Maxim Bokser, founder of The Ball and The Cross
Founder of the eponym gallery, Maxim Bokser is a collector, focusing mainly on the Russian Silver Age, Modern ans Contemporary Art. He says Antiques are his profession, whereas Contemporary Art is more of his hobby. With a very personal and non systematic approach, Maxim collects and chooses projects according to the wind of his soul, spontaneously and absolutely outside the usual logic. Some may say it is very Russian, but that might explain why what he does often turns out successfully and is always transformative. Considering that, in our times, ideas and the courage to realize them are key, Maxim truly has what it takes to explore our reality. We could have talked about his projects for a long time, but let’s focus today on the latest, the most unexpected, courageous and relevant to the period we all are in right now : The Ball and The Cross.
Key info about The Ball and The Cross :
The Ball and The Cross is a private Facebook group (ШАР И КРЕСТ).
On this group, you can either sell or buy art.
Sales are made by artists or collectors. If you would like to sell – look for other offers and make . Each artwork is approved by the moderator before appearing online, depending on quality and price. If you sell three artworks, you need to buy one from others to keep selling. If you sell ten artworks – you need to donate one to the Foundation of the Group.
If you are a buyer, you buy directly from the seller. Delivery of the work is then your responsibility. If you are looking for a Big Fish – you need to be quick and have good analyzing and even gambling skills to follow the artists you want to catch. Then the collector is asked to share the artworks he collected through the group.
The Ball and The Cross, an allusion to Malevitch’s work
What was the original idea when you created the group “The Ball and The Cross”?
I was guided by my intuition. The idea of the group was first to communicate. It was also important for me that it would provide financial support to artists and distract us all from our current situation, including myself. But it turned out that its purposes are beyond what I expected when I created it. By developing a trading platform, I created fellowship.
When you created the group, were there any associates? Were there any agreements?
No. There was nothing, and I did not even have any consultations with anyone. One morning I woke up overwhelmed by the idea and walked with it all day. In the evening, the name “The Ball and The Cross” appeared in my head and I realized that this initiative was needed, now. For the first time in my life, I created a Facebook group. I was in a rather strange state - but in general this is a strange story : I am neither a computer person, nor a networker. Suddenly I sat down at my computer and began to write rules, create a profile picture…
Was one of the goals of this group to create a new community?
No, I did it for the existing community of artists and friends.
The quarantine began when the exhibition of my collection at the IN ARTIBUS Foundation, a very important project for me, closed even before its public opening. The exhibition is very complex, it should have had a change of setting because of the context. Various fundamental collections, including museum ones, were involved.
I was in shock with this situation. We began to think with my team : how could we show and promote the exhibition, with what kind of materials ? Of course, all the people who were supposed to be brought together by this exhibition were spinning in my head. Besides the works of the Age of Modernity, the XXth century, the exhibition was also supposed to display Contemporary art. Special works were planned to be created, for example with students of the Rodchenko school.
A large community of people were supposed to participate. For those people I had the idea to create the “The Ball and The Cross” group. When the group activity started to grow rapidly, it turned out that there were significantly more people interested. The project covers not only the world capitals - Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Paris, Berlin - but also the regions. Artists from Siberia, Lipetsk, Voronezh and all over the country appeared as well - people we had never seen on this metropolitan art scene. They now have the chance to exhibit with well known artists and to be seen by collectors.
It was also important that, from the very beginning, famous and successful artists felt the momentum and mood of this group and joined ... It became like an altruistic project for them : they do works specifically for it and offer paintings with lower prices than usual - in order to support the community of the artists. With the money they get – they buy works of other artists.
All the rules of the group that were written down at the beginning remain the same. They were made in order to make each member’s life easy. Since the beginning, I only made one change : I slightly raised the price bar. As a result, many new collectors appeared, including among the artists, people who had never bought anything before. I believe that it's due to various factors. First, small prices mean lower risk - it turns out it’s easy and not scary to buy art. Secondly, some kind of magic arises from looking constantly through a long line full of very different works - it becomes easier to understand what you like or not. I think that this modern way of looking allowed them to be more relaxed in making their decisions to buy. It's joyful, easy and like a sport. The atmosphere can be compared with buying at Drouot.
It turns out that this project is a full-time daily work for you? How many people work with you?
