Anthony Gallery founder Easy Otabor on his cross-genre approach to collecting artwork

For Easy Otabor, acquiring an artwork is often an extension of an existing relationship. Entering his flat in Chicago’s Fulton Market district, Monocle is greeted by the works of artists and designers with whom the gallerist and collector has collaborated or built friendships over the years. Near his dining table, for example, is a delicate painting with rough-hewn edges by Chicagoan Dabin Ahn, nestled between a Tom Sachs stereo and a text-based piece by Nigerian artist Toyin Ojih Odutola.

“That’s usually how I think of my collection,” he says. “Are these by good people? Would I enjoy having dinner or working with them?” A piece might remind Otabor of his early support of a now-lauded artist or a pivotal moment in a friend’s career.

Otabor’s eclectic sensibilities are as evident in his collecting as they are in his own work, which spans fashion, music, design and art. He studied business at university and later fashion merchandising but it was working as a buyer under US designer Virgil Abloh and streetwear pioneer Don C that launched his career. In 2019, Otabor returned to his hometown of Chicago from Los Angeles and founded Anthony Gallery, where he pairs artists who typically wouldn’t show together, such as Andrew J Park and Sydnie Jimenez, or Barbara Kruger and Tony Matelli. “Building bridges” is how Otabor describes his curation; his approach is defined by a diversity of mediums, styles and subject matter. “I don’t want to be boxed in,” he adds.

Otabor doesn’t distinguish between art and design, and collecting is something that he has always done (he parted with a big trainer collection before shifting to art). A focal point of his living space is a custom Ensemble Dune Modular Sofa by Paulin Paulin Paulin that blankets the room in a roiling sea of royal purple. Every 18 months or so, he shuffles the pieces. “I love conversation starters,” he says. One of the joys of collecting, he finds, is discovering new ways of seeing objects through the eyes of friends.

Anthony Gallery, which has outposts in Chicago and Amsterdam, will soon expand to Tokyo. Otabor’s personal collection, meanwhile, will undoubtedly reflect his growing reach. He lives by the oft-repeated mantra that you should only buy what you love and adds, “How does it make you feel to wake up to? No matter where I am or what home it goes into, it has to be something that makes me feel good.”