The View from the Edge of the Universe

Atlanta's Angela West featured in Blind Spot

The Spring '05 issue of Blind Spot will hit the newsstands in a week or two (we're a lil' slow down here in 'lanta) and features work by Angela West from her Nature Morte series.  I'm proud to say that West debuted this work last summer in  "Inappropriate? Contemporary Artists Pillage Art History" a show that I organized and curated.  Works from Nature Morte are available from Jackson Fine Art and are priced at a very reasonable $1,800 in an edition of 12.  Its great to see that another Atlantan has stepped into the national spotlight and deservedly so.  Incidentally, West also has work from her Sweet Sixteen series on display now at the Hirshorn in D.C.
The current Blind Spot also features new work by two of my faves - Richard Misrach and Katy Grannan.

I Might Dish It Out, But I Can Take It Too

Here are some of my photographs.  Have at me.  Instant reviews welcome.

Instant Reviews by Crit' & Run

Are you longing to have your opinion heard but don't possess the requisite genius to write an art blog?  Is Micheal Kimmelman not returning your phone calls?  Here is your opportunity to express your insight and views on the art world. 
Presenting instant reviews by Crit' & Run! This is a fun project that you can do with the kids.
Here is what you'll need:
1. Heavyweight paper pre-perforated for printing business cards (available at your local office supply store). Alternatively, you can use regular paper and cut them out yourself.
2. Light duty mounting squares or other easy-to-use adhesive.
Now comes the fun part:
1. Download Crit' & Run's instant reviews here.  There are 20 unique reviews and 10 blank cards so you can write your own reviews.
2. Print the file on the business card paper.  It takes three pieces of paper.
3. Separate the instant reviews at the perforations or cut the reviews apart.
4. Apply a mounting square to the back of each card, leaving the protective film on the exposed sticky side.
5. Attend your next local gallery or museum show with your cards in hand and when you see a piece of art worthy of a review, remove the protective film and stick the review right on the wall next to the artwork.  Wa la!  Instant Critic! 
6. Join the ranks of Clement Greenberg, Hilton Kramer and Roberta Smith in shaping the direction of art history. 

....but it won't air in Atlanta that's for sure

Reality TV has hit the art world.  Artstar (yes Scott, artstar) is an unscripted documentary about the NY artworld sponsored in part by Deitch Projects.

From the site:
Gallery HD and Deitch Projects announces ARTSTAR, a groundbreaking new television documentary. ARTSTAR is the first-ever unscripted television series set in the New York art world. Selected from this open call, eight artists will have the opportunity to participate in a group exhibition at Deitch Projects, and may have a chance to land their own solo exhibition with Deitch Projects. ARTSTAR will document these eight artists as they interact with leading critics, collectors, curators and artists in New York, while making new artworks as part of a historic collaborative exhibition at Deitch Projects.

Who To Buy Now: An Atlanta Perspective

I asked several  Atlanta collectors to recommend one or two artists that they would recommend as a smart buy. Here is what they had to say:

Collector Rob Stone recommends Xing Danwen (Kiang Gallery $2,500 - $10K, depending on format and edition). Stone “fell in love with Xing Danwen's work at the Sydney Biennale, overwhelmed by her massive prints of technological rubbish--visually lush while eliciting a deeply unsettling awareness of what lies beneath our typically unquestioning relationship with technology, and how that relationship is predicated on uneasy geopolitical dynamics. As an Atlanta resident, I was delighted to discover that Xing Danwen has local representation at Kiang Gallery, giving us a great opportunity to engage with the work of a rising contemporary Chinese photographer.” 

Collector Jeffrey Cohen picks work by Californian Larry Sultan from his “Pictures from Home” and “The Valley” series. (Wirtz Gallery & Janet Borden $2K- $5K) and says “His work has yet to be universally recognized even though he has had a solo exhibitions at SFMOMA, the Corcoran and the Brooklyn  Museum of Art. Sultan has developed a "voice" that makes his work recognizable and has a huge breadth of work. He is an established artist whose prices have lagged behind the darlings of the art world for no apparent reason.” 

Collector Eric Fishman has a number of picks including Tom Hunter (White Cube $3K-$6K) and comments that his “Vermeer-esque portraits are beautiful, moving and full of emotion”. Also on Fishman’s list is Valerie Belin (Brent Sikkema $5K - $10K). Fishman recently acquired a black and white mannequin photo and finds it “absolutely stunning - one of the most powerful portraits I’ve ever seen”. Belin has a show up now at Sikkema. Fishman also likes Larry Sultan (as do I) for a great value purchase and picks Hiroshi Sugimoto (Sonnabend $15K - $80K) as his big bucks blue chip pick. Says Fishman: “His work is not cheap by any means, but it's also not terribly expensive either for its quality; good drive-in theaters can still be had in the $15-25K range and seascapes in the $20-40K range.” Fishman believes that a Sugimoto is an easy sell if necessary even in a slow market. 