Yes, this is a never ending work. We have a full time moderator who answers countless questions, and explains the details. My gallery assistant, artist Maria Bavykina, is also partially involved in the project. We are even creating new jobs as I also had to hire someone to deal with the works sent to the foundation. My friend, the artist Ivan Lungin, and I work as curators. We look through artworks to accept them or not. We think of this group as a constantly operating exhibition of works and artists. Due to such an activity, the project remains exciting and interesting. But there are also active members of the group who help us from the inside - they pay attention to errors and inaccuracies. In addition, we started another small, but interesting project within the group called “Curator’s Choice.” For two weeks, the art critic and curator of the Garage Museum, Andrey Misiano, will choose and buy for the “Ball and Cross” Foundation works of artists that he believes should be paid attention to. We agreed that the value of the acquired works will not exceed 3,000 rubles for a total of 40,000 rubles. Andrey will share what idea he had and what principles were the basis of his choice for this virtual exhibition and small collection. Then another curator will collect a similar block ... The goal is to collect a virtual thematic exposition with a hope to do a bigger real one after quarantine. It will be a reflection of the life and views of artists and art historians in the difficult period of a pandemic. Art as we known will save the world.
Author’s pick from the group - be Ellen Rozhnova
As I understood, you have only one day off per week, right?
Formally, the group - yes. But I have no weekend. I have never worked so much in my life as during this quarantine. We also need to cover the exhibition "Collector's Dreams" in Artibus Foundation. For it we record online conversations with various interesting people. But this is good for me, there is no time left to read news, and most importantly, I always feel how much people need what we do now.
You view an enormous amount of artworks every day. Do you feel overdosed?
No, I’m absolutely not tired, I’m used to it. I’ve been watching art in large quantities all my life.
The curiosity remains. But I do get tired physically. Sometimes you also have to smooth out different situations : in any group of this scale tension can happen that needs to be solved.
In addition to the works that fall into the stream, you approve new members of the group. What criteria do you follow? Does it happen that you reject someone?
It is really rare. At some point I ask newcomers of the group to do some actions, which stimulate active participation: to read the rules and to follow on Instagram. With more than 8,000 people, it is a surprise to see the Facebook graph : the curve is ascending and very stable.
Do you have any other statistics?
We are trying to keep statistics, but for this we would need a separate team member. I'm mainly interested in new collectors. They can be easily recognized in the feed. It is very rewarding when they appear and joyfully inform everyone about their acquisitions. This is one of the rules - you need to show what you bought. We are trying to keep records. Around 4 500 acquisitions were as of today.
What is the average price of the works offered? Is there a real difference with the gallery prices ?
I do not know at what prices all artists are sold in galleries. But recently, we did a charity auction in order to help the Foundation "Ball and Cross" and to show how much the work of these artists really cost. We selected works more significant than those usually exhibited in the group. Aidan Salakhova's similar work was sold at a 10 times more expensive price than the graphics that she usually exhibited. The work of Gosha Ostretsov went for 100,000 rubles. But this is also not a reliable indicator, it was still a charity auction.
Editor’s pick from the group - By Marine Birot
How do you see the evolution of the group in a post pandemic context ?
The plan is to turn the "The Ball and The Cross" into an online platform, which will become a meeting place for artists, collectors and gallery owners. The idea is obvious, but this is already a serious business and a completely different conversation. (Taken from Maxim’s interview for TheArtNewsPaperRussia) We don’t know yet when we will do it.
The group is answering a very urgent need. But at the same time this is developing the « unofficial » market. In your opinion, can this affect purchases in the galleries and have a detrimental effect on market development in Russia?
How can we talk about a negative effect when more than a hundred people buying art for the first time just appeared on the market? One hundred new collectors in a month and a half !
There are always different layers of the market. As to the fundamental and larger pieces, they will remain expensive – you cannot sell them without galleries. In this group, there are a lot of wealthy people who didn’t buy art before. Here, they began to buy 10 things a week. I believe that the main advantage of the group is that it “makes the eye”, develops “watchfulness”. Under normal conditions, they don’t have the opportunity to see so many works and to make a purchase so fast. Here, they understand what they want and buy without risks.
Our galleries, with a few exceptions, are focused on very wealthy audiences and live on one-time sales. We need to rethink and re-build, create alternatives.
It turns out that the project has become socially significant., in terms of distraction from negative news, and in terms of education.
Yes, the educational side of it struck me unexpectedly. Additionally some sellers document their pictures with stories. For example, the Labas Foundation sells works very cheaply and, at the same time, writes stories about them. Someone buying a picture tells something interesting and we try to post such stories about the “The Ball and The Cross” on the Maxim Boxer Gallery page. On April 3rd, when the group was founded, I could not imagine that this would become such a rich story.
And the last question: what is art for you?
For me it’s “The Ball and the Cross.” Currently. (laughs)
To enter the Facebook group and its marvel of opportunities, click here and answer some questions.
#theballandthecrossfund
Tittle picture by Roman Tsurtsumiya
