I think it is quite interesting that the VC community is showing an interest in art. It is not just by way of collecting; rather, the following link discusses VC involvement as investors.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/for-online-art-gallery-20x200-an-unlikely-investor/

Rimaldas Viksraitis

Interesting commentary on the photography market in the August Art Market Insight. Prices edgine down for Nan Goldin and Andreas Gursky, with Martin Parr remaining very affordable. Parr's protege, Rimaldas Viksraitis, won the Discovery Award at July's Photo Arles. From Lithuania, Viksraitis does not seem to be widely represented -- I've tracked down very few images on the web.

Verge Art Fair - Coming to Miami

A new fair coming to Miami's Catalina Hotel. Well, maybe not new, perhaps rebranded. Some quick sleuthing uncovered that the Bridge Art Fair web site is now the Verge web site. Any change in exhibitors is unclear.

From Verge:
THE DESTINATION FOR EMERGING ART ON MIAMI BEACH
This December during Art Basel Miami Beach, the inaugural Verge Art Fair will premier at the Catalina Hotel and Beach Club on Collins Avenue. Verge will advance the tradition of the Catalina Hotel as an oasis only steps away from hustle and bustle of the ABMB art market, providing the only show in Miami with a focus solely on emerging art. Located between the Miami Convention Center and the Art Positions converted shipping containers, Verge will enjoy the central position on Collins Avenue. OVER 12,000 visitors over the last three years have attended this must-see event destination on South Beach, where enterprising young galleries have raised the visibility and established the starting provenance of their artists over an intense four days of international attention by a never-ending stream of art lovers, curators, collectors, and press. Adjorn after closing time to the Red Bar at the Catalina for a Happy Hour from 7pm for complimentary mixed drinks, to the rooftop pool, or cross the street for an evening with collectors at the scenic Delano.

Summer Party Silent Auction Teaser

If you haven't boght your tickets to the MFA's Summer party on 6/13, you need to do so ASAP. The benefit print by David Hilliard looks like it will be selling out very soon. Also, last night was the jury meeting for the silent auction. Approximately 30 pieces were chosen from almost 300 submissions. It was a hard process to deliberate and narrow the selections down to a size that could be shown in the MFA's rotunda. However, I think people will be very pleased with the results. There are a variety of media including painting, prints, photographs, and jewelry and a price range that goes from about $250 to $4,000. Starting bids are either half of the retail price or $1,000, whichever is less. You may be hearing more about specific pieces over the next few weeks, but that's it for now- the selected artists haven't even been notified yet!

Spotted: New Art on Gossip Girl

Although having Georgina back on the show (in her own words, "You can tell Jesus that the bitch is back") is quite exciting, so are Lilly Bass's new art purchases each week. A few weeks ago she was buying a Cecily Brown for her bedroom. This week a new piece by Doug and Mike Starn appeared on the wall that separates the kitchen from the rest of the apartment. It is one of their snowflake pieces, with three snowflakes vertically. I wonder how Rufus feels that she uses an art consultant, when he is in the art business himself, owning a gallery in Brooklyn...

Thesis Show Part II at MassArt

Starting on Monday, 4/27, you can see the new work of graduating MFA student, Brian Glaser, at the Bakalar Gallery at MassArt. His show is entitled, "At Least Try to Settle Down," and the accompanying promotional image is of several blocks of wood with what looks like Pinnochio heads on top. (As an aside, the DVD of "Pinnochio" was "released from the Disney vault" this year and, as a father of two toung boys, I have been watching it multiple times over the last few weeks. Pinnochio is actually a really interesting story about morality and what it means to be a "real" boy. I am wondering of those themes will be present in Glaser's show.) Glaser is a thoughtful young artist who has created pieces out of found materials which as an assemblage have a greater social resonance. One example is a large, fluid metal piece that looks like a waterfall which was made out of paperclips that he collected door to door in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The paperclips weren't just any paperclips, they were the paperclips sent by FEMA to fasten the checks to the other claims paperwork. The scale of the piece, which weighs about 300 lbs, gives a sense of how many households were affected. His thesis show runs from 4/27 until 5/9, with a closing reception on Thursday, 5/7, from 6-8 PM.

Show Me the Muniz

Vik Muniz is a genius (hint to anyone who may be on the nominating committee for the MacArthur Foundation). His talk at the MFA last night was one of the best artist talks I have ever attended. Although the talk was structured around his work, it was really about perception. For him, the cross-over from seeing an overall image (which is something your brain constructs) to seeing what it really is really is (for example, a photo of twisted wire instead of a pencil drawing) is magical.
However, what struck me most was the underlying social aspects to his work. Not social in a conventional sense, but social in terms of making art accessible to everyone. He recalled some of his most cherished memories, which were bringing people to museums who had never been before and of cab drivers talking about his work to him. Muniz said that the best art appeals to the most people, which is so true but often forgotten in an art world full of inside jokes. He even has a project in Brazil in which he creates work with impoverished garbage dump workers and gives them 100% of the proceeds. Being able to actually create a better life for someone is really the best art.
After the talk, we took him and his son out to dinner. While he didn't create any works from the food left on his plate, he told many stories that we will never forget. Art is about the stories. Art is about the people.

