Artperk

A new website where artists can locate display opportunities and gallery openings was launched last week, www.artperk.com. Based in the metro DC area, but listing national opportunities, this site does a few things most other websites of this type do not. You have the ability to search for opportunities by media (nice for sculptors and photographers, sometimes not allowed in juried shows), by location (if you’re partial to show your work only near your home), and other search parameters.

Also, it allows you to save the items you have found in our searches and receive emails as reminders. The site is free for artists, galleries, and everyone else. Galleries can create listings for a fee if they’d like front page placement and a few other advantages.

The owners of the site have reported that they will be adding new features weekly, including new types of opportunities such as jobs and residencies for artists, and articles on business and marketing.

Visit them here.

Spring 2008 Shows at the American University Museum at the Katzen

Jack Rassmusen has lined another excellent set of offering at AU...

Personal Landscapes: Contemporary Art from Israel (Tuesday, April 1–Sunday, May 18) This exhibition, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, is a collaboration between the American University Museum, the Center for Israel Studies and the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation. The exhibit features works from fifteen emerging Israeli artists that reveal the physical, emotional and intellectual landscape of contemporary Israel.

Willem de Looper (Tuesday, April 1–Sunday, May 18): Born in 1932 in The Hague, Netherlands, Willem de Looper studied under Ben L. Summerford and Robert Gates at American University and was the long-time curator of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. This one-person show examines de Looper’s unique contributions to color field abstraction developed during the past fifty years.

American University Art Department: Student Exhibitions (Tuesday, April 1–Sunday, May 18) American University’s Department of Art showcases work by undergraduate (April 1–6), first year MFA (April 10–15) and MFA thesis students (April 19–May18). Painting, prints, sculptures, design and video installations will be included.

Photos from the Prague Quadrennial 2007 (Tuesday, April 1–Sunday, May 18): This selection of 35 photographs from the 11th International Exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture—Prague Quadrennial 2007— showcases the excitement and vibrancy of the festival that celebrated its 40th anniversary with a record-breaking number of 35,000 visitors from more than 70 countries.

William Christenberry: Site/Possession: Tuesday, Feb. 5–Sunday, May 11 (**note new closing date, originally scheduled to close March 22) Organized by the University of Virginia Art Museum, this exhibition features 50 of Christenberry’s rarely-exhibited drawings and the Klan Room Tableau, which includes over 200 works. According to Christenberry this body of work describes his “visceral reaction to this wholly and abhorrently American phenomenon, which, although officially excised from the public, still exists and arouses intense feelings in all areas of the country.”

Washington International Print Fair

Saturday and Sunday April 5 and 6, 2008, Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

At the Holiday Inn - Rosslyn Westpark Hotel, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington VA, 22209; Free Parking. Just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown. One block from the Rosslyn Metro stop.

Details here.

75%!

Halcyon Gallery, which opened its new 7,000 sq. ft gallery on Bruton Street last month, is suing one of its former artists, Sarah-Jane Szikora. As part of the dispute, it has emerged that Halcyon has taken up to 75% on Ms Szikora’s sales of original work.

Read the story here.

Most commercial galleries have a 50% commission, some cooperatives and non-profits have a 30-40% commission rate, but there are already some NYC galleries at the 75% commission level.

MFA at MICA

Friday, March 28– Sunday, April 6
Decker and Meyerhoff galleries, Fox Building
Reception: Friday, March 28, 5–7 pm
Gallery Talks: Wednesday, April 2, 1–4 pm

MFA I Featuring: Becky Alprin (Mount Royal), Beth Blinebury (photo), Lauren Boilini (Mount Royal), Ryan Browning (Mount Royal), Andrew Buckland (photo), Katie Cirasuolo (Rinehart), Anna DiCicco (photo), Meaghan Harrison (Mount Royal), HyunSoo Lim (graphic design), April Osmanof (graphic design), Becky Slemmons (Mount Royal), Mary Tait (Mount Royal), Yue Tuo (graphic design), and scrapworm (c. wrenn) (Mount Royal).

Fair Trouble

Not only are some art fairs both in the US and abroad (Germany and UK) cancelling - like artDC did for DC area - but another sign of fair troubles is the fact that many US art fairs have and are extending their deadlines for gallery applications.

That possibly means that not enough galleries are applying. And when the fair organizers actually call you to talk you into applying, that's certainly a bleak sign of harsh times ahead.

This is where the market decides who floats and who sinks. It will be interesting to see what Armory week looks like this weekend in NYC.

Cuban Art is Caliente!

From the Wall Street Journal:

With art from Asia and Russia in demand, some in the art world are betting on Cuba to be the next hot corner of the market. Prices for Cuban art are climbing at galleries and auction houses, and major museums are adding to their Cuban collections. In May, Sotheby's broke the auction record for a Cuban work when it sold Mario Carreño's modernist painting "Danza Afro-Cubana" for $2.6 million, triple its high estimate.

Now, with a new Cuban president in power and some hope emerging for looser travel and trade restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba, American collectors and art investors are moving quickly to tap into the market. Some are getting into Cuba by setting up humanitarian missions and scouting art while they're there. Others are ordering works from Cuba based on email images and having them shipped.

The collectors are taking advantage of a little-known exception to the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba: It is legal for Americans to buy Cuban art.

I will be curating two Cuban art shows this year: one in Norfolk opening next April 12 for Mayer Fine Art and another in Maryland later this year for H&F Fine Arts.

One thing to be careful about: there will be chaos when the Cuban dictators finally step aside, and I suspect that "government sanctioned artists" will not be at the top of their game - if anything, collecting dissident Cuban art is the key.

I've been telling all of you for years now: Buy Cuban art!