Update

Hi Guys,

Sorry I haven't been posting this semester. This post includes everything I have talked about this semester.

Artist: Siebren Versteeg
Gallery: Max Protetch, 511 West 22nd St.
Notes: His work is all about technology and the overwealth/overwhelming amount of visual information that we are forced to digest everyday. It is a subject that is relevant to everyone, especially technologically savvy young people (most of you are more savvy than me). Unfortunately his touch screens are out of our price range at $42,000. His video screens which are connected to flicker online and display images are $18,000 but the gallery is willing to negotiate with us and they are really nice. His large prints (95 x 42 inches) are more digestable at $10,500.
Examples:




Artist: Wim Delvoye
Gallery: Sperone Westwater, 415 West 13 St.
Notes: Belgian artist. All his art is amusing. He is most famous for a contraption he created with scientists that replicates the human digestive system and makes one "stool" a day. He has also tatooed pigs and made pictures that of what look like mosaics but are actually lunch meat. I am interested in his photgraphs of quick personal notes on large mountains. I think it makes you reconsider your own importance in such a vast landscape that we are in. How important those notes seem when we write them and how insignificant they look when chiseled intoa mountain is something all people can connect to. Did I mention they're funny? (still working on prices)
Examples:



Artist: Michael Scoggins
Gallery: Freight and Volume, 542 West 24th St.
Notes: He painstakingly recreated versions of his childhood notebook pages on a monumental scale. They are all about 170 x 129 inches, sure to make an impact by scale alone. They are all $10,000. Most of them are amusing and would be interesting to all types of college age students. Perhaps we could get one of the tests that he has graded (usually he doesn't do so well).
Examples:





Artist: Walead Beshty
Gallery: Wallspace, 619 West 27th St.
Notes: He believes that artistic production includes not just the artist but everone involved in making the product including critics. He makes sculptures out of color photopaper in a darkroom and exposes it to different light on in different parts of the sculpture and then unflods it. He also makes sculpture out of glass which he then sends via post mail and displays as they in whatever state they arrive. These works become modifed by circulation. I think both types are very interesting. I am still waiting on prices.
Examples:






Artist: Jane Hammond
Gallery: Galerie Lelong, 528 West 26th St.
Note: Composite of several found photgraphs online from anonymous photographers. She makes a negative from her photoshoped image and then prints in a darkroom. The result is a surreal other world. Her work comments on a number of issues including the illusion of photgraphy being reality, somputers and information, and the importance of context and juxtopositions in meaning, They are somewhat small at 11 x 14 inches but reasonably prced at $3,500.
Examples:





Artist: Steven Keene
Gallery: SKSK (his own store) 93 Guernsey St., Brooklyn
Notes: Has sold 170,000 paintings since 1991 for $3-$10 each. He makes each origional painting by hand. People order by quantity and he ships, you never know what your going to get. Can choose pieces in his store. Beleives art chould be as accessible as music and that each of his pieces are like a souvenier, parts of a whole. This would be a great way to portray art as accessible to the masses.
Examples:

Some old and some new...

Here is some information on artists I have brought up in our meetings, as well as a few new artists I would like to have considered. The first is an artists named Susanna Majuri, a young Finnish photographer who is represented by Galerie Adler (547 W. 27th) in Chelsea (http://www.galerieadler.com/). I was drawn to her work mainly due to the mystery of it. Most of her photographs are of figures (usually young women) whose faces are concealed, generally standing in or near water. I want to know what they are doing, why they are in the situations (predicaments, maybe?) they are in, what is the story being told by their actions. The colors used by the artist are concurrently vibrant and intensely sad. There is something hauntingly bleak about most of the photographs. Here are a few I found especially interesting...

Gro, 2008



Liv, 2008

Salme, 2007

Insulin, 2007.

Of Majuri, ChelseaArtGalleries.com wrote: In her photographs, Susanna Majuri captures short narrative scenes as though they were film stills of a story yet to be told. Her main characters, young women mostly, their faces hidden, give a distinct impression of being lost, seeking for something they would just no find, dissolved in profound loneliness, yet somehow determined or rather resigned to this beautifully sad fate of theirs. The surrounding nature acts as complementary character, working as an emotional conduit both familiar and antagonistic. The ever changing surface of the water, once smooth as a veil of silk, once rippled though by a secret storm raging underneath, provide scenes of oscillating atmosphere ranging from quiet solitude to immediate danger. The vivid coloring of Majuri’s works the harsh contrast between bright shades of red or blue against the soft earth tones of the background mirrors her innermost feelings: "I need color to exist. I need this person, the place, the water, this touch."

