Fine Art And Curation At Chatham’s Gallery Antonia

CHATHAM – Domonic Boreffi has owned Gallery Antonia for 16 years, but he got his start in the hotel industry.

 “I did everything from hotel management to concierge,” he said. “A lot of those things have been well suited for the gallery business.”

 After years in that field, he was ready for a change, and he knew he wanted to do something in the arts. So he moved to San Francisco and began working with galleries and museums. Some galleries were located in the lobbies of Ritz Carlton hotels, and Boreffi took the skills he learned there back to the East Coast, where he landed on Cape Cod 22 years ago.

 “It’s an age-old story of working for somebody else, and then, you go on your own. It was time, and I was excited about it. It was just about finding the space,” he said.

 When the gallery opened in May 2010, it was located downtown, as opposed to its current location in the Cornfield Marketplace in West Chatham.

 “That was a great start,” Boreffi said of the downtown location. “But it was sort of not conducive to business, because I didn’t have parking for myself.”

 Eleven years ago, Boreffi settled in the gallery’s current space and has been curating fine art there ever since. His gallery features the work of a number of award-winning artists, one of whom he is currently featuring.

 Del-Bourree Bach is a hyperrealist painter originally from Connecticut whose work has been published and recognized by organizations around the country. His depictions of nature are so tactile they could be easily mistaken for photographs, said Boreffi. 

 The other work on display in the gallery features numerous styles. Artists like Ann Hart and Bill Lane use watercolors to create impressions of city streets, coastal towns and naturescapes.

 “Just from being around all these years, people contact you and sometimes you do connect with something,” Boreffi said. “Sometimes you’re not in the position to take on new artists, but you’ll see something that kind of fills a void. It’s something you can’t really articulate. But when you see it, it’s this visceral kind of thing and you just know.”

 Boreffi’s job is essentially to help stimulate that sort of feeling in clients, and he does so in numerous ways. Occasionally, he’ll partner with friends in real estate to have an art reception at a home that’s for sale. Simply bringing in artwork from the gallery can give a listing a lift and fill the space in ways it was lacking prior. Or Boreffi will act as an art consultant for his clients, assisting them in placing their artwork in their homes. 

“A lot of my job is just showing people the importance of original art in the home,” Boreffi said. 

And of course, the gallery hosts a number of shows each year.

 “We just had a show for Del Bach and the exciting thing, truly, was the new people that came,” he said. 

 The work of curating the gallery is similar to the work of the artists themselves in that it’s all about creation and progress.

 “You can’t be stagnant,” Boreffi said. “I’m always open to opportunities.”