Building Connections 忘记一件商品，面对一件作品

Art is a universal language. It’s able to express emotions and ideas words can’t effectively convey. It distills and synthesizes the human experience into something novel and thrilling. Art, when properly used as a means of communication, serves as a bridge between the cultural and temporal divides that separate us.

For Fabio Rossi, the director of Rossi & Rossi gallery, these transcendent powers of art are what’s kept him passionate in his decades-long career as an art dealer. “It’s wonderful to do something you love and enjoy,” he says. “But when you’re able to contribute to its growth and evolution, that’s a blessing.”

Rossi & Rossi was founded in 1985 in London by Fabio’s mother, Anna Maria Rossi, a 40-year veteran in the field of Asian art. Her fascination carried over to her son, who at the age of 11 accompanied her through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India on a trip that planted the seeds for his lifelong love of art and fascination with Asia. 

After graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies and apprenticing at the auction house Spink & Son, Fabio officially joined forces with his mother at Rossi & Rossi in 1988. The mother-and-son duo quickly began making a name for themselves in the international art scene with groundbreaking exhibitions that showcased rare classical art from Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, and more. These works ranged from Mongolian bronze-gilt sculptures to Tibetan thangkas, from Chinese handwoven robes to Nepalese stone carvings, all accompanied by scholarly catalogs that provided comprehensive information and historical context. Over time, the gallery’s unparalleled collection of rare art, detailed exhibitions, and ever-expanding coverage cemented their reputation as the leading name in the world of traditional Asian art.

While Rossi & Rossi earned accolades for their contributions to classical Asian art, Fabio—always ambitious—decided to take the gallery into a new direction with the addition of contemporary Asian art in 2005. This decision was inspired by a trip to Lhasa, where he met a group of local artists and discovered a thriving contemporary art scene that had been around since the 80s. Even though Fabio had been spending time in Tibet for over a decade, this came as a complete surprise.

“In the end, it’s all about discovery and sharing,” he explains of his motivations. “I felt there were a lot of underrepresented Asian artists, so I wanted to help bring them in front of a larger audience. Secondly, by having both classical and contemporary art alongside one another in our gallery, people can see the similarities and differences between the two. They can better see how art has evolved and also see how these similarities and differences come together to make art so exciting.”

Today, Rossi & Rossi represents a growing roster of talented contemporary artists from around Asia, including Tsherin Sherpa, a Tibetan artist creating contemporary thangkas; Lee Mingwei, a Taiwanese mixed-media artist known for his interactive installations; Naiza Khan, a leading-edge Pakistani painter; and many more.

In 2013, Fabio established a new branch of Rossi & Rossi in Hong Kong, a city both he and his mother now call home. In the years following, the gallery has further expanded its focus with the inclusion of Western artists. Partnering with art dealer Giovanni Martino in 2017, Rossi & Rossi debuted a series of exhibitions around Asia that highlighted the works of modern and contemporary European artist—just as it promoted Asian art for Western audiences in its earlier years, the gallery now looks to bring the works of underrepresented Western artists to audiences in Asia and beyond.

Western artists represented by Rossi & Rossi today include Christopher Doyle, an Australian photographer best known as Wong Kar-wai’s cinematographer; Giorgio Vigna, a gifted Italian sculptor best known for his glasswork and jewelry design; and Italian artist duo Bertozzi & Casoni, whose thought-provoking ceramic assemblages were showcased by the gallery in Shanghai at the 2018 West Bund Art & Design fair.

Despite Rossi & Rossi’s success over the years, Fabio remains mindful of how wired life is affecting the art world: many people no longer feel the need to visit galleries to discover new artists and works. Younger generations may even feel intimidated going to a fine art gallery in person. Fabio admits that running a gallery is more challenging than before, but he believes there’s no replacement for viewing art in person. In fact, in his view, art galleries are more important than ever for facilitating such physical encounters. “There’s nothing like the physicality of a work,” he stresses. “Even if it’s a painting or a photograph. When you’re face to face in front of an artist’s work, your reaction will be different.”

Rossi & Rossi has undergone many changes since it first opened its doors. But throughout it all, the gallery has held fast to one core tenet: art should be approachable and accessible to all.

“Some people look at art and see it only as a commodity,” Fabio says. “I implore people to not do that. Commodities are something else entirely. Art is a journey of discovery. That kind of journey is priceless. It’s way more valuable than the actual price someone might pay for a piece of artwork. In the end, our gallery comes from a desire to share knowledge, and we approach that mission with the utmost integrity and sincerity.”

Website: www.rossirossi.com
Facebook: ~/rossiandrossi
Instagram: @rossiandrossi

Contributor: David Yen
Additional Images Courtesy of Rossi & Rossi