Sandra Ramos Lorenzo
Later this year I will be curating two exhibitions of art by Cuban and Cuban-American artists for Mayer Fine Arts in Norfolk, Virginia and H&F Fine Arts in Maryland.
One of my favorite contemporary Cuban artists is Havana's intelligent and courageous Sandra Ramos Lorenzo, whose American commercial gallery debut took place at the original Fraser Gallery in Georgetown a few years ago.
Since she had previously visited the US many times, both for museum shows in other American cities and for museum art conferences (as invited speaker), and since her work is in the permanent collection of many prestigious American museums, such as The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, it came to her as a shock when her visa to attend her Washington, DC opening was denied a few years ago.
Her work, which often delivers visceral commentaries dealing with taboo issues in Cuban society such as racism, mass migration, freedoms and liberties and the impact of Communism on the Cuban psyche, has placed Ramos at the very leading edge of a group of young Cuban artists who use their art as a narrative medium to describe, criticize and export the harsh realities of Cuban life and the world in which they live and work.
This is one of those key Cuban artists who should become better known once Cuba's Communist sentence ends and Cuban artwork can become easier to obtain and show in the United States.
Buy Sandra Ramos now!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, December 05, 2014
Thursday at ABMB Week
Tents, regardless of size, always leak, so today was an interesting day in the life of a gallerist, as we scrambled to prevent art from getting wet.
The City Paper's Christina Cauterucci and Perry Stein were over in Miami Beach and delivered an outstanding report on DMV area galleries and artists at Aqua Art Miami, although somehow they missed the three DC artists being exhibited by Mayer Fine Art. Read their report here.
All three of these artists, Judith Peck, Victoria Gaitan and Jeannette Herrera, have been showing in Miami for ABMB for the last few years.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
ABMB: It's all over!
The ABMB art fairs are over and done with, and as usual, some galleries did great, most did OK and some lost their pants.
At Context Art Miami the crowds were phenomenal all week, and we ended up doing really well, with multiple sales by Simon Monk, Audrey Wilson, Dulce Pinzon and yours truly.
Art fairs are always more than just about sales, and Context once again proved that! Pinzon, Monk and I have been invited to participate in a Superhero show being organized by a major Los Angeles gallery. Additionally, we are working a major double commission for Simon Monk by the studios currently filming the new Superman and Batman movies. Furthermore, we made a good connection with Telemundo's local Spanish-language TV station to do a segment with Dulce Pinzon. As if all that is not all good stuff, a local major collector has given a West coast University the green light to select one of my video works for the university's permanent collection (more on that when it develops further).
Other DMV artists at Context seemed to do well too: Mark Jenkins sold out all his sculptures, and Tim Tate had sales and his California gallery is still working a major multiple deal even as pack-out was taking place.
I also heard from some dealers at Aqua Art Miami: Virginia's Mayer Fine Arts reported their "best art fair ever." That included a whooping sale of 14 different pieces by different artists to a major California collector.
Now heading back to the DMV to do all the paperwork, pay all the taxes, and re-group for Art Wynwood in a couple of months!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Congrats
The my good bud and one of the District's uberartists, Tim Tate, who just got picked up by London's Cynthia Corbett Gallery.
The whole thing started in one of the art fairs in Miami last December. Corbett was showing in Miami, walked through several of the fairs in the city, chatted with Philadelphia's Projects Gallery (which also represents Tate), and that gallery's hardworking owner Helen Meyrick introduced Corbett to Tate's work.
Meyrick then took Corbett over to by Norfolk's Mayer Fine Arts, which also represents Tate's work, and there Meyrick and MFA's also hard-working owner Sheila Giolitti showed Corbett more of Tate's video work and she liked them a lot.
And just recently they closed the deal and now Corbett will represent Tate internationally (she does most of the American and European power art fairs). This is a huge step forward for Tim Tate.
Lesson here? This is why it is important for galleries to do some art fairs, and why it is important for artists to support their galleries' as much as they can. The art fairs are a huge financial risk for the art galleries, but the pay off opportunities, both for the galleries and for the artists whom they take there are huge.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Last one before Miami
On Wednesday night I attacked a 200 lb. large piece of paper with charcoal pencil and charcoal dust and, inspired by the elegant Incantation of Frida K. by Rita Braverman, I produced a large drawing - the last one which will be leaving for the Miami Art Basel week art fairs this coming Sunday.
