JAMES MARKEL
Curator and founder of Limbo Decor
Growing up in Newport Beach, at the top of Bison hill there were goats and sheep and of course bison. When I was a kid we would bike up and down those hills, around the back bay and to the sand and rocky beaches of the coast. There my inspiration was found. The color of the dark night ocean as sunset reflected from its ripples. The tide beaten rocky pools that textured timelessly in the sun and under the moon. The waving of native grasses and mosses the diverse coastline exposed me to. Of course the sky blue pinks and oranges, the fog, and even the salt in the air became divinity for the senses. I found I could barely focus inside, it all became quite a lesson in intrigue and leant insight into my capacity for learning. I realized stimulus came from all those beautiful colors and textures and smells, thus curating the experiences I had outside, inside.
My first job was raking horse stalls in San Juan Capistrano. While juggling water polo and swim team in high school, Id break away from home to visit almost every model home development from Irvine to Newport Coast as the boom of our little suburbia was in its prime. I loved seeing how homes were laid out, learned terms like loggia, and began to read floor-plans and understand the differences between shower and a fireplace icons. I’d find myself in class doodling floor models and paying more attention to where the power room would be located on that plan than the subject being taught in front of me.
In college I discovered estate sales and began collecting Mid-Century Modern art and lighting and furniture, a genre that hadn’t been reproduced or really brought to the mainstream market yet. A few years later I was having a garage sale and a woman told me I should start researching the rarity of these pieces and their pricing in the market. Thankful for her advice and the details I learned from research, this began my career as a decorate art dealer. Aside from realizing large antique businesses have thrives for thousands of years, I learned that space without character was just uncomfortable to me. Finding joy in a space meant filling it with intrigue, giving it the textures and colors and atmospheric experiences the outdoors offered me.
My journey hasn’t been a meer focus on all things inside, rather an introspection derived from that which comes from going out into the world, and bringing it back home. Collecting being so incredibly personal, that you may have to trust just a few specific people to do it for you. And that’s where I found my purpose.
At Limbo I decided not to pinhole myself into a specialist of era or genre, but rather present collections of anything my eyes saw beauty in. And thus the name Limbo fit, a place undefined, a middle ground, a place between two stage unclear what will happen next.
I’ve worked for and with dealers specializing from 16th Century and before, to 20th century and contemporary. From Coastal bungalow to city High Rise, my taste has been molded by the “good eyes” of generations before me, and for that I am incredibly grateful. In passing the baton into future generations, I now represent a handful of queer artists who show their contemporary works here in the Limbo gallery. The goal is to show the public what the future has to offer creatively by inviting customers into collecting works that will be around for generations to enjoy. Supporting artists who I identify with brings me purpose in a new light within my career and I am incredibly grateful for their trusting in me to show their works here locally.
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