Evening of Art (Sheffield and Muniz)

Looking forward to an evening of art.

First stop is the opening for an exhibit by Stephen Sheffield at The Achilles Project in Boston, entitled "A new look at some past & present work." Note: if you are reading this before the opening tonight, you have to be on the guest list. Video of the installation of the works is located at: http://stephensheffield.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/install/


Stephen's work can be seen around the Boston area in different venues. Judi Rotenberg gallery represents him and he has a great installation at Eastern Standard.



Then, I am lucky enough to be able to attend a talk being given at the MFA by Vik Muniz (http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.asp?eventkey=35610). As many know, Vik Muniz often uses somewhat unconventional materials to recreate well-known works of art or images, often of historical images. Some of my favorites are the pictures of pigments and pictures of chocolate (e.g., I especially like how the name Chocolate Pollack sounds).

Call Me

If you thought xeroxed prints were pushing the boundaries of contemporary printmaking, then today's offering on Jen Beckman's 20x200 is going to interest you. Jorge Colombo has done a series of drawings on his iPhone, using the Brushes app (one is shown here). These drawings remind me of impressionist pictures, even though the production methods differ considerably. The Impressionists would lug a canvas and paint to an outdoor site to paint the light, later showing their work in a salon. Colombo is making these pictures with light on a tiny glass screen, printing them out with a computer and showing them on the internet.

It's a Sign

Printed Matter just announced the release of a fund-raising edition by Jack Pierson (shown here). Pierson works in many media including photography, painting, and sculpture. Although some may know him from his portraits of young men, his imagery also spans the gamut. His work is in major museum collections, including the MFA, Boston. In writing the entry, I realized that the title of the piece I bought by Brian Glaser at the MassArt Auction in 2008 (a portrait of a man constructed from cigarette butts entitled, "I Will Leave Less Than This Behind," shown in the blog entry from 10/21/08) references a 1994 work by Pierson, "What You Take With You and What You Leave Behind." Pierson's piece is a photograph of a shirt draped over a chair with cigarette butts on the floor.
Anyway, Pierson has done an 8x10 C-print photograph in an edition of 100 (plus 10 APs) for $100. While the image may suggest caution, you shouldn't wait too long to buy it. You can buy it online at www.printedmatter.org or by phone (212-925-0325).

Mass Confusion

I left the MassArt Benefit Auction on Saturday night a little bewildered. It wasn't because of the art, it was because of the attendees. Whatever I thought I knew about the market, went totally out the window. An unlimited edition by Julian Opie went for four times its price on Opie's webstore (to multiple high bidders!), while amazing pieces, like David Ording's portrait of Lady Agnew (shown here) went for almost half-price. There were no surprises with the usual crowd pleasers in the live auction- Laura McPhee, Abe Morrell, and Ambreen Butt, but downstairs was literally a bargain basement with the exception of a (very) few works that seemed to have been originally priced too low. These included a couple of interesting student works by Jonathan Lewis and Lisa Foti, which were both bought at 150% of suggested price through the "buy it now" option. Many really good pieces that should have easily sold closed without any bids. Some of us got great deals on specific pieces that we had targeted (like the Michael Mazur print I won), but the best strategy would have been to bought in volume, picking up all of the decent work that didn't have bids. How could the same audience overbid for an Opie wall sticker and not place any bids on paintings that could have been won for a fraction of those bids. Were they just unknowledgeable buyers? Is there some twist on charity that I am missing?

Mike + Doug Starn

First stop on last weekend's trip to New York was a subway ride to the South Ferry stop at the tip of Manhattan to see Mike and Doug Starn's permanent installation. If you go, note that the South Ferry stop (1 & 9) and Winterhaven stop (R&W) are connected underground, so you can take any of the lines. The art itself is in the South Ferry stop and is inside the the turnstile, so you'll want to go in.

The installation reflects many of the Starn's photography styles, translated into industrial strength materials appropriate for high traffic.

There is a piece using translucent decaying leaf as the subject that is similar to the Starns' Black Pulse series.

The largest installation is similar to the Starns' Structure of Thought series. The originals are created by layering wax, encaustic and varnish. The subway version gives a similar feel (noted in the close-up photo), complete with the layering effect, though in this case under layers of some type of acrylic (my guess).

Not everything is familiar. The Starns include mosaic work and cut metal walls -- all tied together by the theme of nature.

The Starns were also featured in yesterday's New York Times Sunday magazine, where you can read about their huge contruction, Big Bambu, at Talix in Beacon, NY. We know Talix best for their works casting sculptures -- especially very large scale.

