Wednesday, April 23, 2008

When artists and gallerists part

An overheated art market sets all kinds of things in motion. Big galleries with money to burn and multiple spaces to fill start circling smaller galleries, eyeing their most successful artists like the underdeveloped properties they sometimes are. Artists get itchy and think about moving up the gallery food chain. And boom or bust, even the friendliest, most mutually beneficial artist-dealer relationships can prove finite. They are outgrown or become stale. Suddenly, it’s time to move on.
Read this oh-so-true article by Roberta Smith in the NYT
here.

Artists' Website: Mike Schaffer

Condoleezza Rice by Mike Shaffer


Condoleezza Rice by Mike Shaffer

Mike Shaffer "assaults the famous and the unknown from the DC environs, their identities obscured, abstractified, warped and altered. Maybe you'll recognize them. Maybe you won't." Visit his blogwebsite here.

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow

M. Andrés Svensson, the Chilean Cultural attache brings to my attention the opening of the show by Chilean painter Gustavo Schmidt at the Embassy of Chile in DC. The show opens on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30PM and will include some good Chilean wines and food as part of the opening. The exhibition runs through May 20, 2008.

Ancestral Rites by Gustavo Schmidt


Ancestral Rites by Gustavo Schmidt. 2006, Oil on linen, 65 x 55 in.

You must RSVP to 202/530-4118 or email RSVP to cultural@embassyofchile.org.

2%

Which of the 300+ Chelsea galleries to visit?


Wanna go to a Richmond opening on Friday?

Flora, Fauna, Fabulous & Fun! opens in Richmond, Virginia's Chasen Gallery with an opening reception on April 25, 2008, 6-9PM. The show runs from April 25 - May 25th. Work by Carl and Jody Wright.

Wanna go to a National Harbor opening on Friday?

I haven't been to National Harbor yet, but it sounds and looks really cool.

A good reason to check out this emerging new location on the shores of the Potomac is that Art Whino has the opening for an exhibition featuring the art of Leah Sarah Bassett, and also introducing four new artists to the Art Whino Collaboration: Francesco D'Isa, Lisa Adams, Patrick Fatica and Nicolas Gracey

The opening reception is April 25th, 2008 from 6pm to Midnight at their new National Harbor location. 173 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD 20745. The event is free and open to the public.

DJ Stylo will be on the turntables and there will be special performances by I.R.E and LaVondra Shinholster. The exhibition will run through May 25th, 2008.

For directions visit www.nationalharbor.com/Directions.aspx. National Harbor is also accessible by water taxi. Please visit www.potomacriverboatco.com for more info.

Quilts save town

What Italy provides for people who love food is what Paducah does for quilting. A small Kentucky town on the Ohio River halfway between St. Louis and Nashville, Tenn., Paducah has become one of the prime destinations for quilt tourism, 21st-century style.

In late April every year, the American Quilter's Society draws 35,000 quilt makers and quilt lovers to Paducah for one of the biggest quilt shows in the country. The niche craft has been used as an economic engine to revive this once-declining town. The story of Paducah also helps demonstrate why quilting is now a $3.3 billion industry, with an estimated 27 million enthusiasts.
Story here; best quilters in the world?

Gee's Bend.