Bad things galleries do to art collectors...

Our area, like most major metropolitan areas, is peppered with stores that have the word "gallery" in their business name, but are very much far removed from what one would consider a true art gallery.

You will always find them in high traffic areas; main thoroughfare streets where "real" galleries could never afford the rent. You also often find them in malls.

I am speaking of the places that sell mass produced decorative works, either by Kinkade wannabes, Spanish-surnamed painters and worse still, the following scam:

Some of Picasso's children inherited many of the plates used by Picasso to create his etchings. Since them, some of those plates have been printed ad nauseum by the current owners and are sold around the world as Picasso prints.

And then, to make matters worse, some of the plates are signed "Picasso" by his offspring owner, who is (of course) technically also surnamed Picasso.

The sales pitch, which is not technically illegal, but certainly unethical, goes something like this:

"This is a real Picasso etching, printed from the original plate and it is signed."

Note that they never state who signed the print.

Hapless buyer purchases the print for a pretty good chunk of change, takes it home and brags to his friends about his signed Picasso.

This will be a hell of a mess for the Antiques Road Show experts to detangle in a couple of hundred years.

And don't even get me started on the great Dali art fraud.

The Washington Post's online site has created a pretty good web portal to access the writing and video reports of Blake Gopnik, its eloquent and opinionated Chief Art Critic. The portal is here.

Why does the Post force Gopnik to use "Washington Post Staff Writer" in his byline? Why not Chief Art Critic, since that is his title?

In fact, it seems all Post writers use/have to use the same "Washington Post Staff Writer" byline description. Bet'cha it's some sort of union thing.

Boring...

The Elizabeth Roberts Gallery hosts three photographers through July 17: David Smith, Dan Schwartz and Colin Montgomery. The exhibition of these three different photographers really works together, as they all seem to be interested in color and form, principally Schwartz, who photographs Washington scenes and then manipulates them in the computer.

Montgomery, who is originally from the DC area but lives in New York and will soon attend Yale to get his MFA, focuses on several new planned communities in Hong Kong. These vast centers are enormous megalopolises designed to absorb the city’s vast population. Their size and the brutal Chinese variation of Corbusian high modernism, combined with Montgomery’s keen eye and elegant composition, combine to deliver strangely attractive photographs, which somehow cease to be about buildings and people, and move onto the realm of color and form.

David Smith uses a small portable camera to take spontaneous images of New York City public spaces, where he lives. In this sense, Smith joins the ranks of artists who have been described as “urban realists.” However, Smith does differ from the “typical” urban realists’ emphasis on delivering a modern Ashcan view of New York, with information-filled images, by doing exactly the opposite!

He focuses on blank brick walls, windowless buildings, reflective surfaces and patterns of color and texture that Gotham offers to his perceptive eyes in countless variations. In doing so, this urban realist has pushed the definition of that genre, by bringing to our attention objects of seeming inconsequence in a way that makes them into strange surfaces of beauty and color.

Bad things artists do to galleries...

This just happened to a Washington, DC gallery:

A person who has a very good professional career is also an artist and approached a local gallery asking to be considered for a show. The gallery owner liked the work and offered the artist a show.

That gallery then sent the artist a contract.

Nearly a year later, a few days before the opening - once all the invitations and publicity have been done - the artist sends the gallery an email stating that the artist thinks that the gallery's 50% commission is outrageous and unethical (the standard commission by DC area commercial fine arts venues is 50% by the way - a few non profits are 40% and by the way, some NYC galleries are as high as 70%).

The gallery is also somewhat at fault here, as they should been in better commmunication with the artist and ensured that the contract was well understood and signed and agreed upon before the last minute.

The day of the opening night, the artist shows up with the work, including several pieces that are not for sale. The gallery informs the artist that in order to pay the rent, the gallery must sell work. A verbal fight follows, and finally an agreement of sorts is agreed upon - but never actually written down. On opening night, some work is sold.

The next day the artist shows up complaining that her work has been sold.

The exasperated gallery owner cuts the artist a check for the 50% commission and asks that the artist remove all their work from the gallery and never approach them again.

The artist takes the check and leaves - probably thinking evil thoughts about the gallery. The gallery is now faced with an empty gallery.

A true story...

Sigh...

The current issue of the Washington City Paper has some really spectacular photographs by one of Washington's best photographers mascarading as a photojournalist: Pilar Vergara.

And still on the same line of thoughts... there's a great photo by someone named Jae Hyun Seok on the front page of the New York Times as part of this article.

The photo shows South Korean troops dismantling a wall of loudspeakers that had been used to broadcast propoganda across the DMZ to North Korea and their mad, Elvis-hairdo'ed leader. The photo brought to mind a striking - antithesis and in-reverse sort of version of the famous Joe Rosenthal photo later immortalized in the USMC War Memorial, which is by the way, one of my favorite memorials in our area.

J.T. Kirkland writes a really good piece about Sally Mann's beautiful show at the Corcoran in Thinking About Art. It is passionate and explosive writing and a refreshing approach to discussing an art show. And if you haven't seen Mann's show - do not miss it!

Call for Artists...

DCAC has a call for artists. The D.C. Arts Center, founded in 1989, is a nonprofit arts space dedicated to promoting the freshest most under-recognized artists in the Washington metropolitan area.

Please send 8-10 slides or a CD of images, along with a resume, artist statement, and a stamped return envelope (for slide return) to:

Karey Kesser, gallery manager
D.C. Arts Center
2438 18th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009

A Visual Arts Commitee made up of selected curators, the gallery manager, and the director of DCAC will work together to review the slides.

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DCAC 13th Annual 1460 Wall Mountables Show
July 16-August 22
Opening Reception: July 16, 7:00pm

1460 Wall Mountables is one of my favorite open art shows in the Washington area and a chance for anyone to exhibit in one of Washington's most respected non profit art spaces!

How does it work? Purchase a 2-foot by 2-foot area in the DCAC gallery and make the best use of it possible by hanging your work, wall sculpture, etc.

The details: Works can be hung on July 14th and 15th from 3:00 to 8:00 and July 16th from 3:00 to 6:00. There are no reservations and spaces are granted on a first come, first serve basis. Anyone who becomes a member will receive three free spaces and up to two more for $5 each.

Current or renewing members receive one free space and up to four more at $5 each. Non-member price is $10 per square, with a maximum of five squares per artists.

Artists must bring all necessary supplies to mount work on wall (i.e. hammers, picture hangers, ect.) Collectors will be on hand to purchase works that are available for sale, and a $100 cash prize will be granted for "Best Use of Space".

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Also...

The Bedrock Bar Seeking Artwork

The Bedrock Bar is a new alternative art space located in the center of DC's pulsating Adam's Morgan neighborhood. In addition to billiards and bar, Bedrock has an exhibit space and is looking for new art to display. If interested, please contact DCAC.