You Probably Think This Blog is About You

After our friend, R, recently asked a prominent photographer if he could commission a portrait, the photographer asked him, "What do you collect?" I (half-)joked that he should have said, "Images of myself." Vanity and narcissism have always been driving forces in the production and collection of art over the ages, so why not continue in the grand tradition? Is it really so bad to be self-centered if the universe is benefiting? Isn't that actually being kind of altuistic in a way?
Anyway, you all have the opportunity to have your portrait done by an artist that I really like, Futoshi Miyagi. Miyagi completed a project entitled, Strangers, in which he photographed himself with gay men who were strangers, posing in their homes. For his latest project, You Are There in Front of Me, he is taking portraits of people he meets in internet chat rooms via web-cams (one is shown here). This extends the concept of Strangers to people that he has never even met in person, but also plays with the ideas of anonymity on the internet and loss of privacy. I like that he is capturing an electronic image, something that is transient and mundane, and turning it into something tangible, enduring, and precious- all this from accross the globe (he lives in Japan). If you are interested in having your portrait done as part of this project, you can arrange it with Miyagi at futoshi.miyagi@gmail.com.

Josh Smith

Painter Josh Smith had a recent show at Luhring Augustine in NYC that art critic, Jerry Saltz, described as a "rush" and one of the bright spots in the current state of the arts. Smith's paintings are semi-abstract and often have primitive looking figures or even fish. While his paintings might be out of your recession/depression budget, you can pick up one of his limited edition artists books from Printed Matter for $300-$400. Usually done in editions of 30, the books are photocopies of sketchbooks. He also made a brilliant artist book last year that was a photocopy of the gallery sign-in book from his 2007 show at Luhring Augustine. The book is an interesting narrative of the art world told through signatures and comments, who came to the show and what they had to say. There is a deluxe version of this book in a signed edition of 100 plus 20 APS which includes a note by the gallery's associate director for $70.

When Graffiti Becomes Art, Does it Still Look Like Graffiti?

There's certainly no shortage of controversy around Shepard Fairey. Arrested the day his exhibition opened at the ICA, many wonder whether it was just a promotional stunt.

Another question, which has been less discussed, is now that his works have been publicly and critically accepted as legitimate art, would you want one in your neighborhood? That question came up recently, as one of the outdoor works that was placed by the ICA in conjunction with the exhibition resulted in a hearing with the South End Landmark Commission.

This work was placed on a residential townhouse with the permission of the owner. The South End is a very diverse neighborhood and one that has its own battles with graffiti on a daily basis. Does showing this work, as graffiti, promote art in the community or suggest that graffiti is acceptable?

The South End Landmark Commission voted 3-1 to allow this temporary art, so long as something is posted to indicate that the work is art (though, we note that this had not been done two weeks later).

The work is shown in the photo above. What do you think?

Don't miss the Kara Walker in today's NY Times OpEd

Kara Walker's interpretation of spring.

Andrew Raftery Gallery Talk at Davis

We've been watching Andrew Raftery for the past year. An Associate Professor at RISD, Andrew produces striking images of contemporary life using the very traditional medium of engraving. We saw his series of open houses at Mary Ryan at IFPDA in November.

This week, Andrew gave a gallery talk at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. The lecture was a discussion of etching and engraving techniques showcased in the Davis' current exhibition, Prints in an Age of Artistry. It is a wonderful exhibition that lets you compare and contrast how artists were using the various printmaking techniques in 16th and 17th century Italy.

Comparing printmaking to painting, Raftery, who had just visited the MFA's Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese exhibition noted that much within a painting is hidden, as the artist builds up layer and layer of paint. With prints, "it's all right there, nothing is hidden".

The exhibition, containing fine impressions and many rare working proofs, are all part of single private collection and are definitely worth a trip to the Davis.

Art in Aspen

I recently had the opportunity to visit Aspen, Colorado for the first time. The cute, but tourist-oriented downtown boasts over 20 galleries in a few square blocks. Seeing the really bad Rembrandt etching was almost a relief after looking at what seemed to be several galleries worth of "starving artist" works. These galleries made you yearn for a velvet Elvis.
After a little research, we did discover 2 galleries -- that in their ads at least --appeared to carry many of the artists that we know and love. In one, we were excited to find an Oldenburg drawing dated 1968. We inquired about the drawing and were disappointed when all the gallery rep could tell us was the date of the work, stating, "lot's of things come in and out of here". OK, but we expect a little bit more....

All was not lost. We did have a great conversation with Albert Sanford, the owner of Galerie Maximillian. He had just recieved some new monoprints by Mel Bochner. We've enjoyed seeing his Strong Words series and this year at ADAA the various Blah, Blah, Blahs. These new monoprints were very strong impressions with raised pulp -- almost a reverse embossment. Each letter is injected with pigment individually. These works may be seen on the gallery's site and also at Two Palms.

Rachel is ...

