Interview with Visionary Vince Aletti— Recipient of the 2024 AIPAD Award
Vince Aletti at home in New York; Credit Magnus Arrevad
Interview by Andrea Blanch
Curator, writer, and visionary, Vince Aletti has been a legend in the field of photography since the 1970s. This year, The Association of International Photography Art Dealers announced that Aletti is this year’s recipient of the annual AIPAD Award. Aletti's influential career includes serving as the art editor and photo critic for the Village Voice, contributing to esteemed publications like The New Yorker and Rolling Stone, and authoring several significant photography books such as The Drawer. Renowned for curating numerous exhibitions and writing extensively on the convergence of photography, fashion, and culture, Aletti's contributions have played a pivotal role in establishing photography as a recognized and respected art form. The AIPAD Award, reserved for visionaries dedicated to the promotion and comprehension of fine art photography throughout their lives, aptly recognizes Aletti's profound impact on the field.
Andrea Blanch: So tell me, how excited are you about this Association of International Photography Art Dealers Award (AIPAD)?
Vince Aletti: I’m really excited, I’m really glad and surprised that I got this award considering there are more important people who have gotten it before me.
AB: Why do you say that? You’re so humble! So what does it mean to you?
VA: As I said I’m really honored to be in this company with major curators and practically every museum. I’m very honored.
AB: Where do you go from here?
VA: A MacArthur Award! What’s next?
AB: What comes first for you when you’re curating a show, the idea? How do you get the idea for what you want to do when you’re curating a show?
VA: The work— that comes first. It’s finding work that’s worth working with. What’s more interesting to me is finding work with a variety of makers. It’s more challenging in that way. But I also enjoy working with one artist at a time and presenting a range of work to show that accomplishment over time. Generally, it’s not so much about the idea, but about the work I want to present. I want people to see what I’m seeing and appreciate it. I want to discover new things for myself, but also for other viewers.
AB: Can you tell us about your upcoming show at White Columns?
VA: It’s based on my book The Drawer, but not repeating that work, not copying The Drawer itself, but compiling a lot of ephemera together and arranging it on five different tabletops. I’m expanding on it with a lot of pictures I’ve saved over the years, but hopefully not repeating anything.
AB: Would you say you prefer the portrait over other forms of photography?
That’s a hard question, because I really enjoy looking at other people and communicating with people over the ages, people that I’m interested in spending time with. I’m interested in landscapes and abstraction, and still life, but I tend to live with portraits, only a few people that I know, but many more of people I would be happy to meet. They keep me company.
AB: One of the reasons why you segued from writing music reviews to photography was because you didn’t feel you were the authority you once were, and also that you couldn’t keep up with it (music). Do you ever feel that way about photography?
VA: That I can’t keep up with it? No. I trust myself to keep up with it completely. There’s nothing I can’t understand and write about. I can’t say I like everything, but it’s entirely different from the music situation. When I was writing about music, there were so many different levels of involvement that I realized I was losing touch with. There are all the different labels, producers, and mixers, aside from the makers and singers— all these background people who are very important. When I was writing about disco, I knew everybody. At least I had heard of everybody, and little by little I realized I didn’t know anything anymore. It had gotten so far beyond me that I looked at a chart and did not know who was on it. When I write I like to know who I'm talking about and not feel the need to go research something that I know everything about. With photography there is nothing I can’t write about.
AB: What do you think about AI?
VA: I don’t really have any feelings about AI. It worries me for the way it can trick people. There is so much out there that can trick people with photography already but AI is more convincing. I’m always convinced by it, but who cares? It can influence the next election cycle. People are so vulnerable to these kinds of things that they believe anything that they are shown or told. When something is truly convincing, how do you argue it’s not real?
AB: If AI wasn’t manipulating you in a negative way, could you look at the image for what it is?
VA: Yes, it’s another valuable tool. I’ve been repeatedly surprised by images that look really convincing until I read in the captions underneath that they are constructs.
AB: When we look at AIPAD, who should we be looking at?
VA: I think the best galleries will show things we haven’t seen before, and that’s what I’m always looking for.
AB: Does that happen often?
VA: Yes. It’s not every gallery, but most of them. They’re bringing things that are new. I’m happy to see some time-tested pictures, but most galleries show pieces that are new. They are a jumping-off point for new work.
AB: Are you happy that AIPAD is going back to the Armory?
VA: Yes, very much. I thought they made a very interesting job of making that Fifth Avenue space work for them. This certainly allows for more exhibitors in a more elegant space. I like the Park Avenue Armory.
AB: I’m feeling very positively about it all, going back to the Armory.
VA: I think being there will encourage dealers to up their game and bring things that haven’t been there before. I expect that to happen.
AB: What are you up to next? Are you accepting your award in New York?
VA: At the Armory, on April 25th.
AB: That’s very good news.
VA: I’m not thinking of much beyond that. I’m working on a lot of projects I’m not allowed to talk about and doing a lot of New Yorker writing.
AB: Congratulations, Mr. Aletti. See you at AIPAD.