With this intimate confession, Susanna Majuri creates peculiar, bizarre or even surreal atmospheres and situations for her characters. Her images are charged with what might be, ambiguous in that the viewer can only imagine that which remains outside of the frame and give the impression that we only get parts of what must be a bigger story. Susanna Majuri suggests multiple psychological and symbolically charged scenarios: “I want to show that one can find fantastic from nearby. Fiction blends into our life. The imaginary is in fact actual.”

Majuri was recognized in the ArtNet database, yet no information was available on any works that had been sold.


Julee Holcombe, represented by Conner Contemporary Art (DC), composes interesting photographs and is influenced/inspired by the Old Masters, such as Pieter Breugel the Elder, Caravaggio, and Francisco de Zubaran, as well as John Singer Sargent and Grant Wood. I spoke about Holcombe's work last meeting. Several piece should be considered, including:

Babel at Night (2007)
Babel Revisited (2004)
Homo Bulla (2005)

http://www.connercontemporary.com/artists/julee-holcombe/?view=images.


An interesting gallery: Yvon Lambert Gallery (NYC) represents many artists and has a general focus of installation art. There were several interesting pieces on the site. However, we would have to see them in person in order to get a sense of what they are like (many of them are video installations with only stills on the website). It might be a place to visit.

Ralph Helmick and Stu Schechter, former artistic partners, create unique hanging installations but have since gone their separate ways. I really feel that we should have some sort of installation piece, especially for the large space either over the eating area at Stamp, or over the study space where we have our meetings. Prices were not available for their work, but examples of it follows:


Jurisprudence

Ralph Helmick is now working out of a studio in Massachusetts. I was unable to find any galleries that represent him in NY or elsewhere, but if this were something we were considering pursuing, we would contact him directly. It would have to be a site specific piece, which may or may not be out of our price range.

Fantastical Imaginings

Hi All--

I wanted to make you aware of an intriguing exhibit in Baltimore at the Maryland Art Place. The show is called "Fantastical Imaginings" The work is sort of along the lines of what you guys have been talking about. It reminded me a bit of Jon Pylypchuk:



There is an opening reception and gallery talk on Friday night (Talk at 7pm Reception at 8pm)
I wish I could go but I'll be out of town--but you guys should definitely venture out to Baltimore, it's really great!!

Here's the maryland art place website and link to the pdf of the postcard.

Barbara Probst update!

I got a lot more information about the works available by Barbara Probst at Murray Guy. They sent me a CD with several images and records of press, as well as the more current list of available works with their prices. I'll bring everything to the next meeting, but I thought I'd give you a quick preview! The ones I'm listing are what I think may be those closer to our preferable price (i.e. $11,000 or less), though almost all of her works are under our total budget (if we really want to splurge).

Exposure #60: Munich, Waisenhausstrasse 65, 08.26.08, 6:54 p.m.
2 parts 24 x 16 in. each and 1 part 24 x 43 in.
$10,000

Exposure #57: N.Y.C., 428 Broome Street, 06.05.08, 3:02 p.m.
2 parts 29 x 44 in. each
$10,500

Exposure #54: N.Y.C., 555 8th Avenue, 10.31.07, 1:31 p.m.
2 parts 36 x 36 in. each
$10,500

Exposure #52: Munich studio, 09.08.07, 3:01 p.m.
2 parts 36 x 36 in. each
$10,500

Exposure #48: Munich, Minerviusstrasse, 01.06.07, 3:17 p.m.
2 parts 36 x 36 in. each
$10,500

Exposure #47: N.Y.C., 555 8th Avenue, 10.11.07, 7:58 p.m.
2 parts 16 x 23 1/2 in. each
$6,000

Exposure #45: Munich, Landshuter Allee, 09.11.06, 3:17 p.m.
2 parts 16 x 24 in. each
$6,000

Exposure #41: N.Y.C., 545 8th Avenue, 03.23.06, 2:18 p.m.
2 parts 29 x 44 in. each
$10,500

Exposure #35: Munich studio, 07.29.05, 3:36 p.m.
2 parts 24 x 24 in. each
$8,000

Exposure #34a: N.Y.C., Central Park, Umpire Rock, 06.14.05, 6:34 p.m.
2 parts 36 x 24 in. each
$11,000

Exposure #32a: N.Y.C., 249 34th Street, 01.02.05, 5:17 p.m.
3 parts 24 x 16 in. each
$8,000

Exposure #24: N.Y.C., Brooklyn Bridge, 12.22.03, 12:16 p.m.
2 parts 30 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. each
$8,000

Exposure #17: N.Y.C., 498 7th Avenue, 12.10.02, 1:27 p.m.
2 parts 32 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. each
$8,000

Exposure #11: N.Y.C., Times Square, 04.04.02, 4:51 p.m.
2 parts 39 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. each
$10,000