Boston artist, Rachel Perry Welty (represented by Barbara Krakow Gallery), did a really interesting performance piece last week (3/11/09) on Facebook. She updated her status almost every minute for 16 straight hours. Although this is similar to Kenneth Goldsmith's "Fidget," in which he transcribes every movement that his body made one day in 1997, Rachel Perry Welty has made a much more culturally relevent work. I have often joked about some of my Facebook friends who constantly update their status, saying that it's nice to know when they are using the toilet. If you would have been Rachel's Facebook friend that day, you would have been bombarded by updates, most of which were mundane and not really worthy of a status update. It brings up several questions: Why do some people feel the need to post updates that would interest nobody? How much information is too much? Where is the line between caring about soneone's update and wanting to remove them as a friend because they abuse updates? Do we really feel like the details of our daily lives are important enough to post publically? Is Facebook really a narcissistic activity instead of social networking?
If you are interested in checking out the piece, you have to become a friend of Rachel Perry Welty on Facebook.

Childs Gallery & L'Espalier team up

The latest issue of Design New England is out featuring our favorite traditional art gallery, Childs Gallery, and their collaboration with newly relocated Back Bay restaurant L'Espalier to the Mandarin Oriental space.

With the vision of NY based designer Martin Vahrta and sensibilities of restaurant owner and long-time Childs Gallery client Frank McClelland, they created a beautiful space to showcase art, drink wine, and of course, dine!

If you haven't yet checked it out, be sure to get over there soon.

Apenest

A few days ago I stumbled upon something that has me excited- Apenest. A collaboration between Brian Willmont (MassArt alum represented by Lamontagne Gallery) and Cody Hoyt, Apenest is described as an experimental publishing/printmaking project that publishes an annual book of artist contributions. It reminds me of the serial, Aspen (I think the similarities in names is probably intentional), published between 1965 and 1971, that contained items by artists such as Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and John Cage. There have been two issues so far, each only $15, hand-numbered in editions of 1,000. The issues contain extra goodies inside the book such as prints, stickers, and a bandana. They have also published two prints, one a silkscreen shown here by Willmont and Hoyt (26"x40") in an edition of 55 for only $25! I would much rather have one of those than the stuff 20x200 has been putting out lately. Sorry, Jen Beckman...

David Hilliard Benefit Print on sale now

We've previously blogged about the awesome David Hilliard benefit print for this years Summer Party at the MFA. Well, the link is up and you can buy it now before it runs out!
Ticket levels which include the print are as follows:

• Oro Guest: $525 (Museum Council members receive a $50 discount, limit one per member)
  Benefits include:
  Two tickets to the Party, including VIP lounge access
  One exclusive limited-edition benefit print by David Hilliard*
  Individual recognition on event program (listing deadline, May 15)
  $250 is not tax deductible
• Argento Guest: $375 (Museum Council members receive a $50 discount, limit two per member)
  Benefits include:
  One ticket to the Party, including VIP lounge access
  One exclusive limited-edition benefit print by David Hilliard*
  Individual recognition on event program (listing deadline, May 15)
  $150 is not tax deductible

All indications are that we will sell out again this year. Don't miss out!

South of the Border

Although Cambridge really isn't south, it does seem so far away to many Bostonians (including me). The drive across the Harvard Bridge is a much bigger obstacle than it should be. Whenever I'm in Cambridge I feel like I am on vacation, in another city with great things to do and where English is the primary language.
Yesterday, I checked out the List Center at MIT (which is in Cambridge). Right now there is a show by Melanie Smith, who lives in Mexico City and creates works about the city. The central piece in the exhibit is called "Spiral City," which is a grainy balck and white aerial video of Mexico City taken from a helicopter. The city becomes abstract patterns and it made me think about Mesoamerican hieroglyphics. Even more successful than this video is a series of gorgeous paintings that seem based on the video- abstract cityscapes from above done in tones of gray. The most beautiful painting was obstructed by a concrete wall built in the gallery in front of the painting- recreating the boundaries in Mexico City, keeping people out. If you go, make sure you also see the video playing across the hall. I won't tell you what it's about...

Vik Muniz gives us a Rube Goldberg experience at MOMA

Four of the Print Collectors managed to make the final weekend of MOMA's Artist's Choice + Vik Muniz = REBUS (and we even managed to get one of the MFA's curators to take the spin with us). What fun! We're all Muniz fans, but this exhibition did not contain any of Muniz' art, rather it consisted entirely of pieces chosen by Muniz from MOMA's permanent collection. The individual pieces -- all interesting -- were not the point; rather the relationship between one piece and the next (and the next) created a logical adventure.

As an example, a photograph of a man on a subway holding a goldfish by Philip-Lorca di Corcia, was followed by a yellow-gold hued painting, by Ellsworth Kelly, followed by a "Yolk" sculpture by Kiki Smith, then an egg timer designed by Rodolfo Bonett0 -- (Goldfish -> Gold -> golden egg yolk -> egg timer).