The Incantation of Frida K. Charcoal on paper. 16.5 x 40 inches.
Five gets you ten that this drawing will be the first one to sell.
Leaving for Miami on Saturday. I have passes for almost all of the 25 or so fairs in Miami; if you'd like one, drop me an email - first come, first served. Most fairs have the grand opening on Tuesday, Nov. 30, and I even have a few VIP passes to the grand openings, which obviously I won't be able to go since I will be hanging around my work at booth B108 at Red Dot with Mayer Fine Art and/or Projects Gallery at C108, both of which will have some of my work.
See ya there!
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Want free tickets to the art fair?
The Affordable Art Fair NYC is this week, opening on Thursday in New York. Drop me an email if you want me to set you up with a couple of free tickets to the fair.
If you go to the fair, swing by and say hi... I'll be with Mayer Fine Art. Reports coming as time allows.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Tim Tate sets new auction record
I'm pretty sure that a new auction record for a work of art by a living Washington, DC artist was set last night in Philadelphia when two mixed media glass reliquiaries by Tim Tate were auctioned off for $82,000.
That's right boys and girls - Eighty two thousand Samolians.
Buy Tim Tate now.
In the Greater DC area Tate is represented by Fraser Gallery. In Philadelphia you can currently get his work at Wexler Gallery (where's he's currently in a group show). In Chicago his work is available through the Marx Saunders Gallery (where he's currently in a group show). In Charlottesville go to Migrations Gallery. In London his dealer is the Steps Gallery. In Santa Fe he's represented by Jane Sauer (where he currently has a solo show). In Norfolk you can get it through Mayer Fine Art Gallery. In San Francisco it's the Donna Seager Gallery. In Berlin it's Gallery 24, and throughout the US at art fairs and such through the Maurine Littleton Gallery.
See the auction in the video below...
Monday, May 10, 2010
At the end of the fair
Overall Mayer Fine Art sold nearly 40 works of art during last week's Affordable Art Fair in NYC. Work by Shiela Giolitti, Alexei Terenin, Heather Bryant, Michael Janis, Matt Sesow, and a few more artists, sold by MFA.
I sold about a dozen drawings, including three of the pieces that I had done for the Mera Rubell studio visit last week.
On Sunday I sold two big drawings, including "Fallen Angel" and "Superman Flying Naked and Close to the Ground in Order to Avoid Radar"; both of these were "Rubell visit drawings." I also sold a large female nude drawing titled "America Desnuda".
"Superman flying naked and close to the ground in order to avoid NORAD radar"" Charcoal on Paper. 20x24 inches.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Norfolking...
Driving down to Norfolk in a few minutes for the opening of Havana-based Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, who is in many people's opinions (including mine), the leading contemporary Cuban artist in the world. The Ramos solo show, Exodus, runs from October 23 - December 27, and opens tonight in Norfolk's leading independently owned commercial fine arts gallery: Mayer Fine Art.
If you are a Norfolkian, come by and say hello.
Thursday, March 05, 2015
Alchemical Vessels 2015
David Alfuth, Beth Baldwin, Rhoda Baer, Emily Biondo, Ed Bisese, Julia Bloom, Raya Bodnarchuk, Joseph Bradley, Judy Byron, Lenny Campello, Jessica Cebra, Mei Mei Chang, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Patterson Clark, Billy Colbert, Susan Cole, Paula Crawford, Michael Crossett, Sarah Dale, Catherine Day, JD Deardourff, Jennifer DePalma, Robert Devers, Jessica Drenk, Patricia Dubroof, Pam Eichner, Dana Ellyn, Margo Elsayd, Susan Finsen & Michael Holt, Sharon Fishel, Kathryn Freeman, Marcia Fry, Adrienne Gaither, Michael Gessner, Carol Brown Goldberg, Pat Goslee, Matthew Grimes, Andrea Haffner, Courtney