Artists in need of a career boost, never fear—Mark Flashen is here! Flashen, cofounder of the New York executive-coaching firm Contegra, doesn’t subscribe to the notion of a struggling artist. “You don’t have to struggle any more than anyone else,” he says. Lately the creative class has been knocking at his door, but evidently having a life coach isn’t something artists like to advertise. Flashen’s two highest-profile clients refuse to be named: One is back on the art world’s radar after having had a burst of attention in the 1990s, and the other is no stranger to splashy society pages. “The true, the beautiful, the good,” muses Flashen. “I want whatever my clients do to be an expression of those three things.” A sell-out show, however, would also be nice.

"Flashen Forward" originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's April 2008 Table of Contents.