Artist Jago Once Turned Down $22 Million for One of His Sculptures—He’d Rather Be in Business With You
The artist Jago may work in one of the more traditional mediums, but his conception of art is extraordinarily modern.
The sculptor, who works primarily with marble, discussed his process and the way he thinks of himself as an artist—or more accurately, doesn’t think of himself that way—during a discussion at Robb Report’s House of Robb during Miami Art Week on Wednesday. Rather than defining himself as an artist, which he finds can be too vague of a term, Jago calls himself an entrepreneur—maybe the most creative job of all, according to him.
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“Artist is a weird word in my small town. When people say, ‘Oh, that guy is an artist,’ they mean ‘That guy has no idea what he wants to do in life,’” he said to laughs from the audience. “I had to prove. . .that my predisposition, my natural ability, my vision, was something that could produce a benefit for a family, for my environment, to survive in this life.”
As an entrepreneur, Jago is changing how the art industry works, at least for himself. Instead of selling pieces to collectors—he once turned down a $22 million offer for one of his statues—Jago gives people the chance to be co-owners of his work. He may retain about half of a given artwork, for example, while investors can pay to own the other shares, either directly or on the secondary market. This allows them to be partners, rather than simply buyers.
“Basically, you have to ask yourself why you need to have something at home or invest your money to something,” he said. “The people who participate in my journey is the kind of person who don’t think in terms of ROI … [They] think in terms of generation. Because art is what we are doing for the future. We are building something for the future.”
And Jago is setting down some of those building blocks quite literally, too. Many artists dream of one day having a museum dedicated solely to their art; at the age of 37, Jago has already made that a reality. He built his own museum in Naples, where he’s from, and in less than two years 200,000 visitors have already walked through its doors.
“A museum is an incredible experiment,” Jago said. “It’s not just a refrigerator where you can put something there forever. In a museum, you can try to save your idea of beauty. That’s the duty of the museum. . .In the contemporary era, everything has to be impermanent. I want to do something forever.”
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