Like everything else in San Francisco, the world of art dealing is a bit more laid back here than in other major cities. Spark joins Lincart gallery owner Charles Linder, whose business model is based on providing a comfortable environment to view art and working with artists that he and his gallery employees like on a personal level. We follow Linder in a typical day, from Rebecca Miller’s art opening at Linc to the studio of Tucker Nichols.
An artist himself, Linder came to the Bay Area in 1987 to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. After receiving his MFA from University of California Berkeley, he started his first art gallery, refusalon, in his home, a converted garage South of Market. Eventually, he moved refusalon out of his home, then sold it in 1999. In 2000, Linder opened Lincart with business partner Holly Fouladi.
Linc has become a venue for contemporary fine art, design and lifestyle branding. What makes Linc unique is an informal environment combining elements of domesticity and informality in which visitors may view new artwork, art books and videos. In addition, Linder and Fouladi firmly believe that collecting art is a learned passion that reflects a collector’s enthusiasm for knowing the artists. “We make an investment of time and space. Then the artist, we hope or assume, will return the favor in terms of … giving us great work and effort,” says Linder. The gallery usually presents solo exhibits, but at least once a year, Linc curates a group show featuring new local and international work.
Relative to New York or Los Angeles, the San Francisco art scene tends to be seen as small and regional. Artists sometimes feel they need to move to bigger cities in order to get national and international recognition. Art galleries like Lincart, work against the sense of regional limitations by taking the work of Bay Area artists to European art capitals and by bringing the work of European artists to San Francisco.
