The Auction Innovator: Shlomi Rabi
Instead of reconstructing previous models, we now have an opportunity to weave giving back and supporting social-impact initiatives with every move we make.
5 QUESTIONS WITH Shlomi Rabi
Founder, Greenhouse Auctions
Brooklyn, New York
Shlomi Rabi is a twenty-year veteran of the auction world. As an immigrant from the Middle East raised in Central America, Shlomi’s passion for the arts is informed by his desire to champion and empower creatives whose vision and voices are too often marginalized.
Most recently he held the position of Vice President, Head of the Photographs Department at Christie’s, and prior, Head of Sale at Phillips, New York. During his tenure in the auction industry, Shlomi closely worked on multiple institutional collaborations, which included the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Aperture Foundation, and Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Among his achievements is an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Alternate Media for his writing for NBC5 Chicago Street Team, shared with his team in 2008. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
1. Greenhouse Auctions represents an evolution of the auction model. What is the required imperative change that led you to develop the platform?
It was a very specific change in circumstances: Due to the economic fallout from Covid-19 I lost a pending job offer the day before I was scheduled to start. I took a minute (and some wine) to catch my breath. So many people had already been furloughed, and so many businesses were shuttering. There was a sentiment that something grave was happening. I looked around me and knew that so many others in the art world were faring much worse than I was. It then became very clear to me that I wanted to build a platform that was going to service others in the art world, particularly the most vulnerable: artists, non-profits and small-to-midsize galleries.
By that point, I’d been in the auction industry for over twenty years, I’d worked for small mom-and-pops auction houses, international corporations, and everything in between. The auction industry had always made sense to me, and I have always loved so many of the structural benefits. But I also knew that it was ripe for change. The existing models are antiquated: siloed departments, massive overhead, over-emphasis on winning consignments instead of keeping buyers, minimal digital improvements. Moreover, the rampant speculation in the emerging art space was staggering. When designing Greenhouse, it was important to retain some of the sturdier aspects of the auction structure, but do away with the impediments, and start off digitally instead of having to reverse-engineer.
I recognized a need in the market to build a digital platform that empowered the primary market and enticed collectors to participate in that empowerment by supporting artists and a social impact initiative in one go. That’s why the business is named Greenhouse: it’s about nurturing, longevity, community and safety.
2. A goal of Greenhouse is to “connect buyers and sellers, provide a welcoming platform for new collectors, and empower underrepresented members of society.” We see in research findings that rising generations want to be involved with entities that champion community, justice, diversity, and equity. How are your programs resonating with emerging patrons and artists alike?
What a wonderful and promising finding. We’re living in an era of hyper social consciousness. For the last few years, we’ve been witnessing an incredible convergence of multiple forces that have led to this moment, whereby it is no longer acceptable to be a for-profit business without thinking about the community at large and asking yourself how you can leverage your position in contributing to that change.
In developing our program, we knew that to be another digital platform selling art would be as unexciting as it would be selfish. Art, in and of itself, has the power to heal, challenge, disclose, dismantle, disrupt, dispel and do so many other wonderful things. Auction houses have been too focused on the art itself as the endpoint—and there is nothing wrong with that. However, at Greenhouse we want buyers and sellers alike to know that with each and every single sale they are contributing to a scholarship fund meant to empower others. Our mission is to connect the act of buying art with social justice, encouraging diversity, and promoting equity and inclusivity.
The artists whom we work with are incredible as humans and creatives, and all of them cited the collaboration with the TMCF as one of their driving factor. Artists are, arguably, the most sensitive and giving members of our society, and they want to use their art not only to spread a message, but also benefit others whom they want to see represented in the art ecosystem. In that regard, artists and emerging patrons alike are operating with the same mindset: how can we add another social justice dimension to what we already do and love so that everyone wins.
3. Arts Funders Forum (AFF) research shows that the cultural sector has been experiencing a crisis of relevance. To solve this, we believe that the sector must update our narratives to show how the arts contribute to solving our significant global challenges. What stories should we be telling to best accomplish this?
