Our guests on this episode of the Latitudes Podcast are South African-born, U.S-based friends of more than 30 years: Stefan Simchowitz and David Altman. Their wide-ranging conversation explores everything from walking the line between collector and dealer, what success means in the art world and the promotion of cultural production from Africa.
As a platform for critical thinking, the Latitudes Podcast seeks to spark debate and provide our audience with a wide range of viewpoints from across the art ecosystem, even those that may ruffle feathers.
Touching on the political, spiritual and everything in between, we hope this discussion gives you greater insight into Altman and Simchowitz - the man The New York Times has dubbed the Patron Satan of the Art World.
Simchowitz is well known - some may say notorious - as an art collector, curator and advisor who owns gallery spaces in the Los Angeles area; and runs a number of art residencies in the U.S and South Africa.
Altman is a producer and businessman who has been involved in development and charitable work for decades. His work has taken him to the US, Italy, Kuwait and Kenya and, having travelled widely in over 75 countries, he maintains an extensive global network in both the private and public sector.
"I love the continent. It's a magical place. Even as a white man, a white Jew from South Africa, the continent of Africa has infected my spiritual bones." - Stefan Simchowitz
"When I grew up in South Africa, in the middle of apartheid, we didn't really have access to news or information, but we were very highly influenced by things from America, whether it was having a Frigidaire, eating Kellogg's Rice Krispies for breakfast, or reading American comic books. So the idea that years later I'd have the ability to get behind artists whose work we love, empower them with resources to make work and then, in the reverse, show the cultural production of Africa in the USA - that was a very exciting proposition." - David Altman