Hengerer, Jeff Herrity, Maurice "Mo" Higgs, Ryan Hill, Joseph Hoffman, Jeff Huntington, David Ibata, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Njena Surae Jarvis, Rose Jaffe, Mike Johnson, Mariah Anne Johnson, Wayson Jones, Maria Karametou, Sally Kauffman, Elizabeth Kendall, Joanne Kent, Hana Kim, Micheline Klagsbrun , Kitty Klaidman, PD Klein, George Koch, Yar Koporulin, Peter Krsko, Bridget Sue Lambert, Maria Lanas, Toni Lane, Khanh Le, Jun Lee, Kyujin Lee, Nate Lewis, Mimi Logothetis, Steve Loya, Akemi Maegawa, Alex Mayer, Donna M. McCullough, Kathryn McDonnell, Maggie Michael, Vanessa Monroe, E.J. Montgomery, Lucinda Murphy, Ziad Nagy, Leslie Nolan, Frederick Nunley, Cory Oberndorfer, John Paradiso, Elena Patiño, Miguel Perez Lem, Brian Petro, Thomas Petzwinkler, Jeneen Piccuirro, Michael B. Platt & Carol A. Beane, Pattie Porter Firestone, Tom Raneses, Red Dirt Studios, Ellington Robinson, Carolyn Roth, Bonner Sale, Jean Sausele Knodt, Matt Sesow, Foon Sham, Janathel Shaw, Lillian Shaw, Bernardo Siles, Steve Skowron, Jeffrey Smith, Anna Soevik, Langley Spurlock, Stan Squirewell, Rebecca Stone Gordon, Lynn Sures, Tang, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Valerie Theberge, Michael Torra, Kelly Towles, Dan Treado, Ruth Trevarrow, Tariq Tucker, Pamela Viola, Ellyn Weiss, Lee Wheeler, Catherine White, Sharon Wolpoff, Sue Wrbican, and Jenny Wu
Sondra N. Arkin, Artist & Independent Curator | Philip Barlow, Associate Commissioner, DC Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking; Board Member, District of Columbia Arts Center & Millenium Arts Salon | Chuck Baxter, Artist | Robert Devers, Professor of Fine Arts and Ceramics, Corcoran School of the Arts + Design, George Washington University | Thomas Drymon, Curator, doris-mae | Charlie Gaynor, Realtor and Photographer, member of the Mid City Artists | Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Lecturer in Art History, University of Maryland and Smithsonian Institution | George Hemphill, Gallery Director, Hemphill | Francie Hester, Visual Artist | Don Kimes, Professor, Director Studio Art Program, American University Department of Art; Artistic Director, Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution | Zofie Lang, Artist | Mary Liniger, Executive Director, Art Enables | Akemi Maegawa, Artist | Jayme McLellan, Director & Founder, Civilian Art Projects | Twig Murray, Gallery Director, Athenaeum Gallery | Victoria Reis, Co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director, Transformer | Nancy Sausser, Curator and Exhibitions Director, McLean Project for the Arts | Andy Shallal, Founder, Busboys and Poets | Stan Squirewell, Artist
Monday, March 09, 2015
Alchemical Vessels 2015
David Alfuth, Beth Baldwin, Rhoda Baer, Emily Biondo, Ed Bisese, Julia Bloom, Raya Bodnarchuk, Joseph Bradley, Judy Byron, Lenny Campello, Jessica Cebra, Mei Mei Chang, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Patterson Clark, Billy Colbert, Susan Cole, Paula Crawford, Michael Crossett, Sarah Dale, Catherine Day, JD Deardourff, Jennifer DePalma, Robert Devers, Jessica Drenk, Patricia Dubroof, Pam Eichner, Dana Ellyn, Margo Elsayd, Susan Finsen & Michael Holt, Sharon Fishel, Kathryn Freeman, Marcia Fry, Adrienne Gaither, Michael Gessner, Carol Brown Goldberg, Pat Goslee, Matthew Grimes, Andrea Haffner, Courtney Hengerer, Jeff Herrity, Maurice "Mo" Higgs, Ryan Hill, Joseph Hoffman, Jeff Huntington, David Ibata, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Njena Surae Jarvis, Rose Jaffe, Mike Johnson, Mariah Anne Johnson, Wayson Jones, Maria Karametou, Sally Kauffman, Elizabeth Kendall, Joanne Kent, Hana Kim, Micheline Klagsbrun , Kitty Klaidman, PD Klein, George Koch, Yar Koporulin, Peter Krsko, Bridget Sue Lambert, Maria Lanas, Toni Lane, Khanh Le, Jun Lee, Kyujin Lee, Nate Lewis, Mimi Logothetis, Steve Loya, Akemi Maegawa, Alex Mayer, Donna M. McCullough, Kathryn McDonnell, Maggie Michael, Vanessa Monroe, E.J. Montgomery, Lucinda