GEORGINA VALDEZ AND THE WHITE LODGE: HOW TO GENERATE CONVERSATIONS THROUGH ART

How was The White Lodge born?

The idea was born almost by chance. I had rented a space for my fashion production company and used it as a photography and video studio. As fashion work is seasonal, there were months of inactivity, and it occurred to me to take advantage of that time to hold art exhibitions. I wanted to give visibility to photographers with whom I worked commercially but who also had production as artists that really deserved to be shown. With the first exhibition I organized, I realized that it was my vocation and I have not dedicated myself to anything else since then.

In those beginnings, I devoted myself to photography and it was a very enriching stage. At that time, photography as a media was beginning to gain strength in contemporary art, and The White Lodge was the first gallery in Cordoba to focus exclusively on this format. The year we had our first arteba we were awarded the prize for best gallery in Barrio Joven and a professional career as a gallery owner began for me.

How did the project evolve over the years?

In the twelve years that I have been a gallery owner I have broadened the range of disciplines I work with. As a gallery we stopped focusing only on photography to incorporate other materialities such as textile art, ceramics, painting and sculpture. This diversification allowed us to adapt and dialogue better with the market and with contemporary art trends.

In addition, at The White Lodge we seek to be more than a commercial space. We are interested in generating dialogues with current and relevant themes. We want to communicate with an audience much broader than the buyer to start a conversation that amplifies the look of art and those who look at it.

In 2022, we opened a second branch in Buenos Aires, which represented a major transformation. This step connected us to a broader, international market and allowed us to better position our artists in a more competitive ecosystem.

What differences do you find in managing the gallery's offices in Buenos Aires and Cordoba?

The main difference lies in the scale of the market. Buenos Aires offers a much closer proximity to international collectors and a public with a higher purchasing power. This not only multiplied our sales, but also allowed an increase in the value of our artists' works.

Córdoba, on the other hand, has a smaller but very interesting market. It was our starting point and there we built the basis of our identity as a gallery. The expansion to Buenos Aires challenged us to position ourselves in a more complex context, but the reception was excellent, which confirmed that this step was necessary.

How do you see the future of the art market in Latin America and what role do you seek to play from The White Lodge?

I think the future of the art market in the region is linked to a balance between innovation and connection with the demands of the present. We have to find the right point between proposing something new and responding to market demands. The challenge for me is to propose artists that are relevant to the historical moment we live in, that add real value and quality to the lives of the people with whom the works coexist.

From The White Lodge, we want to continue generating dialogues on relevant topics such as sustainability, community and the connection between art and territory. We are also interested in working with artists who investigate local materials and traditional techniques. In the coming years, we plan to focus more on a historical review of the role of women in art.

What is The White Lodge's proposal for Pinta Miami about?

At Pinta Miami we are presenting two artists who are in line with our approach: Sandro Pereira and Nushi Muntaabski.

Sandro works from Tucumán, facing the challenges of producing art in decentralized contexts. The series we brought quote the Brazilian Anthropophagic Manifesto on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Sandro takes up the ideas expressed to write his own Autophagy Manifesto, where he places the individual at the center using his own image. Through prolonged fasting and meditation, Pereira generates sculptural paintings that challenge the relationship between body and image.

On the other hand, Nushi presents pieces from her series Campo de Cultivo, in which she explores the relationship between art, food and health. Her workshop functions as a space where culture and cultivation intertwine, creating sculptures and food with the same dedication and attention. This proposal invites us to think about ways of inhabiting, of working, of being present.

What are the biggest challenges or opportunities you face as director of the gallery?

The constant challenge is to propose something relevant and new, that not only dialogues with the art market but also with people's lives and wellbeing. Today, I believe that it is no longer enough to generate income; we must do it in an ethical and sustainable way, thinking about the social and environmental impact.

Our mission is to generate meaningful conversations, both inside and outside the art world. We seek to create proposals that transcend and contribute to positive change in people and their contexts.