Sotheby’s Invites Erdem Moralioglu As Guest-Curator

On March 15th Sotheby’s London will host the first ‘Contemporary Curated’ auction series in London, each guest-curated by an influential personality from outside the art world.

The concept is new to the UK but has already been successful in the US since 2013. Joanna Steingold, head of ‘Contemporary Curated’ in London has invited Erdem Moralioglu to edit 10 pieces out of the 205 pre-selected for the auction. By doing so, Sotheby’s aims to broaden the audience for art collecting.

Erdem Moralioglu is the creative director of the ready-to-wear line Erdem. A fitting first guest curator, he is renowned for the inspirations he draws from art to produce his collections of various themed prints. He also studied at the Royal College of Art  in London and has been collecting art pieces for seven years with his selection having grown from photographs and drawings to recently include paintings. Some of his favourite pieces are displayed in his newly opened store on South Audley Street including a David Hockney photo collage and drawings by Andy Warhol and Jean Cocteau.

For this event, the collection varies from modern photography to American figurative art. Artists such as Antony Gormley, Alex Katz, Thomas Ruff and Josef Albers form part of Erdem’s selection as they demonstrate  “The touch of the human hand”.

Joanna Steingold aims to allow a broader and younger audience access to the artworld by inviting more influential names beyond the art world. By tapping into sectors that are not related to art such as fashion, ‘Contemporary Curated’ entices a new type of buyer. “What we want to do is say -come in, this is a public place, these exhibitions are open to the public, you can come whenever you like, you can bring your children and you can come on the weekend.”

Sotheby’s ‘Contemporary Curated’ auction is on March 15th 2016.

Text by Tamara Akcay