Norfolk breasts cover-up hits mainstream media
The Virginian Pilot covers the whole "breast cover-up" at a Norfolk gallery. Read the story here and a second Pilot story is here.
Read the Portfolio Weekly story here.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Collector Horror Story
Protagonists: Single mother artist who has been making her living as an artist for the last 25 years while raising a child and a multimillionaire couple from the West Coast who have made millions as land lawyers.
At a well-known art fair, after haggling on the $2400 price, and because they claim to be collectors, the rich couple get a 10% discount from the artist and then the couple buys an original oil painting from the artist. They want the work shipped to Los Angeles, and the artist refers them to the professional shipper at the fair.
Then the multimillionaire couple complains about the shipping fee by the professional packers, and the artist offers to pack the work after the fair is over and ship it to them at a lesser cost. They agree (and save $100 in the process) and agree to have the artist charge the shipping fee to their credit card.
The artist packs the painting - which is an oil on board - by bubble wrapping it and boxing it and then she sends it via UPS to the couple in LA at a cost of $150.
The painting arrives at LA and then the artist receives a call from the wife, stating that there are some "scratches on the back of the painting" and "can she ship it back to the artist" so that the artist can fix them - remember that this is a painting on board, and the artist had painted the back of the painting a flat black to seal in the board... the back of the painting.
Even though this has zero effect on the visual integrity work, after the artist has the wife describe the damage, which the wife clearly describes as "scratches on the back," the wife also discusses making a claim against UPS for damage in shipment.
The artist asks if the box is damaged in the shipment and the wife says no, so the artist tells the wife that if the bix wasn't damaged, then the scratches could not have happened during the shipment process, and that it's probably some slight scratches from shipping the work back and forth to the fair and maybe even from hanging it, and that it doesn't affect the work, but that she will fix it anyway, by painting over the scratches on the back. She asks if there are any damages to the front and is told no.
So the couple ships the work back to the artist, using the artist's DHL account at a cost of $100 to the artist.
When the painting arrives, the artist is horrified to discover that a whole corner of the painting has been broken, and it is not in the box, a sure sign that the piece was broken before it was re-packed and sent back to the artist.
She calls the couple and the wife tells the artist that it was probably broken in transit and that the artist should make a claim against DHL. When the artist points out that the broken corner piece is not inside the box, the wife then changes the story and insists that the painting had originally arrived to them in the same condition when the artist shipped it from the fair.
The artist then reminds the wife that the wife had described initially the original damage as "scratches" on the back of the piece, and even reminds the wife that they had discussed the front of the painting and the wife had stated that there was no damage on the front.
Caught in the lie, the wife retracts her statements and says that she's "not an artist" and thus couldn't describe the damage. She also says that her interior decorator is now a witness that the painting had arrived broken.
The artist tells the wife that she has three witnesses that the painting had not been broken when bubble wrapped and boxed, and since the shipping box showed no exterior damage, and since significant force was needed to break the board (such as dropping it from a height or stepping on it), logic indicated that the damaged had occurred after the painting arrived at LA.
Wife ceases communicating and then later calls the artist and tells her that she's put a stop payment on the credit card charge.
What I think happened: The painting arrived, possibly with some minor scratches on the back of the board. The wife being the asshole that she proved to be, wanted them fixed. At one point when the artist (on the first conversation on the issue) asked what the big deal was if the scratches were on the back, and was told that when they had hung the painting on the wall, they could see the scratches -- the painting has a base that floats the board away from the wall -- indicating that they had hung an OK painting on the wall at least once. Then at some point the painting was dropped by the couple and the corner broke, or more likely, the laid it flat on the floor and then accidentally stepped on the floating corner and broke it -- it takes a lot of pressure to break this board.
Then, instead of being good people, they decided to screw a single mother artist out of $2100, plus $150 shipping to LA plus $100 shipping back to the artist.
Multifuckingmillionaires who this weekend will probably go to their place of worship and pretend to be good, decent people.
On behalf of all artists in the world: fuck you!
New Art Prize
The West Collection in Philadelphia, is in the process of launching a new prize called the West Prize which will award $125,000 to ten different artists internationally.
Further information on the prize can be viewed at www.westcollection.org.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
FotoWeek DC Call For Entries
Today, FotoWeek DC issued a call for entries to the first annual FotoWeek DC Photography Competition, as part of its mission to establish itself as the "nation’s premier photography festival."
The first annual FotoWeek DC celebration will take place between November 15 and November 22, 2008. In addition to the photography competition, FotoWeek DC will feature gallery openings, lectures, educational workshops, portfolio reviews, book signings, and special offers on photographic services and merchandise from local area retailers.
The FotoWeek DC Photography Competition is open to all professional, amateur and student photographers in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia and will feature over $37,000 in cash and prizes, including a $5,000 cash award for Spirit of Washington, DC, and will culminate in a gala awards ceremony and dinner to be held at National Geographic’s Headquarters in downtown DC on Saturday, November 22. National Geographic is one of the principal sponsors of FotoWeek DC.
The FotoWeek DC Photography Competition will recognize, highlight and honor the most talented professional, student and amateur photographers across the metro DC, Virginia and Maryland area, celebrating their achievements in the community of their peers through submissions of work in six categories. Competition finalists will have their work displayed at the FotoWeek DC Gallery and Welcome Center in Georgetown.
Prominent professionals in photography will serve as jurors, including uberphotographer Joyce Tenneson (with tons of DC area roots and one of the world's leading fine arts photographers), my good friend and the Corcoran Gallery of Art's photography curator Philip Brookman, Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice and many others.
For information on eligibility, entry fees, categories, entry requirements, prizes and deadlines, and the complete list of judges, please visit the FotoWeek DC website here.
This is a good thing; go forth and participate.
Campello Reviewed
No, not me, but my daughter Elise gets reviewed again in "Beauty and the Beast" - A quote:
Elise Campello plays Belle just as she should: as a strong-willed smartypants who happens to also be a stunner. Campello's rich voice is showcased in such tunes as "A Change in Me," which will produce goosebumps.Read the Herald review here.
She's going to New York soon... stand by for waves.
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