Exposure #8b: Munich studio, 10.19.01, 5:18 p.m.
2 parts 16 x 23 1/2 in. each
$6,000

Exposure #8: Munich, Nederlingerstrasse, 10.11.01, 7:56 p.m.
2 parts 16 x 23 1/2 in. each
$6,000

Here are my suggestions from last night's meeting:



Maya Gold, represented by the Mike Weiss Gallery, seems to be just coming into attention. She works and lives in Isreal and is fresh out of school. Her large oil paintings (about 50 x 60 inches) show an individual or a group of people from far above in a barren and seemingly surreal setting. Each image has a strong sense of isolation, despite a grouping, simply from its bird's-eye perspective. The first work, titled December 21, midnight, shows a group of people (presumably) sheltered under their own individual umbrellas, while one (or two?) stand uncovered. The second, called While, shows a person sweeping into small piles across the barren canvas. I'm sure we're missing some of the subtlties of the work by only viewing it in 3 x 3 inches... Artnet reported that one of her oil paintings of similar size just sold for $11,250.



Kumi Yamashita is an artist originally from Japan (as a small child), and has been moving around the world ever since. The initial shock in her move from Japan to America made her realize the delicacies of identity, and how much of ourselves may not be as constant or as real as we believe.
Her work at the Kent Gallery is really amazingly crafted. She uses strong lights off to the side to reveal her carefully constructed shadows. Profile, on top, uses letters and numbers (which reminded us a lot of those kid magnets) to create a very realistic profile. This idea, of using letters and numbers, words and measurements, to describe oneself makes us realize that these things can only provide a shadow of identity, despite the attempt to make it concrete. (Profile almost automatically connected me to the idea of the Facebook profile, and how we try to define ourselves there. Also, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in which the prisoners of his allegory were relating and defining the world only by the shadows they saw, without knowing that this wasn't, in fact, reality at all.) The second piece, called Oragami, has little pieces of paper folded carefully on the edge to show tiny shadow profiles. She was quoted saying, "Shadows are a fine medium for someone who believes more in variability... than in constancy, a stance that may be tempermental as well as philosophical" (Art in America, v. 91 no1 (January 2003) p. 106).


Kumi Yamashita's earlier work included portraits using boot footprints or credit card rubbings (which particularly remarks on commercialism and the definition of oneself by the property owned, etc.). These portraits are surprisingly realistic once you look closely at the technique, though not particularly engaging from far away.

An article by ARTnews says that her works can range from $5,000 to $20,000. I still have to call the gallery to get specifics on which works we could get for the cheaper prices, etc. One issue might be the delicacy of the installation, specifically for a piece like Profile. Luckily, once installed, the upkeep of the technology would seem to be as simple as changing a light bulb occasionally.

If you get a chance, tell me what you think about Paul Laffoley, also represented by Kent. He's particularly popular in exhibits at the American Visionary Art Museum, so I've seen his work before. They are very large and complicated, and tend on the religious side (which is why I bring it up for discussion, because is this, like nudity, something we might want to avoid?).


I found Luke DuBois among all the highly technological artists represented by Bitforms, and I thought, "Ooo! Cheap!" But I have yet to verify that. The series of works I'm particularly interested in is his Hindsight is Always 20/20, in which he took the State of the Union addresses of each president and calculated the frequency of every word used. He then organized the words in an eye exam chart with the most frequent word appearing at the top, and the less frequent words, in order, as it goes down to the small text at the bottom. Lincoln's is the top image and Reagan is underneath. What's fascinating about these is how you can read the character of the era and the president's personal rhetoric in just a glance. By looking at these charts, it's like we can tell almost everything about the problems faced and techniques used by each president in this all-knowing, hindsight 20/20, way. Likewise, it makes you think what words define us (I was on a define-ourselves roll yesterday), whether we choose them intentionally or not. This series has been on a pretty popular tour, so that might affect its price, as well as the format, which seems to come in either print (cheap!) or lightbox (not as cheap...). I think either Alison or I will get this information from Bitforms.

Also, check out Daniel Rozin and Raphael Lozano-Hemmer if you haven't already! The videos showing their work are addictive. It would be great to be able to get some of their work, but maybe not so possible... We should still look into it.

Along the same lines of the Paul Laffoley conundrum, a couple of us were talking about our responsibility regarding nudity in the collection... I had found Mona Kuhn's photographs absolutely beautiful (represented by Charles Cowles Gallery, whose website I can't seem to get to today...), but wasn't sure if they could bought simply on "tasteful" grounds (though that concern is totally relative).

Long post, I know.

Don't forget to add your galleries to our nifty gallery spreadsheet in Google Documents!
See you all next week!