Some of the transitions were easier to guess than others and I'll admit it took me a while to realize that Vija Celmins stone sculpture, followed by a pair of Henckels shears, then Martin Creed's sheet of paper crumpled into a ball translated to: rock, scissors, paper!

Muniz managed to keep us guessing through 82 works ending finishing up with Ed Ruscha's "The End" and finally an EXIT sign designed by Wamble, Finley and Thorne.

David Hilliard

I know, I know, the blog has been dark the last couple weeks, but hopefully the posts will start being more frequent and regular again. If art imitated (my) life, I certainly wouldn't want to buy it right now.
Anyway, some big stuff has been happening this month. David Hilliard, who currently has a show at Carroll and Sons in the South End, will be doing the Benefit Print for the MFA Summer Party in June (shown here). Although Hilliard's photographs are in major museum collections across the US (including the MFA, Boston), I was most impressed when I went to an Elton John concert in Boston about 5-6 years ago and Sir Elton John himself gave him a big shout out, saying that Hilliard was a "brilliant" Boston-based photographer and that he collects his work.
At the opening at Carroll and Sons last week, Hilliard said that he studied film and video at MassArt as an undergrad, but was drawn to photography because the images are longer lasting and viewers can look at them as long they like. He feels that his film background influences his photography, in which he creates multiple images to be shown together as diptyches, triptyches, etc. Each photo is taken separately and they can be separated by distance, time, and/or perspective. The result does seem cinematic- and quite beautiful.
If you are interested in buying the Benefit Print, do so ASAP. Last year the print sold out.

Shepard Fairey at the ICA

(Images from: www. images.google.com)

The ICA opened its Shepard Fairey exhibit last night and despite the snowstorm, hundreds of people were in attendance to hear him talk about his work at a standing-room only packed auditorium. Shepard has been an artist for the past 20 years, even though he appears to be no more than 30 years old. Shepard began his public style of street art while still a student at RISD; he has a strong belief art should be a part of the public landscape. He indicated his roots are humble, being a poor student, he had to buy rolls of discontinued wallpaper sheets to use as the background for his street art. His first iconic image was of a stamp of Andre the Giant. Since then, 20 years later, his style has evolved into what we recognize today (President Obama's official portrait is one that Fairey did during the campaign and the Smithsonian's National Gallery acquired the portrait). Something Shepard said about the nature and style of his work really resonated with us and that is that he utilizes the highly recognized Communist-style propaganda look for its easy visual identity and imagery. Given that his street art needs to compete with other bold advertising, he prefers this aesthetic which allows him to deliver benevolence in a sinister looking package, which he believes invokes a cautious cynicism for his audience to be wary of the sinister in a benevolent package. Take a close look at the pretty female images where there is a military element in the background or read the fine print in some of the more benevolent looking imagery and you'll see what he means. This is a "must-see" show for the art aficionados among us.


Given his show at the ICA opening this week, he has been in the Boston area creating new works. With the snow from the past 2 weeks, he indicated it was nice to be back in New England, snow at all..and that it was just like in the old days, the cold and possible police intervention, had him working at a faster pace again. For a map of where his outdoor works can be found, here is a link:

http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/fairey/outdoor/


As an aside, he also has an image on the 2004 Kenwood Vineyards 30th Anniversary Artists Series bottles , which they served at the reception (2,100 cases made and the wine retails for about $70)- this guy is H-O-T right now!

Given his overall success and hotness factor right now, I decided to ask a Curatorial friend at the MFA his thoughts and he replied he liked the artist's work but wondered if it was the artwork or the images that would have the staying power... an interesting question to ponder, as we all race to get a limited edition of Shepard's book and 4 signed prints....

Wow! Researching Prints in the MFA's Morse Study Room

The MFA's Morse Study Room for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs is an absolutely amazing resource available to collectors eager to learn more about their collection or potential acquisitions. When working with a dealer, it is often possible to have a print sent to the MFA on approval to allow you to compare the work to one or more similar ones at the MFA. Older prints in particular vary widely in terms of impression quality and condition -- which greatly impact value. Even prints within the same edition may have been produced inconsistently.
We had an appointment yesterday with Stephanie Stepanek, an expert in the area we are researching; and we were also lucky to have a chance to chat with the head of the department, Cliff Ackley.

We started our research with the catalogue raisonne, which describes what is known about each print -- typically listing trial proofs, working proofs and each edition -- documenting what is known about each round including paper, changes to the plate, number in the edition, etc. The MFA is a great resource for these are dealers and even the Boston Public Library. (Although...they are not always in English). (although we did benefit from additional hand annotations by MFA researchers). These books help you to identify the edition of the print you are researching.

The really amazing part of our visit was the fact that the MFA had 6 different versions of the print we were comparing to our potential acquistion, which they had out on display for our examination. In this case, we were able to see several that would be considered to be better, one worse and a few that would really depend on your personal preference.

