A Conversation with Heather Marx and Steven Sergiovanni

Edsel Williams, Founder & Director of the Fireplace Project, Heather Marx, Steven Sergiovanni

APAA members Heather Marx and Steven Sergiovanni recently came together to discuss their collaborative exhibition “Fielding Line and Space.” The group exhibition, on view this past summer at The Fireplace Project, marked the first curatorial collaboration by the longtime colleagues.

Heather Marx & Steven Sergiovanni

Could you briefly describe your working relationship with each other and any past partnerships or projects you have had together in the art world?

We met at Art Expo Chicago in 2007, both exhibiting our galleries, Marx & Zavattero and Mixed Greens, and formed an immediate friendship based on a shared passion for Contemporary art. We found that we were on the same art fair circuit for many years and would plan art fair meetups at these fairs throughout the world—often meeting for dinners and comparing notes.

We had a similar path when we closed our galleries and launched our advisory companies around the same time. Although we’ve been on different coasts, we’ve stayed in touch about our independent projects and occasionally would reach out to one another for sharing artist suggestions and resources. Transparency was an immediate bond in our relationship.

How did the vision for the exhibition “Fielding Line and Space” come together between you two? How did it evolve through your collaboration and communication ahead of the show?

In 2023, we walked around Design Miami together and talked about ideas that we both had for shows. As Steven is based in NY and East Hampton, we wanted our first show to be in the Hamptons during the summer season. We both knew of the historic significance of The Fireplace Project and thought it would be a good venue for our first project together. We thought we’d flip cities each year and continue our collaboration on different coasts.

Were there any specific narratives or stories you aimed to highlight through the artworks/artists selected for “Fielding Line and Space”?

In our field, we see a lack of collaboration between colleagues and we wanted to break down barriers and move to a new more transparent model as we were starting to see in the gallery world. Initially, we each emailed artists that we both liked to each other from opposite coasts, and separately, we grouped artists to see which themes revealed themselves, and particularly those that portrayed an interesting symmetry in media and content but developed independently from one another.

Our goal was to create a dialogue between artists who may not know each other or who may not have been given the opportunity to exhibit together. We wanted to create a dynamism between artists that didn’t yet exist.

Dana Hemenway, courtesy of Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, Katy Cowan, courtesy of Miles McEnery Gallery, NY, Katy Cowan, courtesy of Miles McEnery Gallery, NY

Looking back, what do you feel was the most successful aspect of the exhibition?

We started to see a variety of threads that are being explored in contemporary art at the moment that transcend regions. In the case of Fielding Line & Space, we saw an exciting yet subtle practice to reshape the world we see around us by sleights of hand and material, creating magical works.

Providing an opportunity for these artists to share space and have their works be in dialogue with one another for the first time. They expressed their excitement to see shared conceptual frameworks in their practice that they hadn’t initially thought were there—and we were happy to offer an exhibit that collectors, curators, colleagues, and artists responded to.

Are there future collaborative projects on the horizon?

Yes, San Francisco 2025!

What individual skill sets did each of you bring to this project? Why was it important to create this together rather than do it alone?

We are both collaborative by nature. Coming from gallery backgrounds, we were used to working with a team in putting together an exhibition, something that has always been important to us. Once we started our own businesses, curation was moe focused on private and corporate projects, not necessarily ones that are open to the public. It was important to create something together that was stimulating and evolving, and offered us growth professionally. We also love the creative process that fuels a gallery exhibit.

Between our many Zoom sessions and shared slide decks, we expanded our knowledge, fostered new relationships with artists and galleries, and reignited our passion for developing public exhibitions.

Steven Sergiovanni, Katy Cowan (work on wall) Ned Smyth (photo on wall)