1
00:00:00,417 --> 00:00:03,378
Greg Kucera and his
 gallery are a Seattle institution.

2
00:00:03,378 --> 00:00:08,341
From the day he opened his doors
 in 1983, Greg has been a leading voice

3
00:00:08,341 --> 00:00:12,762
in the regional art scene and a fierce
 advocate for the artists he represents.

4
00:00:13,179 --> 00:00:17,017
Well, 38 years in, Greg decided
 it was time for a change.

5
00:00:17,225 --> 00:00:20,061
He sold the gallery to his trusted
 long-time associates

6
00:00:20,186 --> 00:00:23,189
and moved to a castle
 in the south of France.

7
00:00:23,523 --> 00:00:27,652
But, before he hit the road,
 I wrangled Greg for this exit interview.

8
00:00:29,696 --> 00:00:32,866
Hi, Greg. Hi, Nancy. 

9
00:00:32,866 --> 00:00:38,580
All right, so the gallery opened in 1983;
 on a scale of one to ten,

10
00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:43,043
how naive were you about what owning
 a gallery would entail?

11
00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:46,796
I would put that at about a nine. 

12
00:00:46,796 --> 00:00:49,215
I'd learned a lot from Diane Gilson

13
00:00:49,215 --> 00:00:53,094
who I'd worked for,
 but I had learned a lot, also from just

14
00:00:54,137 --> 00:00:56,556
wandering around
 and seeing what the galleries were doing.

15
00:00:57,557 --> 00:01:02,520
But of the prospect of owning
 a business was was,

16
00:01:03,521 --> 00:01:07,275
you know, an amazing shift in model. 

17
00:01:08,568 --> 00:01:14,282
Name one, just one, favorite moment
 from those 38 years.

18
00:01:14,282 --> 00:01:17,869
Nancy, that is so cruel.

19
00:01:19,913 --> 00:01:26,920
OK. In 2009, we had our second
 show of the Gee's Bend quilters.

20
00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,090
And again, we brought several of them

21
00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:33,510
up to Seattle from from Alabama,

22
00:01:34,052 --> 00:01:37,263
and we had thrown a dinner
 for them at our home.

23
00:01:38,932 --> 00:01:41,142
And at the end of that dinner,

24
00:01:41,142 --> 00:01:46,356
Revil Mosley, who was really
 the great singer in that group, stood up

25
00:01:46,689 --> 00:01:52,153
and she she sang for us:
 "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."

26
00:01:52,445 --> 00:01:55,448
And she's saying
 all the various choruses of it...

27
00:01:55,448 --> 00:02:00,954
And then she sang:
 "He's got the whole world in his hands.

28
00:02:01,037 --> 00:02:06,960
He's got Greg and Larry in his hands."
 And it just made me cry.

29
00:02:07,961 --> 00:02:11,881
I'll never forget the
 feeling of having this very elderly Black lady

30
00:02:12,549 --> 00:02:15,176
celebrate these two gay guys

31
00:02:15,176 --> 00:02:18,805
who were throwing a party for them. That's meaningful.

32
00:02:20,515 --> 00:02:24,018
That is exquisite. 

33
00:02:24,978 --> 00:02:27,772
You shown lots of big name artists.

34
00:02:27,939 --> 00:02:32,443
Helen Frankenthaler,
 Kerry James Marshall, Kiki Smith.

35
00:02:33,403 --> 00:02:39,117
But your genius to me is recognizing
 new talent, and case in point

36
00:02:39,576 --> 00:02:43,705
is the fairly recent Cornish
 College of the Arts grad Anthony White.

37
00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:48,376
How can you tell
 when an artist has that special quality?

38
00:02:48,877 --> 00:02:52,172
I do think that there is something
 that happens with

39
00:02:52,172 --> 00:02:54,883
some of these artists, and that's certainly
 has happened with Anthony,

40
00:02:55,466 --> 00:02:58,052
where they realized

41
00:02:58,052 --> 00:03:02,348
the gravity of the moment
 that they're being represented,

42
00:03:02,765 --> 00:03:07,854
and the dealer myself
 in this case, recognizes it as well...

43
00:03:08,313 --> 00:03:13,234
And when I went to Anthony's studio
 to meet him, one of the questions

44
00:03:13,234 --> 00:03:19,240
that I asked him was "What do you want
 out of the gallery relationship?"

45
00:03:19,490 --> 00:03:23,161
And he said, "I want
 to see my work at the Met."

46
00:03:24,412 --> 00:03:27,040
You know, I've had artists say
 I want to be in the Whitney Biennial,

47
00:03:27,248 --> 00:03:30,251
but to say they wanted
 to see their work at the Met

48
00:03:30,793 --> 00:03:33,880
that seem very special to me. 

49
00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:39,552
You sold Kucera Gallery
 to Jim Wilcox and Carol Clifford.

50
00:03:40,136 --> 00:03:43,973
What is it about Jim and Carol
 that gives you confidence that the gallery

51
00:03:43,973 --> 00:03:48,019
is in good hands?
 Working with Jim for the last 23 years,

52
00:03:48,269 --> 00:03:53,608
and seeing in him
 the ideals that that I have

53
00:03:53,733 --> 00:03:58,279
for the gallery, and knowing that
 Jim will never mistreat someone...

54
00:03:58,363 --> 00:04:01,950
And knowing that Carol holds
 those same values.

55
00:04:04,369 --> 00:04:06,120
You're moving to France, 

56
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,207
a country known for its bread,
 wine and cheese.

57
00:04:10,208 --> 00:04:12,043
Are you gluten free? 

58
00:04:12,043 --> 00:04:15,004
I am not. I am a gluten addict.

59
00:04:15,922 --> 00:04:18,049
Are you sober? I'm going to be

60
00:04:18,091 --> 00:04:21,928
the social pariah over there
 because I really don't like wine much.

61
00:04:22,220 --> 00:04:23,805
Are you lactose intolerant?

62
00:04:25,056 --> 00:04:30,228
No, I am... I am so tolerant of lactoses.

63
00:04:30,687 --> 00:04:33,982
I love those cheeses. 

64
00:04:33,982 --> 00:04:37,694
So you'll be living in a castle with your
 best friend Larry and your partner Sean.

65
00:04:38,027 --> 00:04:41,322
Three men, one castle... who will be king?

66
00:04:42,156 --> 00:04:45,535
We'll be fighting over that crown!

67
00:04:56,379 --> 00:04:57,547
Greg may be gone, 

68
00:04:57,547 --> 00:05:01,384
but Greg Kucera Gallery is going
 strong. Catch "Quilts

69
00:05:01,384 --> 00:05:05,138
and Etchings" by Gee's Bend quilters
 now through December 23rd.

70
00:05:05,471 --> 00:05:08,141
More information is at gregkucera.com.

71
00:05:16,316 --> 00:05:19,819
And catch Art Zone Friday nights at 8

72
00:05:19,819 --> 00:05:24,782
and anytime online
 at seattlechannel.org/artzone