Archive for October, 2008
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Margaret Kilgallen Theft
We just got word that these two pieces by the late Margaret Kilgallen were stolen from Gallery 16 in San Francisco, on the morning of Oct. 15. The pieces belong to the gallery’s owner, who was a personal friend of Kilgallen’s, and were being exhibited as part of the 15 Years of Gallery 16 anniversary show. Anyone with information should contact vanessa@gallery16.com
Some people are just despicable…
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Community Outreach is Back
Many of us have been wondering what happened to Community Outreach, the Canadian gallery responsible for showcasing the talents of some amazing U.S. artists like Barry McGee and Clare Rojas across our northern border. Now, CO’s founder is back with Paul Bright Gallery and an exciting roster of represented artists including Matt Leines, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Taylor McKimens, and Ben Jones. The official opening takes place Saturday, Nov. 6, with an exhibit by Marc Bell, whose last state-side solo show was over a year ago.
I couldn’t find a suitable image for this post, so here you have an amazing composite Paul sent over a year ago of the walls of the Community Outreach back room – click for the bigger view.
Paul Bright Gallery
1265 Bloor St.
Toronto, ON
info@paulbrightgallery.com
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
NY Art Book Fair
The New York Art Book Fair runs this weekend, Friday, Oct 24. – Sunday, Oct. 26, at Phillips de Pury, making a visit pretty easy for those planning on attending this weeks Saturday @ Phillips auction. The free event, sponsored by Printed Matter, includes more than 140 international exhibitors including publishers and sellers of contemporary art books, catalogs, artist books and zines. The Art Collectors looks forward to checking out PictureBox, Ooga Booga, and Nieves, who who will host a signing of Taylor McKimens’ new artist book, Some Kind of Livin’, at 2pm on Saturday.
The New York Art Book Fair
Phillips de Pury
450 W. 15th St., 3rd. @ 10th Ave., Floor
Fri. Oct. 24/Sat. Oct. 25 – 11am-7pm, Sun. Oct 26 – 11am-5pm
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Recap::Doze Green + Blek Le Rat in NYC
This past weekend marked the opening of new exhibitions by two graffiti pioneers, Doze Green and Blek Le Rat, at Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. In Paris-New York, New York-Paris, Blek Le Rat presents a new body of his signature stencil and spray-paint canvases, while Doze Green unleashes a massive body of new mixed media paintings in his show, entitled N.O.O.N. The Art Collectors was on hand opening night, so read on for the photo recap and click on pics for larger views. Read the rest of this entry »
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Jim Houser + Richard Colman, White Walls, SF
Beginning Nov. 1, artists Jim Houser and Richard Colman will be exhibiting new works in a joint show at White Walls Gallery. With both artists known for their intricate installation work, it will be exciting to see how they transform this San Francisco gallery space. Check out images from Jim’s last NY solo show here and Richard’s website here
Jim Houser + Richard Colman
Nov. 1 – Dec. 1
White Walls Gallery
835 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
andres@whitewallssf.com
Friday, October 17th, 2008
KRUNK: Futura, Strategic Synchronicity Website Update
Wrapping up the Los Angeles experience, the KRUNK website is now updated with photography, and video, as well as a subtle face-lift. Keep checking back for updates to the collections section, where you will find info on where some of the artwork from the show has ended up.
Friday, October 17th, 2008
Cheryl Dunn Has a Fantastic Collection
The Selby just posted an intimate look inside the New York home of photographer/director, Cheryl Dunn, and director/producer, Michael Karbelnikoff. The photos also give us a glimpse of a fantastic art collection, including works by Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee, Steve Powers (ESPO), Chris Johanson, Clare Rojas, Scott Campbell, and Matt Leines. Check out the three ESPO gems in the shot above, including a rare jar and can from the influential Street Market exhibit, circa 2000. We’ve identified the rest of our favorites here….so read on. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Phillips de Pury Representing Annie Leibovitz
Image: AP/Mary Altaffer
All eyes were on Damien Hirst when the artist partnered with Sotheby’s for Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, the officially sanctioned auction and exhibition of over 200 brand new works that yielded profits of $198 million. Now Phillips de Pury and photographer, Annie Leibovitz, have taken the artist-auctioneer relationship one step further. In an unprecedented move, the auction house has announced it will serve as the official dealer for the artist’s work. Phillips will take responsibility for the sale of Leibovitz’s Master Set – 200 works spanning the artist’s career, individually selected by Leibovitz herself. Each large format print is priced at $37,000 (£ 20,000), and in stark contrast to the Hirst model, none will be sold at auction. The sale will coincide with two London exhibits – one at Phillips, from Oct. 23 – Nov. 22, and the retrospective, Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990 – 2005, running Oct. 16 – Feb. 1 at the National Portrait Gallery.
The announcement comes in the wake of the recent buy out of Phillips by Russian luxury retailing powerhouse, the Mercury Group.
Sources: Art Info / The Art Newspaper
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Are Collectors Killing Art?
In the wake of London’s Frieze Art Fair, Sarah Thornton has written an interesting article for The Guardian on the hightened commercialization of art, its recent impacts on the market, and influence over artists’ creativity and art itself. With the global economic downturn and tapering off of rampant art speculation, this one’s well worth a read. Thornton has also published a new book, Seven Days in the Art World, an ethnographic look into the contemporary art world, viewed through the eyes of a cultural sociologist.
“If the work is free, is it art?’ – Sarah Thornton for The Guardian
Last Sunday night at the Old Vic theatre in London, the heavy hitters of the art world went to watch Drama Queens, a play by the artists Elmgreen and Dragset, in which five sculptures come to life and have an art-historical battle of egos. Tate director Nicholas Serota was there, as were Tracey Emin, Peter Doig and New York power critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith. On stage, Barbara Hepworth’s Elegy III flirted with Sol Lewitt’s Four Cubes, while Giacometti’s Walking Man glided about making existential comments.
But the self-appointed star of the show was Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, whose voice was delivered live from the balcony by Kevin Spacey. As the bunny zoomed out from the wings, he squealed, “Hey, hey! Look, look, a rabbit!” After several manic laps of the stage, he began to tire. “So much stress,” he complained. “I need to see my banker, my gallerist, my investment manager and my art editor. I need to see my AA sponsor. And I need to see my agent. There’s some sponsorship thing we’re trying to figure out. They want to fill me with helium and float me over Beijing.”
After nearly a decade of art-market expansion, this image of a shiny happy bunny full of hot air, soaring over a newly capitalist city centre, could hardly be more apt. When I started researching a book about the art world five years ago, it was a quieter, less crowded place. You could walk into swishy evening auctions without tickets. You could find a Venetian hotel room at the last minute for the opening days of the Biennale. You could buy art by a young artist from an east London dealer for less than £2,000. But over the past five years, people and money from around the globe have poured into the art world, making it spin faster and more lavishly. By 2006, dealers and auction specialists were talking with wide-eyed disbelief about the art world’s remarkable “liquidity”. Where all this money came from, nobody really knew. Given the current economic crisis, is it about to dry up? As Frieze art fair opens for business in London’s Regent’s Park, and with major auctions scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday, we shall soon see.
What doesn’t get much talked about is the effect all this money has on artists, and on art itself. Has contemporary art become decadent and status-fixated? Click through and read the rest here
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Brendan Monroe + Evah Fan in Paris
Artist couple, Brendan Monroe and Evah Fan are currently exhibiting at Galerie L.J. Beaubourg, in Paris. The show runs until Nov. 8. Read the rest of this entry »