Andy Valmorbida

Andy Valmorbida is an international fine art businessman. He is president of Untitled-1 Holdings and founded River-Labs, a company associated with the generative art movement.

He became known as the "King of Pop Up" after organizing 45 pop-up art exhibitions in 12 different countries, where street art was predominantly featured. Artworks from notable artists such as Richard Hambleton, Futura, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Francis Bacon were exhibited in these shows.^[1]

Early life

Valmorbida was born in July 1978^[2] into one of the wealthiest families^[3] in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in New York City. His father was Paul Valmorbida, an Australian businessman and son of Carlo Valmorbida. He was educated in business studies and began his career at the Valmorbida family's investment firm based in New York.

Career

At the age of 25, Valmorbida transitioned from his initial involvement in Wall Street to street art.^[4] He met the artist Richard Hambleton in 2009, which led to a collaboration with Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld in 2011 to promote Hambleton's art. Giorgio Armani, an avid collector of Hambleton's work, sponsored several of the "pop up"^[5] celebrity attended art shows exhibiting the works.^[6]

Valmorbida acted as executive producer on the 2017 documentary Shadowman reflecting Hambleton's life and career.^[7]

In 2010 Valmorbida helped curate and assisted with the donation of two Hambleton pieces to the amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research 17th Annual Cinema Against AIDS Gala During the Cannes Film Festival. The pieces sold for $920,000.^[8]

Legal Issues

In September 2021, he was involved in a legal dispute regarding accusations of fraud and alleged efforts to conceal his tax residence, leading to his case being referred to Jersey's attorney general.^[9][10][11] Valmorbida admitted in court to creating and using fraudulent documents.^[11]

Personal life

In his earlier life he was a noted socialite, having made headlines in 2008 after his credit card was stolen by US oil heir Brandon Davis who had been cut off from his family fortune; as well as for partying with people including Paris Hilton.^[12][13]

Valmorbida has two children.^[14]