Cliff mentioned that many people tell him that they don't stop by because they don't want to "bother" the staff, but that they really hope people utilize their resources so that they can make educated purchases.

J.

The Printed Picture

Ever wonder what a rotogravure is? Or how to do a pantograph etching? MacArthur Fellow and former Dean of the Yale School of Art, Richard Benson, published a book this fall that is a must have for print collectors, The Printed Picture. This book is a series of one-page essays on the techniques of printing reproducible images along with pictures of examples. MOMA in NYC also currently is doing a show based on this book, so you can go there are see actual examples up close (instead of looking at reproductions of reproduced images). The book retails for $60, but is only $37.80 on Amazon.

Visit to the Rose

We (and the rest of the greater Boston area) rushed out to Waltham today to visit the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis. I'd heard that they typically get about 30 visitors today and there were definitely over 100 people there while we were there this afternoon. We enjoyed our walkthrough, but were dissappointed in how few of the museum's own works were on display. We saw one classic example by Lichtenstein, Ruscha, Rauchenburg, Oldenburg, Warhol and Picasso, but did not see any works by de Kooning, Johns nor Magritte. With most of the space dedicated to shows which featured borrowed works, I felt we saw only a fraction of the over 8,000 pieces that they apparently own. Let's hope they mount a greatest hits show before they shutter the museum.

(The latest scuttlebutt is that Brandeis may or may not sell any/some/all of the art, but closing the museum gives them more flexiblity because they will no longer have to follow the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) guidelines for deaccessioning art.)

J.

Selling Art for Operating Expenses?

Just read that the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University plans to sell off the ENTIRE holdings of the museum to raise money for the University (their endowment has been badly beaten of late). Many museums' charters don't let them sell art for operating expenses for the museum itself (much less for a parent organization like a university). Where not specified, it is generally frowned upon. It raises the question of the intent of the donors, for one thing. Brandeis is currently sorting through the wills and other legal agreements to see how it can proceed. I would expect that if most donors wanted their money to go to operating budget, they would have made a general donation. (for more info, see article in today's New York Times).

Time for a trip to Rose before it's gone!

Track Lighting (for museums and the rest of us)

I get a lot of questions about lighting both artwork and interiors in general, so I want to share some very useful info. I sent this article to J & E a while back when I was helping them redesign their space and in turn maximize their lighting story for their art. I referred to it recently for another project I am working on because I find it very handy - especially the section in determining the proper location for the tracks. For instance, to avoid glare and shadows, lights should be angled between 30 and 45 degrees.

I think the example they give in the picture sets the viewing level a bit low (5'), but you can easily recalculate the "adjacent" distance from wall to track by remembering your trig ratios for right triangles (math geeks unite!):







where a = ceiling height
and A = angle in degrees

The article goes on to discuss the steps museums take to avoid prolonged exposure of art and artifacts to ultraviolet radiation, the need for UV filters, and profound (positive) effect dimmers have on contributing to the long-term preservation of art and objects.

Part One
Part Two

Archiving a collection

Following up on R’s nice blog about the value of cataloguing a collection, I want to reiterate, from a practical perspective, the value of doing this; it really brings into a nice, neat place, the archive of what a collection looks like that you have probably spent a good deal of time, energy and resources on. I’m not a big database creator, but recently I have taken on the project of creating the archive of our art collection for our own personal information, and more importantly, for insurance purposes for the select “top 20” (now we know that a dealer can really benefit from a glimpse into a personal archive to determine the interests of the collector). But as I mentioned, for now, the project is just practical in nature, as it has been on our “to-do” list for quite some time and it was time to just get it done. Let me tell you, it’s a HUGE job, but so worth it!It’s daunting, so take it in stages.

First, we created a notebook with the receipts which we had over the years just mashed into a file and thrown into the fireproof safe. After sorting them and uncrinkling them, flattening them out in the transparent dividers and creating a semblance of order, I started to file them. Doing this, I embarked on a pretty fun walk down memory lane as I remembered the where, when and with whom we acquired the pieces and if we had an “unveiling” party or not after their hanging.
Next, with the handy Excel program, I listed the artwork we have in each of the homes with the artist name, pertinent information, purchase price, present value and where it was acquired. The big surprise is that we have 70 pieces of artwork – no wonder the walls look like they do and we’re starting to hang ‘salon-style’ all around!

With the contact information now at my fingertips, I started to email the galleries where the artworks were acquired (yes, you along with us will likely have some pieces that have no gallery representation, and will be filed without all the information) and mentioned the need for insurance valuations. Fortunately, the gallery owners are VERY responsive and prompt in their replies, sending formalized documents by mail and email. It’s terrific! And in the end, the great thing is that with the art work in the collection collection, there are bound to be a few fun surprises. We buy because we are moved by a piece, but let me tell you how moved you will be when a piece here or there appreciates significantly in value since the acquisition. Makes you feel good! So, go forth and start to gather your data… it’s a good project to remind you of what you own, and if you go to the end goal of determining what to insure as a result of it, the icing on the cake is peace of mind!

