also

places

, followed by far by Europe. Spain, unfortunately, is light years away from the great circuits. "We are leaders at the individual level, of artists, few countries have a

, but we do not believe it", says Isabel. And even if we did, to put ourselves in the lead "there is a lack of

that Spanish museums make their purchases through Spanish galleries and also fiscal incentives".

On the horizon, a

that never comes, "that day the galleries will have to take to the streets to celebrate it", Elvira ironizes.

And a political class not even interested in listening to the problems of the sector.

"I'm not talking about this government, but about everyone," he says.

"They have never had the will to want to know why art is considered a

, and it is not true, it does not have to be, you have to take it to the other side; it is not about having two great galleries but about having many galleries ", Explain.

The directors Elvira Mignoni and Isabel Mignoni at the Elvira González Gallery, Madrid. © Jean Marc Mason. Courtesy Elvira González Gallery.

Learn from experience

Elvira González

would turn 54 this year at the head of the gallery. They say they have learned everything from her. "What we have is a lot of

" says Isabel, "and we have it from being little ones around here playing and listening to my mother talk on the phone and seeing her way of working; all of that stays there for you." And it is the only way, because not even today, with all the

of the figure of the gallerist, is there a university or some course that teaches you to be one. "My mother's generation

this trade. My mother did everything when she started, if she sold a painting she wrapped it herself, put it in a van and delivered it in person."

And doesn't always being surrounded by art make you want to keep it all?

What are the works that you have at

?

"A few of the artists in our gallery," they say.

But they are so used to it that they know how to resist temptation.

And that's what

their mother

them too

.

"Of course we would like to have a great collection, but my mother always instilled in us that the

must first choose

, she educated us that way", confesses Elvira.

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