Aqua Day Three

Last night the major score was achieved by DMV artist Cory Oberndorfer, who managed to sell about 19 of his "Donut" series paintings

Corey Oberndorfer paintings of donuts

Yep! That many... I also sold my "T-Subucula Deus" video piece to an art critic from Canada plus about eight more regular drawings through the night.

What are they watching?

These ladies sitting by the hot tub at Aqua...

Are all watching this:

We'll never forget!

Aqua Day Two

Good day at Aqua Art Fair yesterday and decent crowds all day long... also a steady stream of DMV artists stopping by to say hello.

 

Super talented and hard working gallery intern Audrey Wilson (one of the bennies of being our gallery intern is that you get to bring artwork to the fairs) sold her biggest glass piece - Yay! It went to a New York art collector.

 

Also sold a Dulce Pinzon photo - the very last proof piece of her fabulous iconic image from her Superheros series, my largest video piece (remember "Artist Worshiping at the Altar of Modern Art"?), a Cory Oberndorfer donut painting and several of my regular drawings.

 

It's interesting to me that three of my personal sales have gone to other gallery owners; more on that later.

As I've discussed before, there are other perks of doing an art fair - what I call the "wake effect" -- on opening night I connected a major university's museum director with the owner of the vintage Korda photographs of the psychopath Che Guevara - they will be exhibited at the museum in the near future and also become part of a new history course on the Argentinean adventurer.

Also met a NYC art center director who connected me with an unlikely art collector couple (unlikely in the sense that they are known to collect Asian art), who are refocusing their attention on collecting Cuban art and plan to open a museum space in the Big Apple focused on Cuban art; more on that later.

A well-known art collector who owns my work (and who is on the "Top 100 Art Collectors in the World" list, and who bought another one of my pieces on VIP night) also connected me with a young guy who is building a new boutique hotel in the Miami area. Apparently the art collector is the money behind the scheme, as the hotel development young guy was directed to work with me to ensure that the project had real artwork instead of "hotel art"; we traded business cards and chatted about "hotelism" and "real art for hotels."

Opportunity for Artists

BlackRock Center for the Arts Call to Artists 2014
BlackRock Center For the Arts is accepting entries for exhibits January - December 2014. You can download the prospectus by clicking the link to the right or go to www.blackrockcenter.org Deadline:  Friday, December 21, 2012 Entry Fee: $35 check or money order made payable to BlackRock Center for the Arts Eligibility: Open to all artists 18 years and over residing in  Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC.  Special Consideration: Artists who are willing to conduct a lecture or workshop for a BlackRock standard fee will receive special consideration during the selection process.     About the Gallery BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery is 1500 square feet of gallery space.  Its high white walls and beautiful windows allows in just the right amount of natural light. We take pride in the outstanding artists we have exhibited over the years, which have been reviewed by Claudia Rousseau, Lenny Campello, and other art critics in the area. Eligibility The Call to Artists is open to all artists residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC over the age of 18 for original artwork only. All work must be ready for sale and to be presented in a professional manner to the public at the time of delivery. (See Terms for Exhibit for details.) Pedestals are available for three-dimensional work. Selection Process This call will cover exhibits in the Gallery from January to December 2014. An exhibit may include one applicant or a combination of applicants, based on the judgment of jurors (i.e., 1 or 2 wall artists may be combined with a pedestal artist). A jury will select the artists and create eight exhibits to be included in the exhibit year. This season, the jury panel is comprised of Lenny Campello (artist, writer, blogger), Marsha Staiger (artist, Torpedo Factory), and Tim Tate (artist, Washington Glass School). In addition, the panel will have an alternate juror, Krista Bradley (Executive Director of BlackRock).	CLICK HERE FOR PROSPECTUS Send to: BlackRock Center for the Arts Call to Artist 12901 Town Commons Drive Germantown, MD 20874 Questions? Contact: Kim Marshall Gallery Manager kmarshall@blackrockcenter.org All correspondance by e-mail, no phone calls please.

Celebrity Sighting at Aqua

Neocon Talk Show Host Rachel Maddow at Aqua

Aqua Day One

And the VIP opening at the Aqua Art Fair Miami Beach was last night, and amidst much booze, tropical heat and impossibly slim/tall women in 8 inch heels and tanned muscly guys, some art sales managed to take place.

The opening ended at 11PM, and I left at 11:30 and then it took me over an hour to navigate the first dozen city blocks of Collins Avenue, such was the humanity and carmanity crowding the streets and sidewalks of this unique place.

A well-known collector who has written 39 bestsellers ended up buying my "Desi, Lucy and Fidel" video piece as well as two gorgeous photos by Cuban photographer Cirenaica Moreira. I also sold four other drawings, including two to art gallery owners from Art Miami, many of whom were present last night reporting good sales at Art Miami and Context.