Notes on Collecting

I often joke that art dealers are collectors that cannot afford the collection, or frustrated artists that lack real talent. Art dealers, we are taught to believe, are gifted in their ability to influence tastes and trends, and to guide collectors to that special work that "just fits" within their collection. As many a curator has said before...it is often the collector that guides market, which in turn influences the dealer to seek out that special thing. Every now and then, through my position as a dealer (if you hadn't already guessed), I am struck by the degree to which collectors drive the market. I have just acquired the exclusive rights, as agent, to a remarkable art collection, assembled over a 50 year span, of paintings, prints and drawings...that in so many ways reflect all that is wonderful about the true joy of collecting - something that I think all readers and posters to this blog share. The most remarkable aspect of the collection, works aside, is the extent to which the couple catalogued their own collection. Each work has its own notecard (pre-excel days), that lists all of the relevant catalogue information, including source, acquistion date, price and subsequent offerings of the same or similar work on the market. This information has given me a tremendous insight into the market of their interests, which in turn has given me countless ideas of how to market their work. Indeed, there are already three gallery shows planned around the "r" collection. I hope that this re-presentation of the collection, seen through the dealer's eye, will enhance the stature of the collection, make their children proud, and share with other collectors the great joys that this couple so cherished. To learn more about another great collector, please click here. r

Conceptual Artist Books by Women

As wall space and the economy become even more difficult, I have retreated to artist books, which is what I started with as a collector. This week I bought a first edition copy of Yoko Ono's Grapefruit (the US version published in 1970) from a bookdealer in VT through Amazon. The book is a series of instructions, which in concept, would create works of art. For me, the concept is so much more interesting than the product anyway.
Three of the most interesting artist books I own are by women artists. Although putting the term "women" before the word "artists" is sometimes considered bad nowadays, I use the term deliberately because these books play with gender and its stereotypes.

Take Care of Yourself by Sophie Callie (shown here). This book is a compilation of Calle's piece(s) for the French Pavillion at the 2007 Venice Biennale. Her boyfriend broke up with her over e-mail and she had 107 different women interpret the e-mail for her. The 107 women ranged from police officers to psychiatrists and all had their own perspectives. This book is a limited edition of 4,000 copies in English.

Jens F. by Collier Schorr. In this strange, but beautiful book, Schorr attempts to replicate some of scenes of Andrew Wyeth's Helga using an adolescent German boy- who seems to be going through puberty over the years in which the photos were shot. This book is a signed limted-edition of 1,000.

The Nam by Fiona Banner. Banner is a British artist known for her text-based works, drawings of punctuation marks, and more recently figher planes. In this unpaginated book, she describes in detail what happens during every Viet Nam movie of the 1980's as if it were happening as one seemless scene. The hardcover version of this book is a signed limited edition of 250.

Sol Lewitt at MASS MoCA

The Sol Lewitt wall drawing retrospective is a massive installation of 1005 wall drawings which span a large exhibition of spaces on 3 floors of MASS MoCA. One of the interesting aspects of owning a Sol Lewitt wall drawing is that you actually buy the plans for the drawing and then you have someone, perhaps someone form Sol Lewitt's studio, or an art student actually put the art on your wall. This gives you the opportunity to move it to a new location (provided you paint over the exisiting image). The instructions are part of what you buy and the installation at MASS MoCA had some nice works where you could see how Lewitt specified the different shapes in the piece, the different combinations that are used in the piece and then a grid for how the combinations of shapes are used.

Facebook

Today we are trying to integrate this blog with Facebook, hoping that new posts can go out as e-mails through the system. Once we have 10 official followers through Facebook, it should be searchable on that page. If you would like a personal invitation to join the blog group on Facebook, please send us an e-mail.

Take Your Place in History

Another one of my favorite artists, On Kawara, currently has a show at David Zwirner Gallery in NYC. Kawara is famous for making paintings of the date and sending daily postcards to friends stating, "I am still alive." The show at Zwirner focuses on his 20-volume book series, One Million Years, in which he lists, year by year, one million years before 1969 (when the project was started) and one million years after 1969. I bought an hour-long recording of an excerpt of the book being read about 10 years ago (and S hates it so much that I am not allowed to play it at home). As part of the show, Zwirner is producing a CD recording of all of the books being read and you can sign up to be a reader. There are two recording booths in the gallery to immortalize your recitation of years for years to come. Information to do this is available on the gallery's website: www.davidzwirner.com.

Eastern Standard in Western Mass

Went to MASS MoCA this weekend for the first time (glad I finally made it there). If you have not been there yourself, it is definitely worth seeing if you can arrange a weekend in the Berkshires and get over to MoCA for 2-3 hours. Very cool gallery space (located in a complex of renovated 19th century factory buildings). Saw a number of interesting Burtynsky pieces in the exhibit "Eastern Standard: Western Artists in China." However, I think I still prefer more of the images from the Quarries series and Breaking Ground series.

