Pamela Hornik<\/a> is well known to the Argos & Artemis community for her selfies with her dog Teddy, her prolific use of Instagram, and her collection of contemporary dog art from some of the art world\u2019s brightest stars. She and her husband, the venture capitalist David Hornik, are Palo Alto and New York-based collectors and philanthropists known for helping cultivate and define the Bay Area\u2019s tight-knit art community. Fun fact: They discovered textile artist and Argos & Artemis dog parent LJ Roberts<\/a> through our platform, and began collaborating on shows at Pioneer Works and the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University together. (They\u2019re now super good friends\u2014dogs included.) Pamela is on the director\u2019s advisory board at the Cantor Arts Center, and serves as on the board at Anderson Collection at Stanford University, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the ICA SF. In May 2023, she showcased a selection of her dog collection at her first-ever show, Some Dogs<\/em><\/a>, curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio<\/a>, at San Francisco\u2019s Four One Nine studio and gallery.<\/strong><\/p>\n How did you start working with the curator, PJ Gubatina Policarpio, for this show?<\/i><\/p>\n If my memory serves me correctly\u2014and as a 55 year old woman, sometimes I say to myself, I\u2019m not sure if I remember everything correctly\u2014first of all, PJ is involved in the San Francisco art world, which is so small. I met PJ through Instagram, just as you and I connected through Instagram and LJ [Roberts]<\/a> through Instagram. I think that PJ\u2019s Instagram caught my eye. PJ has a fabulous design eye. I can\u2019t remember if it was Instagram or in person first, but it may have been Instagram that\u2019s solidified my relationship and friendship with PJ. I mean, PJ is much younger than me. I don\u2019t know his age, but I think he\u2019s definitely closer to my kids\u2019 ages. But what caught my eye was his eye, and I could see through his Instagram that we had a shared sense of style when it comes to both fashion. We both are huge fan of Issey Miyake and Pleats Please pants. Through his Instagram, I would always see what was going on in San Francisco. PJ also used to work in New York. He turns out he worked at the Brooklyn Museum and everyone at the Museum loved him.<\/p>\n \u201cOur dogs don\u2019t live forever, which is always the sad thing to think about, and I wanted Teddy to live on forever, and he can live forever in these portraits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Is he a dog person?<\/i><\/p>\n Yes, he is a dog person as well, but more importantly, he saw a lot of art. My Instagram is curated for me to see the most art. I follow a lot of people, but I follow people who see a lot of art. He\u2019s now an associate director at Micki Meng<\/a>, a fabulous gallery here in San Francisco.<\/p>\n I wanted someone to tell the story of this being about more than some crazy old dog lady. I needed someone who could tell the story of my collection.<\/p>\n PJ puts up with me. He\u2019s a very gentle soul. I have a lot of anxieties, and I\u2019m a little bit neurotic, and I\u2019m every now and then a little bit of a crazy dog lady, and I would just wanted to make sure that if I was working with someone, that they would be someone I would enjoy working with.<\/p>\n Even the space that we rented. It belongs to a woman named Sonya Yu, who is an art collector and an SFMOMA trustee, Everything about this show has to do with the San Francisco art world.<\/p>\n Why San Francisco over New York, because I know you split your time between these two cities?<\/i><\/p>\n I am not part of the New York art world. I mean honestly, I\u2019m just not. I\u2019m part of the San Francisco art world. I sit on a few boards of museums here. It\u2019s a much smaller scene. I\u2019m a nobody in the New York art scene and you can quote me on that.<\/p>\n You\u2019re very quotable. I love the portraits that you\u2019ve commissioned of yourself and Teddy. How do you decide which artists to commission? Do you think of them as self-portraits?<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019m sort of done with that. That was a phase I went through. The narcissistic phase. I actually never say I\u2019m done with anything, because what if an opportunity presents itself with a fabulous artist?<\/p>\n I wanted portraits of Teddy. Our dogs don\u2019t live forever, which is always the sad thing to think about, and I wanted Teddy to live on forever, and he can live forever in these portraits.<\/p>\n One of the first portraits of Teddy which is actually not in the show. It\u2019s a giant piece by Josephine Taylor-Tobin. For the show, one of the pieces in show is an Ania Hobson<\/a>, and she was the winner of the Young Artist Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London. I don\u2019t know what sparks it. I just think it would be great to have a fabulous artist do a portrait of Teddy, and oh, I guess have me in the portrait, too. I take so many selfies with my dog. A little part of me is embarrassed. There are a few in the show, but I was very mindful not to have the show be a Pamela and Teddy show.<\/p>\n It\u2019s great! You\u2019re supporting artists and getting beautiful immortalized portraits of Teddy.<\/i><\/p>\n Teddy is 10 years old now. God willing, he\u2019s a small dog, and he will live a long life, but unfortunately, dogs don\u2019t live as long as we do. It\u2019s like the Queen and her Corgis, right? I come from a long line of peasants and originally, people like the Medicis did portraits with their dogs. Now, you can have anyone who\u2019s willing to pay.<\/p>\n Speaking of artist patrons, you met LJ Roberts<\/a> through discovery on Argos & Artemis. Tell us about your friendship and working relationship.<\/i><\/p>\n LJ has two works in the show. We\u2019re definitely really good friends. We just acquired another one of their works for the Brooklyn Museum. Their work just spoke to me. It felt so personal. I\u2019m not someone who is buying for investment. I\u2019m not looking at art that I\u2019m going to turn around and sell for a profit. I\u2019m not necessarily an intellectual buyer. I usually buy impulsively. When I was on the Argos & Artemis site, I was scrolling and I stopped. I looked at their work and I went, what is this? Who is this artist? I want to know more about them. And that\u2019s how their work spoke to me. We went on to collaborate on a book and the Pioneer Works show. We then brought their show to the Cantor Arts Center [at Stanford University]. We DM all the time!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk about some of the pieces in your collection that are in the show. Suchitra Mattai\u2019s, \u201cA Magical Garden\u201d (2023). It\u2019s so beautiful. What spoke to you about that one?<\/i><\/p>\n You should look up her work. She painted and embroidered on found objects. I actually have two of her pieces but one is in the show. Most of her work are giant fabric-y textile pieces, so my work is not typical of her work. She\u2019s a fabulous woman and a mother and an incredibly talented artist who is currently having quite a moment in the art world.<\/p>\n Do you know the story of that dog in the portrait?<\/i><\/p>\n No, it\u2019s a found object.<\/p>\n Gotcha. Well, let\u2019s talk about someone that we do know which is \u201cMr Enninful and Ru\u201d by Georgina Gratrix<\/a> (2020).<\/i><\/p>\n So fabulous. And you know, Edward just got a new dog!<\/p>\n Congrats to Ru! How exciting. First of all, Georgina is one of one of my favorite artists for a variety of reasons. Georgina is an animal advocate. I don\u2019t know if I should call her that, but I\u2019ll go ahead and say she\u2019s an advocate for animals. She lives in South Africa. I believe she was born in Mexico City but lives in South Africa and is always posting about her dogs in her studio with her beautiful dogs. I met her in person in 2020 at the Armory Show. I have a painting of her childhood dog that hung in our living room for a long time. It kept me company through the pandemic. We then hung the painting low to the ground, as a joke, so that Teddy could see it.<\/p>\n\n
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