Murphy, Ziad Nagy, Leslie Nolan, Frederick Nunley, Cory Oberndorfer, John Paradiso, Elena Patiño, Miguel Perez Lem, Brian Petro, Thomas Petzwinkler, Jeneen Piccuirro, Michael B. Platt & Carol A. Beane, Pattie Porter Firestone, Tom Raneses, Red Dirt Studios, Ellington Robinson, Carolyn Roth, Bonner Sale, Jean Sausele Knodt, Matt Sesow, Foon Sham, Janathel Shaw, Lillian Shaw, Bernardo Siles, Steve Skowron, Jeffrey Smith, Anna Soevik, Langley Spurlock, Stan Squirewell, Rebecca Stone Gordon, Lynn Sures, Tang, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Valerie Theberge, Michael Torra, Kelly Towles, Dan Treado, Ruth Trevarrow, Tariq Tucker, Pamela Viola, Ellyn Weiss, Lee Wheeler, Catherine White, Sharon Wolpoff, Sue Wrbican, and Jenny Wu
Sondra N. Arkin, Artist & Independent Curator | Philip Barlow, Associate Commissioner, DC Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking; Board Member, District of Columbia Arts Center & Millenium Arts Salon | Chuck Baxter, Artist | Robert Devers, Professor of Fine Arts and Ceramics, Corcoran School of the Arts + Design, George Washington University | Thomas Drymon, Curator, doris-mae | Charlie Gaynor, Realtor and Photographer, member of the Mid City Artists | Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Lecturer in Art History, University of Maryland and Smithsonian Institution | George Hemphill, Gallery Director, Hemphill | Francie Hester, Visual Artist | Don Kimes, Professor, Director Studio Art Program, American University Department of Art; Artistic Director, Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution | Zofie Lang, Artist | Mary Liniger, Executive Director, Art Enables | Akemi Maegawa, Artist | Jayme McLellan, Director & Founder, Civilian Art Projects | Twig Murray, Gallery Director, Athenaeum Gallery | Victoria Reis, Co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director, Transformer | Nancy Sausser, Curator and Exhibitions Director, McLean Project for the Arts | Andy Shallal, Founder, Busboys and Poets | Stan Squirewell, Artist
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Alchemical Vessels 2015
This year's exhibition will run from March 27 - May 22, 2015, with the special by-contribution-only Benefit on Friday, May 1st, where everyone who makes a $150 Benefit-Vessel contribution (beginning Tuesday, March 10th at 10am) can select one of the works in the exhibition to add to their collection! The vessels are selected in the order contributions were made, so the earlier you make a contribution, the earlier you can select your work of art! Below is my piece in the show.
 |
| "Eve, Running Away from Eden" |
David Alfuth, Beth Baldwin, Rhoda Baer, Emily Biondo, Ed Bisese, Julia Bloom, Raya Bodnarchuk, Joseph Bradley, Judy Byron, Lenny Campello, Jessica Cebra, Mei Mei Chang, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Patterson Clark, Billy Colbert, Susan Cole, Paula Crawford, Michael Crossett, Sarah Dale, Catherine Day, JD Deardourff, Jennifer DePalma, Robert Devers, Jessica Drenk, Patricia Dubroof, Pam Eichner, Dana Ellyn, Margo Elsayd, Susan Finsen & Michael Holt, Sharon Fishel, Kathryn Freeman, Marcia Fry, Adrienne Gaither, Michael Gessner, Carol Brown Goldberg, Pat Goslee, Matthew Grimes, Andrea Haffner, Courtney Hengerer, Jeff Herrity, Maurice "Mo" Higgs, Ryan Hill, Joseph Hoffman, Jeff Huntington, David Ibata, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Njena Surae Jarvis, Rose Jaffe, Mike Johnson, Mariah Anne Johnson, Wayson Jones, Maria Karametou, Sally Kauffman, Elizabeth Kendall, Joanne Kent, Hana Kim, Micheline Klagsbrun , Kitty Klaidman, PD Klein, George Koch, Yar Koporulin, Peter Krsko, Bridget Sue Lambert, Maria Lanas, Toni Lane, Khanh Le, Jun Lee, Kyujin Lee, Nate Lewis, Mimi Logothetis, Steve Loya, Akemi Maegawa, Alex Mayer, Donna M. McCullough, Kathryn McDonnell, Maggie Michael, Vanessa Monroe, E.J. Montgomery, Lucinda Murphy, Ziad Nagy, Leslie Nolan, Frederick Nunley, Cory