Even Though You Aren't Into Posters

The magazine, Art on Paper, edited by the duo from Triple Candie in NYC, has commissioned a series of limited edition posters. Before you start associating to your Shawn Cassidy (or Farrah Fawcett) poster from childhood or those "fine art" posters that are reproductions of Impressionist paintings, STOP and think "small limited edition" and "established contemporary artists." The first in the series is by Polly Apfelbaum and is shown here. (When I think about Apfelbaum, I think of our friend E who not only owns one of her cheery multi-colored flower prints, but is the human equivalent of that work. We love you, E!) Although the posters can be ordered in one of 3 sizes for $200, $400, or $1,000, the total edition size is 50. If you can get past the idea of poster, these are amazing prices. Her prints go for ten times as much. The posters can be ordered by phone at (212) 675-1968.

Look at Me

Recently I have become interested in portraiture, especially photographic portraits. Two things have been contributing to this interest: having my portrait taken by Martin Parr last month and seeing the Karsh 100 show at the MFA, Boston. While a portrait presents information about the sitter, it also conveys information about the artist: technical skills, perspectives, and the editing of reality. There are two upcoming courses on portraiture in Boston. One is a one-week intensive course at the SMFA in March called, Identity: The Contemporary Portrait, taught by Sean Johnson. The other is a 4-week seminar at the Photographic Resource Center, Contemporary Trends in Photographic Portraiture, taught by Roswell Angier (2/17-3/10/09). If you can't do either, Roswell Angier has a book about taking photographic portraits, Train Your Gaze, available on Amazon.
I especially like portraits in which the artist inserts him/herself. Christine Rogers, a SMFA alum who is now on faculty there, did a series in which she had her photo taken with other families having their portraits taken at a commercial studio. Futoshi Miyagi did a series of photos of himself with gay men who were strangers, in their apartments (shown here). These photographers play with the ideas of insertable intimacy and the deconstruction of relationship images.

Bridge on the Verge

Yet another sign of the soft economy. I have received several emails in the past few weeks from Bridge Art Fair, extending their deadline for exhibiting in at their New York fair in March. The most recent mailing was promoting a new, lower cost option in their "Verge" section. These "booths" are 100 sq feet and cost $5,000 -- half the size and price of a regular booth. It was an interesting fair last year. Hopefully it will manage to fill the space by March.

Lalla Essaydi at MFA

Lalla Essaydi, a SMFA alum, will be giving a visiting artist lecture on Thursday, 1/22/09, at 12:30 PM in the Riley Seminar Room at the MFA. She also currently has work on view in the new Herb Ritts Gallery at the MFA. She is known for her staged photographs of Moroccan women covered with calligraphy. While they may seem to be simple images at first, they are actually quite radical. Supposedly in Islam, women are not allowed to write using this calligraphy. A few years ago we bought one of her photographs of 3 women writing on each other, a very defiant act. I especially liked the performance aspect. In Boston, she is represented by Howard Yeserski Gallery.

Road Trip: LaMontagne Gallery

There are even more reasons to check out the LaMontagne Gallery in South Boston. The one that I am most excited about is a new sound piece by Benjamin Chaffee that was created specifically for your ride to the gallery on the MBTA bus, from Copley Square to Fort Point Channel. You can download it and listen to it on your own personal audio equipment. It can be downloaded at www.musicforcircumstances.com, but it's not up yet. I am expecting it to be up by the opening of Andrew Witkin's new show at the gallery on Saturday, 1/10/09, from 6-8 PM.

According to the press release, Andrew Witkin's project is a companion presentation to the one he currently has on view at Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art as part of the ICA's Foster Prize Exhibition. For this exhibition, he will be showing a group of 144 t-shirts, each with a different text (by various people) on them, each hung on a hanger, ready to be read. There will also be a group of pieces surrounding the shirts, ranging from a stereo playing an ever-increasing number of versions of the American traditional song, "Stagolee", to an arrangement of mirrors, to a check-list as study guide as notebook, among other found, altered, designed and organized objects.

The gallery is also having a series of talks on Wednesdays in January and February.

Manuel de Santaren (Wednesday, Jan 28, 7pm) will present a talk on his current interests, as pertaining to engaging a hypothetical space.

Daniel Scholnick (Wednesday, Feb 4 7pm) bought a ramshackle building in Philadelphia four years ago and has, by hand, been renovating it with the goal of helping his local community, becoming a resident, creating a quality art creation space, all in a sustainable and affordable manner. Scholnick will talk about having a project that's simultaneously a performance, the building of one's home and an act of entrepreneurialism (a performed act of artistic applied political economy).

Andrew Witkin (Wednesday, Feb 10, 7pm) will give a walk through of "Others Among Others" and will discuss related projects, among other topics.