BI Auction for Art Organizes Auction for Solo Customers

Following their successful endeavor to showcase some of the best-known Georgian artists, which consequently resulted in founding BI Auction for Art, Georgian Art collector and gallery owners Ika Bokuchava and Bengu Akcardak Kucuk are partnering with Bank of Georgia’s Solo for their upcoming art auction this Wednesday, June 14. The date also represents one year since the start their ambitious project.

“When we started BI Auction back in 2016 as a business venture, we had the desire to start an auction business to bring Georgian art and artists to the attention of Georgian and foreign art collectors,” Bengu tells GEORGIA TODAY. “In one year, we’ve held three art auctions, introducing 156 paintings to clients and auction visitors who had a chance to buy the art works at exclusive prices. This week, we’re having our fourth auction, this time together with Solo, Bank of Georgia’s Private Banking,” she said, adding that it is a “one time event” which will last two hours.

The art for the auctions was collected from 82 painters, chosen from 1000 paintings, and, as Bengu told us, as they aim to improve their collections at each auction.

“We put incredible effort into organizing events,” Bengu tells us. “As a collector and art lover, I want fellow collectors to open their eyes and ears to take advantage of these incredible pieces of art. We overcame the barriers of starting a business in the art sector and we are glad it is succeeding”.

Bengu believes that having Bokuchava as her business partner, notwithstanding the fact that they have different tastes, makes them powerful business companions, a fact, she says, which could be seen as the secret of their successful cooperation.

“At our third auction, we decided to focus on and present only contemporary Georgian artists, whereas previously we had showcased more classical paintings. It was also something very new for Georgia,” Bengu says, adding that it was a great success and she takes it as a positive sign to continue in this vein. “We can clearly see the tendency of the Georgian art market growing, with more art buyers emerging and many new exhibitions happening- not only in museums, but in galleries, hotels, so we see that there is more attention, and certainly the demand is growing,” she says.

“The process of selecting art works is complex, as we want buyers to experience that feeling of beauty, yet recognize that everyone has a different understanding of what beauty means,” Bokuchava tells us. “Bengu chooses paintings that are brighter, more joyful, whereas as a collector of old Georgian artists, I tend to focus on rare and hard-to-find pieces”.

BI Auction also offers a ‘find’ service whereby a client can suggest what art works they want to see presented at an upcoming auction, and the organizers say that they are open to any art collector who has interesting pieces to offer.

“We would like to thank GEORGIA TODAY for offering its readers the chance to read interviews featuring Georgian artists- we consider it hugely important to shine the spotlight on their artwork. Apart from organizing auctions, our main goal is to promote Georgian art. Art adds value to our lives and at the same time, it is a great investment,” Bengu concludes.

Nino Gugunishvili