Artist and collector Scott Ingram is focused more on tomorrow’s stars and lists William Cordova (Saltworks Gallery, Richard Heller Gallery $1K-$50K) and Iona Rozeal Brown (Caren Golden Fine Art, $2K-$15K; Brown will also have a solo show at Saltworks Gallery this fall) Ingram finds Cordova’s work “fresh and full of energy” but warns that his work is in high demand since Cordova limits its availability. Brown’s work is also in high demand. Ingram comments: “The work is fresh, humorous, hip, and as beautifully composed and arranged as the hip hop it represents. She has been everywhere, LA, NYC, DC, Atlanta, Japan…you name it. She is doing it. If you can get one you better do it now, when the next Iona world tour starts you'll be waiting in line.” 

Collector, writer and curator Rebecca Dimling-Cochran picks Adam Pendleton. (Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Yvon Lambert Gallery $3K-$6K).  Dimling Cochran comments: “Pendleton's works are very conceptual: text written on canvas. There is nothing painterly about them. He silk-screens the surface, creating flat planes of color. The sayings are the meat of the work. Pendleton breaks his sentences in unusual places, as if someone were adding emphasis to something or breathing between the words. Thus the type also becomes a compositional element that creates void areas that play with the idea of figure and ground.  The text itself talks about human relationships, but there is a musical aesthetic to them- some seem to be inspired by the blues, others by rap. They're poetic, and definitely come from an African American experience. Incorrect English is pushed to extremes at points, as if to emphasize the source of its inspiration.” Pendelton has a show up now at Rhona Hoffman and will have an upcoming show at Yvon Lambert’s NYC branch.

Collector Lawrence Nathan selects Bill Owens (Robert Koch Gallery and directly from Owens via his website…modern prints $1,200-$3K; vintage prints $4K-$15K) Per Nathan: “Owens is well known, has three books, just had a solo at ICP, 70s photography is getting a lot of press, his prices are very reasonable and according to his agent they are about to increase”. Along the same lines as Fishman’s blue chip Sugimoto choice, Nathan also likes Irving Penn (Fraenkel Gallery $5K - $100K) and William Eggleston (Cheim & Read  $10K - $250K). 

Yours truly (Erik Schneider, collector and writer of this blog) picks Wardell Milan (Samson Projects $1,800-$2,000). Milan is a recent Yale MFA grad and is starting to garner considerable attention for his work in the Big Apple. Wardell builds and then photographs tableaux vivants that immediately remind me of the collages of Richard Hamilton filtered through post modernist photographic theory. I particularly like the fact that  Milan photographs himself, cuts out the images for use in his assemblages and then re-photographs the results. It’s a little Cindy Sherman mixed with a bit of Richard Prince and tossed into a James Casebere set-up photo. Despite all these references,  Milan’s photos are like none I’ve ever seen.  Samson Projects will be bringing Milan to the Scope Fair in New York next month.

 

 

 

P.S.: 1 thing I’m sure of is that Milan is bound for greater things in New York during the upcoming months.

Alex Katz at USF CAM

Settle down Atlanta, the USF CAM is not a musuem in Atlanta that is actually willing to show art by major living contemporary artists.  No, I'm in Tampa and the museum is at the University of South Florida.  The exhibition consists of about 50 works and includes paintings, drawings and prints from the last 25 years.  Most interesting was the inclusion of works along with their prepartory studies and cartoons.  GraphicStudio is also on the USF campus and is a serious printmaking workshop.  They have editions available by many major artists including Vik Muniz and Ed Ruscha.

Paul Pfeiffer - February's Best Buy

Because of the weak U.s. dollar, my best buy for February just squeaked in under the $1,000 limit.  Paul Pfeiffer's "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse #7" is a digital duraflex print that measures 12.6 x 15.75 inches and comes in an edition of 30 plus 5 artist's proofs.  The print is part of the special edition version of Pfeiffer's monograph published by Hatje Cantz and available here.  Special thanks to my new collector friend Dean from Honolulu for cuing me into this piece.  The photograph and book will run you EUR 700 or approximately $913 plus shipping.
Pfeiffer first received national recognition at the 2000 Whitney Biennial where his signature video work was presented.  In the years since then, Pfeiffer has rose to international prominence and is now represented by Gagosian.  Pfeiffer has used professional basketball imagery in many of his video and photographic works and I believe that this piece translates well into a smaller size.  The relatively small edition coupled with the high demand for his work will ensure a fast sell out! 

