Boston

Next week I am going to Boston for a studio visit and also to visit an arts-related business looking for some "new" online presence(s) advice and work.

Any Bostonians out there with a "must see" exhibition - drop me a line...

Artists' Websites: Rosemary Feit Covey

Dark Summer, c.1990, 15 x 13 by Rosemary Feit Covey
If there's a better wood engraver on the planet, I do not know who he/she is... as far as I am concerned, no one is better than this modern master, who continues to surprise me, gross me out, enlighten me, and always impress me with both her enviable technical skills and her super-sharp ability to cut deeply into my psyche.

Visit her website here and check out her new work here.

Words that count, or counting... period?

Earlier this week, GrammarPolice scribe and Washington City Paper gallery critic and good friend Kriston Capps and Washington City Paper museum art critic (and Arlington Arts Center curator) and also good friend Jeffry Cudlin -- joined in a little by the dynamic Philippa Hughes) -- hashed out the significance of Capp's words and counting skills in Capps' CP piece on "Collectors Select" at the Arlington Arts Center.

Specifically, the online chatterfuss is about the parts of Capps' review that deal with Philippa Hughes and Tim Conlon; Capps wrote:

[Daniel] Lavinas shows [the work of León Ferrari] without pretension: His biggest intervention is to have the gallery painted a deep shade of cherry-lambic red to match the heliographs. Philippa Hughes went further. The least experienced collector in the group, Hughes invited some graffiti artists—Tim Conlon, Bryan Conner, RAMS, and the Soviet—to tag her room. The intervention is the work here. But Hughes is bursting through a door that's been open for nearly three decades. There's still room for innovation in graffiti, but graffiti in a room isn't innovative alone (even if it shares the room with floor-to-ceiling Tiffany windows, as it does here). Context notwithstanding, the work by Conlon (which takes up most of the room) is dull in any formal sense. As tags, they're not particularly intricate or witty; as abstraction, they don't offer much.

Regardless of how you feel about Capps' words, opinions, advice, and counting skills in the review, this discussion is interesting to me because (a) it shows the blogsphere ability to challenge a writer's words and if needed correct his errors and (b) because it puts my good friend Jeffry Cudlin on the receiving and thus defensive end of a review which may not be in synch with what he perceives to be the real story or guts of an exhibition.

It tears me a little in both directions, because I am of the opinion that any review is a good review, and considering the dearth of art criticism in the Greater Washington DC area, Cudlin does give his colleague props for making his way to Arlington (Capps doesn't have an automobile, and it's a nice walk from the Metro stop to the Arlington Arts Center).

In the past, whenever someone has reviewed either my own work or a show that I have curated, even if there have been glaring mistakes, I have nearly always resorted to biting my lip and thanking the critic for the review.

On the other hand, when in reviewing someone else's show not-my-own, and a critic makes a mistake, or just gets something about the artist or exhibition plainly wrong, as a third party I'm glad to call them out on it.

But most gallerists, and a large percentage of artists and curators, have learned the hard way to just bite their lip, sigh and maybe bring up the error or the real "mark" - if the missed mark or error is egregious enough - in private to the writer.

I'm sure that Cudlin, in his capacity as a critic has received his fair share of complaints about his own writing - I myself have both chided and praised his words in the past -- but now it is interesting to see him react when he feels the criticism has missed the mark when the words are aimed in his own direction.

Was the substance of the complaint big enough to merit the fuss? I'm not sure, but it's a brave and interesting teen-aged world out there, where both valid and sock puppet commenting all add their own weird dialogue to the discourse and leave a new digital footprint for art exhibitions, artists, critics and opinions about their opinions.

A new model for the new Internet model?

For the first five years, the Jen Bekman Gallery, near the Bowery, lost money — and Bekman didn't have much to lose. She drained her 401(k), and racked up debt on her credit cards. Sometimes she slept in her mom's living room so she could sublet her apartment. Last year, when she couldn't pay the electric bill, the gallery's lights were cut off.

But Bekman stubbornly clung her basic idea: "There are a lot of people out there who want to sell their art, and a lot of people who'd like to buy it," Her job was to introduce the emerging artists to the emerging collectors.

An Internet person, she did Internet things. She blogged (personism.com). She started an open-to-all-comers on-line competition called "Hey, Hot Shot!" (heyhotshot.com) — one that gave the winner a shot at a gallery show, in Bekman's bona-fide New York gallery. (This is not the kind of thing that regular galleries do.)

Last year, she got the idea for 20x200. IM-ing each other, a few of her Internet friends put together a clean, cool Web site for what little Bekman could afford. It went live in September — and soon after, broke even. Sometimes 20x200 editions sell out within a week, or even days.

About half the purchases, Bekman says proudly, are from repeat customers some of whom grow brave enough to spend more than $20. And the site's success has spilled over, attracting new collectors to Bekman's traditional gallery.

Bekman, who once couldn't get an Internet job, has become a star in the digital universe. At South By Southwest this month, her old Internet friends bestowed on her the coolest adjective in their lexicon: "Disruptive." Her Web site, they said, is changing the way the art world works.