Oberndorfer, John Paradiso, Elena Patiño, Miguel Perez Lem, Brian Petro, Thomas Petzwinkler, Jeneen Piccuirro, Michael B. Platt & Carol A. Beane, Pattie Porter Firestone, Tom Raneses, Red Dirt Studios, Ellington Robinson, Carolyn Roth, Bonner Sale, Jean Sausele Knodt, Matt Sesow, Foon Sham, Janathel Shaw, Lillian Shaw, Bernardo Siles, Steve Skowron, Jeffrey Smith, Anna Soevik, Langley Spurlock, Stan Squirewell, Rebecca Stone Gordon, Lynn Sures, Tang, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Valerie Theberge, Michael Torra, Kelly Towles, Dan Treado, Ruth Trevarrow, Tariq Tucker, Pamela Viola, Ellyn Weiss, Lee Wheeler, Catherine White, Sharon Wolpoff, Sue Wrbican, and Jenny Wu
Sondra N. Arkin, Artist & Independent Curator | Philip Barlow, Associate Commissioner, DC Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking; Board Member, District of Columbia Arts Center & Millenium Arts Salon | Chuck Baxter, Artist | Robert Devers, Professor of Fine Arts and Ceramics, Corcoran School of the Arts + Design, George Washington University | Thomas Drymon, Curator, doris-mae | Charlie Gaynor, Realtor and Photographer, member of the Mid City Artists | Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Lecturer in Art History, University of Maryland and Smithsonian Institution | George Hemphill, Gallery Director, Hemphill | Francie Hester, Visual Artist | Don Kimes, Professor, Director Studio Art Program, American University Department of Art; Artistic Director, Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution | Zofie Lang, Artist | Mary Liniger, Executive Director, Art Enables | Akemi Maegawa, Artist | Jayme McLellan, Director and Founder, Civilian Art Projects | Twig Murray, Gallery Director, Athenaeum Gallery | Victoria Reis, Co-Founder, Executive and Artistic Director, Transformer | Nancy Sausser, Curator and Exhibitions Director, McLean Project for the Arts | Andy Shallal, Founder, Busboys and Poets | Stan Squirewell, Artist
Friday, March 13, 2015
Alchemical Vessels 2015
This year's exhibition will run from March 27 - May 22, 2015, with the special by-contribution-only Benefit on Friday, May 1st, where everyone who makes a $150 Benefit-Vessel contribution (beginning Tuesday, March 10th at 10am) can select one of the works in the exhibition to add to their collection! The vessels are selected in the order contributions were made, so the earlier you make a contribution, the earlier you can select your work of art! Below is my piece in the show.
|
| "Eve, Running Away from Eden" |
David Alfuth, Beth Baldwin, Rhoda Baer, Emily Biondo, Ed Bisese, Julia Bloom, Raya Bodnarchuk, Joseph Bradley, Judy Byron, Lenny Campello, Jessica Cebra, Mei Mei Chang, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Patterson Clark, Billy Colbert, Susan Cole, Paula Crawford, Michael Crossett, Sarah Dale, Catherine Day, JD Deardourff, Jennifer DePalma, Robert Devers, Jessica Drenk, Patricia Dubroof, Pam Eichner, Dana Ellyn, Margo Elsayd, Susan Finsen & Michael Holt, Sharon Fishel, Kathryn Freeman, Marcia Fry, Adrienne Gaither, Michael Gessner, Carol Brown Goldberg, Pat Goslee, Matthew Grimes, Andrea Haffner, Courtney Hengerer, Jeff Herrity, Maurice "Mo" Higgs, Ryan Hill, Joseph Hoffman, Jeff Huntington, David Ibata, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Njena Surae Jarvis, Rose Jaffe, Mike Johnson, Mariah Anne Johnson, Wayson Jones, Maria Karametou, Sally Kauffman, Elizabeth Kendall, Joanne Kent, Hana Kim, Micheline Klagsbrun , Kitty Klaidman, PD Klein, George Koch, Yar Koporulin, Peter Krsko, Bridget Sue Lambert, Maria Lanas, Toni Lane, Khanh Le, Jun Lee, Kyujin Lee, Nate Lewis, Mimi Logothetis, Steve Loya, Akemi Maegawa, Alex Mayer, Donna M. McCullough, Kathryn McDonnell, Maggie Michael, Vanessa Monroe, E.J. Montgomery, Lucinda Murphy, Ziad Nagy, Leslie Nolan, Frederick Nunley, Cory Oberndorfer, John Paradiso, Elena Patiño, Miguel Perez Lem, Brian Petro, Thomas Petzwinkler, Jeneen Piccuirro, Michael B. Platt & Carol A. Beane, Pattie Porter Firestone, Tom Raneses, Red Dirt Studios, Ellington Robinson, Carolyn Roth, Bonner Sale, Jean Sausele Knodt, Matt Sesow, Foon Sham, Janathel Shaw, Lillian Shaw, Bernardo Siles, Steve Skowron, Jeffrey Smith, Anna Soevik, Langley Spurlock, Stan Squirewell, Rebecca Stone Gordon, Lynn Sures, Tang, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Valerie Theberge, Michael Torra, Kelly Towles, Dan Treado, Ruth Trevarrow, Tariq Tucker, Pamela Viola, Ellyn Weiss, Lee Wheeler, Catherine White, Sharon Wolpoff, Sue Wrbican, and Jenny Wu