Sell Your Art? Artprice offers art classifieds

Artprice has begun a classified ad service for galleries and collectors who wish to place art for sale on the web.  For now, it costs $49 to post an ad, with discounts for block purchases.
I spent some time browsing through the items for sale.  It felt a bit like looking at art on ebay...lots of works for sale, but not too many gems, which isn't surprising.  There is a Van Gogh listed at $4.5M on the site, so maybe high quality work will find its way there eventually.  I looked through all the photographs for sale and many were the same pieces available at eyestorm.  I hope though, that the concept proves successful at some level.  For me, a collector in Atlanta with limited resale options, it could be a viable alternative to selling at auction.  Not that I have any plans to sell anything anytime soon.
They also have a feature where you can post a "wanted" ad if you are searching for a particular artwork.
The searching and filtering options on the site are limited and must be improved. 
All in all, its a good way to kill 30 minutes for now.

Ho Hum, I was right about the art market....

The winter contemporary auctions at Sothebys and Christies have wrapped up in London and prices remained strong as I predicted here.  I still believe that the unprecedented access to art market information has attracted more buyers which in turn increases demand and prices.
You can read all about the million dollar paintings that sold in next month's Art in America, so I thought I'd summarize how the photographers did this time around  (you can get the details on Artnet here):
Gursky: COOL Of the  five Gursky's up for sale, 2 were bought in and the remaining 3 sold for within their estimate.  Granted, none were Gursky's best work indicating that the middle Gursky market is not attractive to buyers.
Struth: WARM 4 Struths were up for sale...2 were passed on including a "Museum" piece.  The Struths were not the best either. However, a piece from his "Paradise" series sold nearly 50% over its high estimate.
Hofer HOT 2 pieces sold at well over their high estimate. She's no longer a bargain.
Esser RED HOT One piece sold for $93K, nearly triple its high estimate.
Ruff HOT & COLD of the 5 up for sale, 3 sold for near over over the high estimate and the other 2 were passed on.  This is not unusual for Ruff becasue of the broad specturm of his work.
Bechers HOT & COLD One sold for 32% over the high estimate whilte the other didn't sell at all.
Sugimoto HOT Sugimoto is the safest bet in photography.  Of the 6 for sale, one was bought in, but the other 5 sold for near or over their high estimates.
Serrano HOT Even though one didn't sell, 2 other more difficult images sold.  A "Morgue" image sold for $11K, 80% over its high estimate.
Dicorcia COOL A "Heads" piece, usually very reliable work, sold for $14K, just under its low estimate.  And then someone paid $20K for an Adi Nes.  I don' t get it. Or should I say they don't get it.
Goldin HOT Two early gelatin silver prints both sold for well over their high estimates.
Muniz HOT & COLD 2 passes and one sale..from "Aftermath" for $40K, 20% over the high estimate.
Neshat RED HOT All three sold, with one selling for nearly triple its estimate at $58K.
Goldsworthy VERY WARM  2 middlin' sales and one at 50% over the high estimate.
Other strong sellers: Frank Thiel, Adi Ness, Vanessa Beecroft, Rodney Graham, Massimo Vitali
Photographers who were, lets say, not so strong: Wolfgang Tillmans, Sam Taylor-Wood (with good work too), Sarah Lucas, Cindy Sherman (but there was only one up for sale and it wasn't a gem).

ATLart[05]: Gallery Crawl Part 2

...not really a crawl this time, more of a hop.  Three hops to be exact.  Bounding into Solomon Projects we encountered tanks, lots of tanks.  Impressionistic tanks, expressionistic tanks, encaustic tanks, bronze tanks, army fatigue tanks (a la Claes Oldenburg), cardboard tanks (a la I don't remember), video tanks....you get the idea.  Joe Peregine's solo show at Solomon has left me with the inescapable conclusion that he is a pissed-off, obsessive-compulsive savant with a major chip on his shoulder...or maybe just a very wily auteur pretending to be one.  Peregine showed off his considerable technical prowess with this show where every single freakin' piece of art depicts a tank.  There was something very imposing about being in the gallery with tank barrels pointing at you from everywhere, but it was some time after leaving that I wondered if the exhibit was really about what it seemed.  I felt as if Peregine had something to prove and chose a very topical subject to distract the viewer from his actual intent.  This is Atlanta art at its best. Don't miss it.

Hopping over to  City Gallery East we took in a two-person show featuring the late print-maker Wayne Kline and sculptor George Beasley.  Beasley presented sculptures, photos and drawings all centered around a ritualistic performance art piece involving the casting of cross-shaped ingots.  Cool stuff. Empty gallery.
And last but not least a giant hop over downtown took us to the ice-storm delayed opening of "What Business Are You In?" curated by Helena Reckitt at the Contemporary.  This is heady conceptual work that explores the intersection of art and commerce. Thankfully the artwork is also visually exciting and made me actually want to read the explanatory wall texts that accompany each piece.  Some pieces were one-liners, like John Salvest's "Paper Trail" made of shredded Enron letterhead that spelled out the company's slogan "endless possibilities".  Others were more complex like Michael Aurbach's "The Administrator" a mixed media sculpture that combined a sort of torture chamber with a middle manager's office....it reminded me of the good ol' days at the accounting firm.  There is something for everyone here and worth the trip.