And that's impressed the art world, where once she was an outsider. For Christmas, a Museum of Modern Art curator bought 20x200 Christmas presents for his staff. American Photo Magazine named her its Innovator of the Year. And this month, she's mentioned in both Wired and Redbook — surely the first time anyone has appeared simultaneously in those magazines.

Read more about Jen Bekman and her radical website 20x200 in this terrific article by Lisa Gray.

The Tribulations of a Ruined Gallerist

“Our society now values a Warhol for three times as much money as a great Rembrandt,” he thunders, referring to the latest auction reports. “That tells me that we’re fucked. It’s as if people would rather fuck than make love.”

He says the last sentence slowly, emphasizing each word.

“That’s the difference between the Warhol and the Rembrandt,” Salander continues. “Being with Rembrandt is like making love. And being with Warhol is like fucking.”

Read this really interesting feature by James Panero in New York Arts here.

Student Shows at the Corcoran

The 2008 Corcoran School BFA Senior Thesis Exhibitions consist of a series of week-long, rotating exhibitions in Gallery 31, featuring photojournalism, photography, graphic design, digital media design and fine art produced by members of the graduating class, grouped by major. Seniors in the College’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program are responsible for all aspects of their thesis exhibitions.

The exhibits are on display and changing weekly now.

The individual shows culminate in May in the 2008 All-Senior Exhibition, a dynamic exhibition installed in four museum galleries, representing all disciplines and featuring work by every student in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program.

Meet the Artist - DC

Rick Nahmias, L.A. photographer and creator of “The Migrant Project,” which was first a photo exhibit and activist project and is now a book, will be welcomed by the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC on Monday, March 31, from 6-9 pm. Come talk to Rick about the slow food movement, migrant workers, and what Americans can do to change attitudes about what we eat.

There is a book signing and reception at the Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St. NW, Washington D.C. Exhibition of photographs from The Migrant Project runs from February 21 through April 14.

Manon Cleary

There's a great interview of DC area artist Manon Cleary in The New Gay.

Read it here.

Student Show

Anne Arundel Community College will exhibit a student art show from April 4 through April 27 in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts Gallery, 101 College Parkway, Arnold, Maryland. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 .m. to 4 p.m. Fridays. Free. 410-777-222188 or www.aacc.edu.

Another blow?

"Not all in the art business are convinced by the investment rationale for art from Asia, a region notorious for fakes, poor authentication and high transaction costs,” says Mei Jianping, former New York City professor and the creator of Mei/Moses index, which tracks prices of western art.

Read "The Art Fund Racket" here.

Opportunity for printmakers

Deadline: 26 May 2008.

Washington Printmakers Gallery announces the eleventh annual small works exhibition, Washington Printmakers National Small Works 2008, juried this year by Ann Shafer, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Baltimore Museum of Art. All artists residing in the USA and 18 years of age or older may submit original, hand-pulled, artist-made prints in any media; photographs and digital prints are ineligible.

Entry fee: $30 for up to 4 images. Preliminary selection will be made from slides or digital images (JPEG files no larger than 5 inches, 200 dpi). Entries accepted for exhibition must be archivally matted and framed under Plexiglas, wired and ready to hang. All entries must be for sale. First place award: a solo show at Washington Printmakers Gallery in August 2009; 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th prizes are merchandise awards from major art suppliers. Prospectus or further information may be downloaded from www.washingtonprintmakers.com, or by contacting Washington Printmakers Gallery at 202:332.7757 (e-mail wpg@visi.net).

GMU

As I walked up to the The Fifth Annual Visual Culture Symposium, “Intended to Provoke: Social Action in Visual Culture[s]” at George Mason University in Fairfax, the greeting bronze of the university's namesake had been decorated with a bozo wig and some sort of red Superman cape.

Mason's statue is at the street level, where creative students can get to it. In my old alma matter (University of Washington), they know better, and the other George is on a pedestal 20 feet or so above the crowd, where one needs a tall ladder to get to him.

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!

Will this ever end?

To the untutored eye, they are simply huge rectangular panels - reds, yellows, blues, greens - that have hung like oversized Post-it Notes on the walls of the cavernous federal courthouse since it opened a decade ago. Hundreds of people pass them daily; few seem to notice.

In fact, the fiberglass-and-aluminum panels are among the most valuable works of art in Boston by a living artist, commissioned at a cost of $800,000 in tax dollars, and probably worth millions today. The revelation usually leaves visitors to the John Joseph Moakley courthouse incredulous or bemused.

Read the Boston Globe story here.



Leads me to wonder: what's the most expensive piece of public art in New York, or Philadelphia, or Washington, DC, or Topeka, Kansas?

Most expensive doesn't mean most popular... For popular, in DC I would guess the Viet-Nam Memorial; in Philly the Rocky Statue; in NYC, maybe the Statue of Liberty?

Any ideas or suggestions?