Sondra N. Arkin, Artist & Independent Curator | Philip Barlow, Associate Commissioner, DC Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking; Board Member, District of Columbia Arts Center & Millenium Arts Salon | Chuck Baxter, Artist | Robert Devers, Professor of Fine Arts and Ceramics, Corcoran School of the Arts + Design, George Washington University | Thomas Drymon, Curator, doris-mae | Charlie Gaynor, Realtor and Photographer, member of the Mid City Artists | Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Lecturer in Art History, University of Maryland and Smithsonian Institution | George Hemphill, Gallery Director, Hemphill | Francie Hester, Visual Artist | Don Kimes, Professor, Director Studio Art Program, American University Department of Art; Artistic Director, Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution | Zofie Lang, Artist | Mary Liniger, Executive Director, Art Enables | Akemi Maegawa, Artist | Jayme McLellan, Director and Founder, Civilian Art Projects | Twig Murray, Gallery Director, Athenaeum Gallery | Victoria Reis, Co-Founder, Executive and Artistic Director, Transformer | Nancy Sausser, Curator and Exhibitions Director, McLean Project for the Arts | Andy Shallal, Founder, Busboys and Poets | Stan Squirewell, Artist
Monday, May 09, 2011
AAFNYC: Sunday Report
Yesterday was the final day for the Affordable Art Fair NYC, and the fair was pretty packed with mothers all day long. Sales seemed to be brisk along our immediate area, with the British galleries that surrounded the Mayer Fine Art booth all doing gang buster sales.
MFA sold a few more of my drawings, two more wood engravings by DMV artist Rosemary Feit Covey and a very cool aluminum sculpture by Norfolk area artist and Old Dominion University professor John R.G. Roth.
The two DMV area galleries in the fair (Fraser Gallery and Honfleur Gallery) both reported excellent sales as well, so it seems like this fair paid off for the local galleries as well.
Tear down and packing was the usual nightmare when you have 80 galleries or so all trying to bring all their stuff down one elevator from the 11th floor down to the loading dock on super busy 35th street.
Back to the DMV by midnight and heading out to San Diego tomorrow.
Friday, May 07, 2010
At the end of the day...
The 1,000 point drop in the market yesterday was buzzing through the crowd coming to the Affordable Art Fair in New York. However, having done this fair many years, it seemed that Thursday's attendance was quite good considering it was a Thursday, so there were mixed signals: good crowds + bad economic news = slower sales than preview night.
Also, last night was "Brooklyn Night" and the crowd seemed younger and more interested in the open bar for wine and beer and the cool DJ who was actually playing music from a record player... than in artwork.
At the end of the day Mayer Fine Art ended up selling Sheila Giolitti's second largest painting (a major sale), a few more paintings by Matt Sesow, and as the lights were being flickered at 9:30PM, one of my large drawings ("Eve and the Lilith"), which ended up being acquired by the Sonya Spann Collection.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Preview Night at the Fair
Today was the press night and VIP preview night at New York's Affordable Art Fair, held at 7 West 34th Street, right across the street from the beautiful Empire State Building.
