Miami International Art Fair video

Here's a quick walk-through the fair...

Airborne - Things I didn't know

I'm flying back home today and I was a little shocked when I checked into my flight back to DC from Ft Lauderdale; shocked because I discovered that American Airlines has a direct flight to Guantanamo, Cuba.

Not Gitmo the Naval Base, but Guantanamo, the Cuban city made famous by the song Guajira Guantanamera.

Who knew?

Miami International Art Fair (last day)

MIA ended with an unexpected bang today for Mayer Fine Art, as some rare "I'll be backs" actually came back and acquired some more work from Norfolk's hardest working independently owned commercial fine arts gallery.

As soon as the doors opened at noon, a well-known Cuban-American doctor arrived and purchased an older Tim Tate 2005 piece which was being sold on behalf of the original owner, who is now retired and living the good life in Pensacola Beach. This clearly shows that Tate's older work still holds its own a few years into its life.

Soon after that a Boston couple on their way to visit Cuba fell in love with Sandra Ramos' work and acquired one of her 1993 series classic aquatint etchings. It was shaping to be a day for older work back on the market.

The Argentine couple who earlier in the week had acquired the Sheila Giolitti painting returned today and purchased an Alexey Terenin oil which had been haunting them since their original visit

A couple of hours later, the culmination of three days of negotiations ended with the major sale of two very large Alexey Terenins - one well over seven feet tall and six feet across and the other just slightly smaller. They are both heading to Pompano Beach and possibly represents the largest one day business day for MFA... ever.

When closing time came, to my horror I discovered that it was pouring down rain outside. Now the horrific task of trying to load a van full of artwork in the rain while ensuring that the work is protected began.

It is difficult enough to handle and load work properly in the best of times; it is a nightmare in bad weather, and I can testify to the marvel of seeing gallerists wheeling $100,000 paintings out in the rain to their vans and trucks.

We didn't do that. And to avoid it, we had to wrap the work in plastic, then cover it in plastic again, take it to the van, load it and then remove the wet outside plastic. This means that by midnight, although we were finished and all the art was loaded and safe, we were soaked to the bone and our feet were wet and spongy... ahhh the hidden glamorous life of the art dealer.

Tomorrow morning I head back home, and Sheila Giolitti heads to Palm Beach, where she will be taking part in Art Palm Beach later this week.

Miami International Art Fair (Sunday Report)

Good crowds again today, but selling remains tentative, although one of the Colombian galleries next to us finally broke the ice in style today with the sale of a $20,000 painting.

Over at MFA, we recuperated from yesterday's no sales day with a few more sales, although the big ticket items remain unsold. Sold today was another Alexey Terenin painting in the early afternoon, and I then sold four of my drawings throughout the day, finally breaking the ice. I was also invited by a local gallery (which also has a presence in Europe and South America) to participate in a group show later this summer.

Tomorrow is the last day of the fair, as it runs into a rare Monday work day. Then comes the always brutal task of repacking all the unsold work and driving it all back home.

Miami International Art Fair (Saturday Report)

Good crowds again today. The organizers have done a really good job of advertising (there are street banners everywhere) and there is significant volume all day.

Frustrating day for MFA though; one of those fair days of close calls, "I'll be backs" and the unexplainable inability to close clear sales.

Francis Acea, the tall, good-looking publisher of Miami Art Guide comes by and we have a very long chat about my Che Guevara video drawing and he plants an interesting dilemma in my mind (more on that later).

As the fair closes at 7PM, then I take my cousin and his family to dinner in Coral Gables at a Japanese restaurant. Afterwards we drop by a roof party in a gorgeous artists studio building in Wynwood. The 360 degree view is spectacular and there's also a heated pool on the roof. The bartender is a genius and his mojito making is good, but his gin and tonic with a drop of elderflower liqueur and key limes is magical.

I hear that there's a flat soon opening and perhaps going on the auction block... more on that later too.

The Dynamics of the DC Art Scene

The Art Dealers Association of Greater Washington, in partnership with The Kreeger Museum, are putting together a panel discussion on how Art Dealers, Collectors, Curators and Museum Directors interact to support the visual arts in the DC area.

The Kreeger Museum,
2401 Foxhall Road NW
Washington, DC 20007

Thursday, February 24, 2011
6:30pm - 9 pm

Tickets: $20 / The Kreeger Museum Members: $15
Includes a cheese and wine reception.

Preceding the panel discussion, guests will have an opportunity to view In Unison: 20 Washington, DC Artists, the culmination of a project initiated by artist Sam Gilliam, consisting of monoprints by 20 artists from the DC community, who typically work in different styles and mediums.

For reservations, call 202-338-3552.

Panelists include:
- Juliette Bethea, Collector
- Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Director, National Museum of African Art
- Judy A. Greenberg, Director, The Kreeger Museum
- Gisela Huberman, Collector (and proud owner of my work)
- Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
- and moderator Bill Dunlap, Artist and Art Critic and TV talking head, and one of the 100 in my book about DC artists.

Considering the focus of the panel, am I the only one who finds it odd that missing from the panel are any art dealers?

Seventh Annual Bethesda Painting Awards

Deadline: Friday, February 25, 2011

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the seventh annual Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competition honoring four selected painters with $14,000 in prize monies. Deadline for submission is February 25, 2011. Up to nine finalists will be invited to display their work at a Bethesda gallery.

The competition will be juried this year by Philip Geiger, an art instructor at the University of Virginia; Evelyn Hankins, associate curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. and Jinchul Kim, a painting professor at Salisbury University.

The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “young” artist whose birth date is after February 25, 1981 may also be awarded $1,000.

Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. No reproductions.

Each artist must submit five digital files or slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

Applications are available online at www.bethesda.org.

The Bethesda Painting Awards were established by my good friend and Bethesda philanthropist, art collector and community activist Carol Trawick in 2005.