First of all, we need to remember that art does not exist in a vacuum. Behind every work of art that you see is an entire constellation of industries and individuals who’ve come together to make it happen. By buying a single work of art, you support a huge variety of trades that rely on the public’s continued passion for art to survive.
Secondly, art is not just another commercial industry but a conduit to tell the most relevant and poignant stories of our day. Artists, by nature, push their own boundaries, and by extension, society’s. Some of the most important socio-cultural and economic movements started largely in thanks to the art movements that defined them visually. Child Labor laws were enacted after Lewis Hine documented the living conditions of children laborers with his photographs; the performance art of pioneers like Carolee Schneeman and Ana Mendieta gave the Feminist movement a body—literally and figuratively—to revisualize itself; Chris Ofili’s use of elephant dung in his Madonna painting brought into high relief the painfully Eurocentric lens with which art is often judged; the AIDS Memorial quilt continues to be one of the most searing works of art to capture the magnitude of the health crisis. The list goes on and on. Art is what allows us to see ourselves, it’s a mirror, so it moves the conversation forward. And because it’s a vessel, it has the power to help us understand the global challenges facing us today with honest brutality.
4. Tell me about your partnership with Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF).
When I was studying art history in college back in the 90s, I remember realizing that the curriculum was heavily Euro-centric. I didn’t see any of my heritage reflected, and worse, I didn’t see the history of the city I was living in, New Orleans, reflected in any of the art history courses. So half-way through my studies I turned all of my elective credits to independent studies so I could learn more on art and performance in the African Diaspora. My first job in the art world was an intern at The Met, working in Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. I’ve been having a conversation with the art world about expanding the cannon—and by extension, expanding the art ecosystem—for over twenty years.
When I designed Greenhouse, I knew I wanted it to continue the conversation I’d started back in the 90s about having a much more diverse art world. For that reason, it was important for me that we incentivize college kids of color to enter the art world, rewrite the cannon, and leave their mark in the art world. There have been lots of wonderful initiatives to support artists of color over the past few years, which is great and long overdue, but we need to see diversity across the entirety of the art ecosystem, so that we have more people of color as curators, gallery directors, auction house specialists, critics, and beyond.
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund has given over $300M in scholarships to students in their 47-member HBCU’s since 1987. They were the perfect partner for Greenhouse, especially when we learned that they did not have any scholarships specifically geared towards art history students. Partnering with them will not solve the problem of inequity in the art world, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction that we are honored to take with them.
5. How do you most want to see the cultural philanthropy sector integrate the many events and lessons of the past year?
At its core, this past year has made us aware of our fragility as human beings, as well as our interconnectivity. So much was lost. Some of us lost our jobs, sense of smell, the ability to travel, the comfort of a hug, attending live events. Fair to say that we won’t be taking anything for granted moving forward.
But here is an opportunity to rebuild in a much more connected, and socially-conscious way. Instead of going to reconstruct previous models, we now have an opportunity to weave giving back and supporting social-impact initiatives with every move we make.
Personally, I would most want to see the cultural philanthropy sector integrate social justice initiatives. Patronizing artists means empowering entire communities; supporting museums means granting access to a wider swath of the population; assisting non-profits means providing longevity to progressive initiatives; giving to cultural venues means advocating diversity; sponsoring a creative mind is a vote for independent thinking.
Now, more than ever, we need to come together and realize that supporting the arts goes far beyond collecting art. It’s an entire macrocosm with roots in advocacy, storytelling, and doing our part to build a stronger ground for all of us to stand on.
Shlomi Rabi is a twenty-year veteran of the auction world. As an immigrant from the Middle East raised in Central America, Shlomi’s passion for the arts is informed by his desire to champion and empower creatives whose vision and voices are too often marginalized.
Most recently he held the position of Vice President, Head of the Photographs Department at Christie’s, and prior, Head of Sale at Phillips, New York. During his tenure in the auction industry, Shlomi closely worked on multiple institutional collaborations, which included the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Aperture Foundation, and Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Among his achievements is an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Alternate Media for his writing for NBC5 Chicago Street Team, shared with his team in 2008. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.