For more than a decade, Marlon White, known to many in the D.C. metropolitan area as Marly, has garnered a reputation as a curator of the ideal D.C. nightlife experience through parties that attract millennials and Gen-Xers of various professional backgrounds.
These days, however, White is expanding his cache in the art collection world, telling The Informer that the transition allows him to break ground in an industry with so few Black men. The best part of the experience, White said, is preserving, not selling, the works of up-and-coming Black artists and developing long-lasting relationships with them.
“It’s not about investment, but legacy,” White said.
“We’re supporting emerging artists when they’re getting started,” he continued. “I watch their passion and see how often they put out their work and promote other artists’ work. Are they active in their careers? It’s more about seeing how those artists are respected by their peers and older collectors.”
White, founder of A1 Events, entered the art collector industry under the tutelage of art collector and fashion entrepreneur Gambriel Wills in 2021. Along the way, he developed a respect for what he describes as abstract and figurative work centered on the Black experience.
Since linking up, White and Wills have attended art shows across the U.S. and other parts of the world. In those spaces they are often the only Black male art curators, a reality that White said further compels him to collect and preserve specific artwork.
White’s strategy, as he described to The Informer, involves connecting with emerging artists and engaging in conversation that leads to the purchase of art, and ultimately a long-lasting relationship.He said this rapport-building exercise helps him overcome attempts by galleries to hoard Black art.
Currently, White’s collection currently includes work from conceptual artist Emmanuel Massillon, Guyanese-Haitian artist Ryan Cosbert, Prince George’s County’s own Lex Marie, and Demetrius Wilson.
Wills commended White for his tenacity, telling The Informer that White has taken great passion in art collecting like he has in his previous endeavors in D.C. nightlife.
Eight years ago, Wills entered the art collection realm at the behest of his business partner, Demetrius Butler. Over time, as they collected art and hosted shows, Wills and Butler, owners of League Of Their Own (OTO), amassed a significant social media following.
Shows of note that League OTO hosted include League Homes, a New York City-based collections exhibit in 2020 that featured archival work by KAWS, Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama, and George Condo, along with other contemporary artists. League OTO has since hosted exhibits in Los Angeles, Miami, and other U.S. Cities.
Locally, Wills, a native Washingtonian, and Butler also consult curators at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on up-and-coming artists of color they should put on their radar. As Wills explained to The Informer, that particular opportunity allowed him to “bring Black culture to a stuffy, white world.”
He said he sees his protege White making similar waves.
“Marlon’s been a steward of the arts for D.C. people,” Wills said.
“A lot of people with our background don’t think that art collection is something that we do,” he continued. “It’s only us two Black guys in the room. He’s been like a great melting pot for the world of arts commerce. People want to see what he’s about [because] he’s on the right path.”
Lex Marie, a multidisciplinary artist who’s known White since high school, told The Informer that White supports Black artists from the D.C. area and shows a genuine interest in highlighting the themes in their work.
Over the past decade, Lex Marie has given voice to Black children through her work. Early on in his professional pivot, White purchased Lex Marie’s painting titled, “Green Box.” The piece, which features her son sitting on a green box, gives an ode to what young Black suburbanites of the 1990s and 2000s knew as a prominent neighborhood meeting place.
As White continues to make a name for himself as an art collector, Lex Marie predicts that he’ll carve out his niche, and ultimately his legacy, as a preserver of meaningful Black art.
“I think Marlon will have one of the best collections in the area because of that eye,” Lex Marie said.
“It seems he has a commitment to supporting artists,” she continued. “Black art is important to preserve our history. Black collectors support Black artists early on and continue to support them. People who see yourself in their arts take care of your art and make you feel good.”
