Art: May 2008 Archives

Via Eyeteeth I learned about the My Yard Our Message project in honor of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

As a stark counterpoint to the "scripted democracy" of this fall's GOP nominating convention, a project by mnartists.org, the Walker Art Center and the UnConvention is inviting people of all political stripes and artistic abilities to create yard signs to coincide with the RNC -- and, fittingly, the 50 designs getting the most online votes will be produced and distributed around the Twin Cities and near the convention site.

Here are two of my favorites.


andypressman-myyard.jpg

by awesome designer Andy Pressman



barrymcmahon-myyard.jpg

by Barry McMahon

elissa-levy4.jpg


elissa-levy3.jpg


Stonefox Artspace is one of the most reliable galleries at the moment for its shows, and the current Elissa Levy show is no exception. We have a gocco print from Pocket Utopia related to the second image above. More images after the jump.

vered-arrested.jpg

Gallery owner Ruth Vered was taken into custody by East Hampton Village police officers on Saturday night. Police apparently shut down the Vered Gallery in East Hampton, citing consumption of alcohol in a public space. (Photo by Janet Lehr / May 24, 2008)


I've heard of such problems with the NYPD occasionally from Chelsea galleries, but this one is pretty ridiculous. Via Newsday.

About 200 art aficionados were sipping Veuve Clicquot Champagne and chilled white wine at an East Hampton gallery this weekend when the police arrived.

It was a soiree like many others for Vered Gallery, which twice a month invites guests to drink, nibble cheese and view its latest show.

But this time, gallery owner Ruth Vered was led away in handcuffs.

East Hampton Village police declined to comment Sunday except to confirm in a written statement that the gallery owner, who is widely known as Vered, was charged with selling alcohol without a liquor license.

...

Vered said the Champagne and wine -- donated by the Bridgehampton winery Channing Daughters -- was free, as always. Vered said she's offered alcoholic beverages at her gallery for more than 30 years and has never been questioned by police.

She said she spent about two hours at the police station. "It's absolutely ridiculous," she said. "They're sabotaging the life of our small business. Everybody does parties and gives Champagne. It's East Hampton!"

By the way, the winery that donated the wine and Champagne, Channing Daughters is one of my favorite long island vintners, along with Wölffer Estate.

momenta-raffle-2008.jpg

Wednesday night is your chance to pick up some great at at Momenta Art's annual raffle and live auction. Whenever anyone asks me about my favorite artist-run non-profit space, I don't even hesitate to tell them it's Momenta Art. A $225 ticket gets two people in for free food and drink, and an art work!

[image above is a sample of works available in the raffle]

Because life doesn’t have any other possibility, everyone can be measured by his adaptability to change.

neil-farber.jpg

Neil Farber, Untitled, 2004
22.5 × 30 inches


Leave it to Chelsea Now to write the best article I've read on the closing of the beloved Clementine Gallery. Maybe the art press is too afraid to dwell on such stories. My favorite statistic in the article: the gallery needed to sell $80,000 worth of work each month to break even.

I chose the image above, from Farber's 2004 show at the gallery, in honor of our buying several of his works from the gallery in the 90s. I always loved sending people who were just starting out as art collectors to Clementine, as I knew Abby and Liz would treat them well.

noah-lyon-retard-riot.jpg

Now available on the web.

susan c. dessel lbif


James and I were very proud to have Susan C. Dessel's work in the show we curated in 2006 at Dam, Stuhltrager. Now that work has had a second chance to be seen, at the Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts & Sciences, but the people that run it have chosen to put walls around it and warn people that it may "offend." See James's post for more information.

People don't seem to be too outraged that torture is committed in our name by our elected government, but they can certainly be upset by an artwork that might remind them of a world that's not as perfect as they would like to pretend.

maureen gallace at 303 gallery - armory 2006

Maureen Gallace at 303 Gallery (The Armory Show 2006)



maureen gallace at 303 gallery - armory 2006

Maureen Gallace at 303 Gallery (The Armory Show 2006)


Due to our previous coverage of "photography not allowed" policies, blogger and artist Mark Barry forwarded an email he just received from 303 Gallery regarding 2 images on Flickr from his set from the 2006 Armory Show. The photos were taken during the press preview.

From: Simon Greenberg
Date: May 7, 2008 10:06:33 AM EDT
To: mark@markbarryportfolio.com
Subject: Maureen Gallace image - flickr

hello mark -

this is simon at 303 gallery. i noticed you had an image of Maureen
Gallace's work up on your flickr page - please be aware that 303 Gallery
owns the copyright to the work and all public display of images, including
web content. if you could kindly remove this image from your page, it would
be most appreciated.

best
simon

This is one of the more infuriating things I have seen from an art gallery lately. Do the gallery's artists know that they're spending this kind of time trolling the web and harassing bloggers? It hardly seems like a good use of resources.

Related:

  • A quote from Lisa Spellman, the owner of 303, on her apprecation of appropriationist art
  • Mark's blog post on the 2006 Armory (but the images are only on flickr)
  • Edward Winkleman post on galleries and photography -- don't miss the comments

[The two photos above are the ones referred to in the email.]

--

Updated: more blogs on the subject

I found these works from a Polish artist based in Krakow named Rafal Karcz on Flickr recently after he contacted me. Check our more on the Flickr site.

rafal karcz

PROJECT IN SPACE 1, 2008, watercolor mixed media / paper


rafal karcz

PROJECT IN SPACE 3, 2008, watercolor mixed media / paper

This page is an archive of entries in the Art category from May 2008.

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