In the many years that I have been doing the AAFNYC, tonight's opening was by far the most crowded and buzzy preview that I have seen. It seemed like most galleries were selling something.
Norfolk's Mayer Fine Art, showcasing several DMV artists including my work, also did OK, with several sales by multiple artists, including a couple of sales by Novie Trump, a major piece by Rosemary Feit Covey on hold, a few sales of Matt Sesow, and sales of four of my drawings, including my two largest pieces that I brought to NY: "Batman Naked" and "Suddenly she discovered that she wasn't afraid any longer".
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Power of the Web
Well... the power of this blog really.
A while back I wrote a review of Shelly Voorhees at the gorgeous Black Rock Arts Center in Gaithersburg.
Gallerist Sheila Giolitti from Mayer Fine Art in Norfolk read the review, contacted Shelly and when an unexpected opening in her scheduled happened (gallerists hate that!), she gave Voorhees a solo show! I believe that they're also taking Voorhees work to the Art Basel fairs in Miami later this year.
This is the main reason why artists should always look around for opportunities and show their work as much as possible. One never knows who is about to see your work and what doors are about to happen.
And here is a great opportunity.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cuban reviews
Although I am Oh-for-two as far as reviews are concerned for the two shows that I have curated so far for DC galleries this year, the one currently on exhibition at Norfolk's Mayer Fine Art Gallery has been getting good critical coverage and exceptional sales.
One look at this exhibition makes it clear why Cuban art is especially hot right now.Last week it was reviewed by the Virginian Pilot (as soon as I can find a link I will put it up) and today it was reviewed by the Portfolio Weekly. Read that review here.
- Betsy DiJulio
Portfolio Weekly
Monday, March 17, 2008
Curatorialism
So far this year I've curated/juried a couple of shows (Color Invitations at R Street Gallery in DC and currently "Five Senses" at Target Street in Alexandria, VA).
Loads more efforts to come in 2008.
Next I'm helping to select the artists for the Johns Hopkins book and two city exhibition of the Innovators Combatting Substance Abuse Program next month in Baltimore.
In April I am curating the grand opening show for the new Mayer Fine Arts gallery in Norfolk, Virginia. Titled "Common Ocean: From Havana to Norfolk," the exhibition will showcase the work of four leading contemporary Cuban women: Sandra Ramos, Aimee Garcia Marrero, Marta Maria Perez Bravo and Cirenaica Moreira.
Also in April I am jurying Derivative Composition for VSA arts.
In June I will be curating Early Look, a student show for DC's Longview Gallery.
In September I am doing the jurying for the Maryland Federation of Artists' (MFA) annual Landscape Show in Annapolis.
In November I will be curating "Aqui Estamos" (Here We Are): Contemporary Cuban Art" for Mt. Rainier, Maryland's H&F Fine Arts, showing some very well-known as well as some new and emerging Cuban artists.
And in between all that I am fitting in six art fairs, a boatload of art panels and two solo shows (more on those later).
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Obama Agonistes
Obama Agonistes. Charcoal on 300 weight paper with embedded video player and continuous loop video. Matted and framed under glass to 16 x 32 inches. Circa 2011 by F. Lennox Campello
The above piece is my latest exploration of marrying embedded video with drawing. You will be able to see this new piece at the coming (e)merge art fair this coming week.
The work is being presented by Mayer Fine Art, who will be in room 313 of the fair. MFA will also showcase works by DC's own Ben Tolman and self contained video installations by Tidewater area artist (currently living and working in Japan) John Miles Runner.
The new video/drawing shows the President, hugging his knees and agonizing over a variety of issues and problems during his presidency - much like the same way in which every President before him and those who will come after him are often brutalized by the weight of the White House. The extraordinary responsibility of being POTUS and the even more extraordinary demands and expectations that we leverage on all who occupy that job, is reflected on the immense internal combat depicted on this piece.
The continuous loop video plays a series of 20 appropriated news clips, cartoons and other material that deliver a conceptual tie-in to the struggling President, almost overwhelmed by his failures as much as by his successes, but nonetheless ready to continue to fight.
Matted in a white pH-balanced, acid free white mat and then framed under glass in a custom-made black wood frame to 16 x 32 inches.
Detail of Obama Agonistes, showing the embedded video being played.
Detail of Obama Agonistes, showing the drawing part of the mixed media piece
