Asterism at Gallery Four in B'more

Gallery Four's newly renovated 4,000 sq.ft. gallery in Baltimore will feature work by five artists from Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. The show will include site specific painting and recent sculpture by Maggie Michael, new sculpture and installation by Bryan Savitz, Jan Razauskas, Nikki Romanello, and photography by Steve Nyktas.

Opening Reception: November 8th, from 5 - 10 pm.

New DC gallery

Caos on F is a new artist owned, artist operated collective at 923 F St. NW in DC launched last September as part of F St|arts, the suite of art studio spaces in the newly developed Carroll Square building.

On exhibit at Caos on F for its inaugural show will be the work of painters Michael Berman and Quint Marshall, ceramic artist Joe Hicks and furniture by Matthew Falls. The show continues until January 5 and is open to the public every Friday 2-8 pm and by special appointment.

Starting Friday November 7 and continuing every first Friday, Caos on F will host an open studio event featuring Fine Art, Fine Furniture and Fine Friends. Lively and provocative discussions are sure to abound and will feature wine and treats from our neighbors: gourmet cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery and delectible chocolates from CoCo Sala.

Frieze Report

"Two weeks ago, the Death Star that has hovered over the art world for the last two years finally fired its lasers. It was October 15, the day the stock market fell more than 700 points—again—and a month after Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch collapsed and Damien Hirst pawned off $200 million worth of crapola on clueless rubes at Sotheby’s. Against this backdrop, at 11 a.m., the gates of London’s Frieze Art Fair opened, and in streamed the international traveling circus of bigwigs, collectors, curators, advisers, museum directors, trustees, models, movie stars, and critics like moi.

Talk of financial doom filled the air. Karl Schweizer, UBS’s head of art banking, told one reporter, “We are in a liquidity crisis.” Money manager Randy Slifka added, “There is blood on the streets on Wall Street.” Collectors talked about “sewing up our pockets.” Yet much of the art world was playing on as if nothing had happened. A German dealer told Artforum.com, “This economic mess will all be over by January.” Christie’s Amy Cappellazzo spun her house’s recent sales: “If you bought something, you bought something real.” In truth, most of the speculators are buying something real bad or badly overpriced.

In fact, though, things were different. Those of us who have frequented Frieze could see that something was off. Dealers and assistants who in recent years were always busy with clients now stood or sat quietly. Sales were happening, but slowly, one at a time. The claim of “It’s sold” was replaced by “I have it on several holds.” Although the megagalleries like Gagosian and White Cube teemed with moneyed types and very tall women in very high heels, many younger dealers looked perplexed. A gallerist who entered the field in the go-go aughts and who had sold only two pieces by 5 p.m. that first day asked, 'What’s going on?'"

Read Saltz on Frieze here.