Art Addict

Location, Location

Two of my favorite galleries (I have many) have recently moved into new Chelsea digs. One came across the river from Brooklyn, the other just hopped up a few blocks to a lovely new space. Check out their inaugural shows...

VELCOME, 2004, Oil pastel on paper, 60 x 40in

Schroeder Romero
Ken Weaver, Royally Fucked!
Thursday, March 2nd

637 West 27th Street, Ground floor
(between 11th and 12th Avenues)

sarah meltzer gallery
Welcome Home
Saturday, March 4th

531 West 26th Street, 4th floor
(between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Keeping Track of Openings and Shows

Who's up when? What night is the opening? What is going to be showing on our trip to _______ (insert NY, London, Los Angeles, etc.)?

Keeping track of who, what, when, and where in the world of contemporary art can be tricky and sometimes overwhelming. Here are a few free email services to which I subscribe to keep abreast of openings and shows:

zingrecommends by zingmagazine
Weekly email updates of New York shows in list form. Pro: Thorough; Con: No links

artupdate
Twice a month emails listing worldwide art openings. Pro: Their website; Con: Currently more UK/Europe focused. (NB: check out the very cool and downloadable maps of New York and London updated every two months. Includes location of art fairs. Great tool if you are planning a visit to one of these cities.)

flavorpill
Weekly email list of "filtered cultural stimuli", which means the highlights and only the highlights. (The list includes events in art, music, film, theater, reading, multi-media, and more...) Target cities: NY, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Los Angeles. Pro: Each listing includes a brief write-up and all of the pertinent info - date, time, location, and links; Con: Too few art listings.

DKS List
A blog about the New York contemporary art scene delivered to your email box. This list of openings is generated by one man, Douglas Kelley, and appears about once a month. The emails often contain his personal reviews of shows or goings-on in the art world. Pro: Thorough; Con: Not always accurate so check before you go. (NB: To get on the DKS email list you need to send an email to [email protected] with 'YES' in the Subject line.)

e-flux
A daily, and sometimes more than once a day, email generated by a "New York-based information bureau dedicated to world wide distribution of information for contemporary visual arts institutions via the Internet." Most emails announce museum shows. Pro: Interesting global view; Con: Frequency of emails.

And, if you are planning a trip to Chelsea, don't leave home without checking out Chelsea Art Galleries, an extremely informative and easy to navigate website on all things Chelsea. The coolest aspect of the website is the ability to build a printable "gallery tour" by clicking on your galleries of choice. Edward Winkleman recommends Chelsea Art Galleries, too.

Please add other lists or services in a comment. Thanks.

Update: ArtCal is another great resource for openings and gallery shows. Thanks Barry.

Art for Good

Edward Burtynsky, Nickel Tailings No. 34, Sudbury, Ontario 1996

I have been a fan of Edward Burtynsky's photographs since I first saw them in 2002 at the Charles Cowles Gallery. I am drawn to 'the beauty and the beast' quality of these works - stunningly gorgeous images of stunningly horrific human endeavors and effects like mining, waste, and pollution.

Now these images are being put to good use. Last year he was selected as one of the first recipients of the TED Prize, an annual prize awarded to an individual who has shown that they can, in some way, positively impact life on this planet. (Bono was a fellow TED Prize recipient.) Each recipient is granted "a wish to change the world." They may wish for anything and the TED community will do its best to make that wish come true.

Ed Burtynsky's wish was that his "artwork could persuade millions of people to join a global conversation about sustainability." Rather than reinventing the wheel, Ed and TED have teamed up with WorldChanging, an existing non-profit organization dedicated to showing us a "bright green future, a sustainable, prosperous, dynamic future for all." Ed Burtynsky's images have been edited into a short video that will be disseminated (TV, web, screen, here, etc.) to help spread the word about WorldChanging and allow people to learn about and get involved in the issues raised by each of Ed's photographs. Check it out.

If I lived in Greensboro, NC...

...I would be sure to catch this show at the Weatherspoon Art Museum.

Alyson Shotz, Shape of Space (detail), 2004

Uneasy Nature
Lee Bul
Bryan Crockett
Roxy Paine
Patricia Piccinini
Alyson Shotz
Jennifer Steinkamp

February 18 - May 28, 2006
Opening reception: Friday, February 17
6 pm Member's Preview
7 pm Public Reception

Weatherspoon Art Museum
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Spring Garden and Tate Streets
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6170
336.334.5770

Press release and a clip:

We are uneasy: uneasy about the political, religious or other constituencies that may influence future investments in biotechnology; uneasy about the possibility of being “engineered” by medicine; and certainly uneasy about the fact that Mother Nature seems to be warning us about our continued affronts to her. ...Thinking ahead of the curve, the artists included offer provocative, engaging, often stunningly beautiful work that addresses some of the concerns being raised about our bio-techno world.

Snow Day

Julian Opie, Village?, 2004

I was planning to head to Brooklyn today to see art. Most of the galleries I called were not answering, perhaps taking a Snow Day. (Most Brooklyn galleries, unlike New York City galleries, are open on Monday.) Instead I wandered down to City Hall to check out Julian Opie's Public Art Fund installation in City Hall Park. It has been up forever. Even though I am a big fan of Opie's work I was too lazy to catch it. Until today.

Following up...

The post Buy What You Love, But... received a lot of comments. Most of the comments I received via email. In fact, I still recieve about one email per week about that post. I must have hit on one hot topic. Most of you disagreed with the post so I thought I'd follow up...

Just for the record, I have bought art simply because I loved it. I didn't check out the artist's c.v. or make sure that the gallery was reputable. I have collected a lot of art and feel pretty secure when going with my gut. When I meet people who are interested in putting together a contemporary art collection (and not simply decorating their home, but really investing in up and coming artists), most say that they feel pretty "stupid" when starting out. I am often asked to share some tips on how to make smarter decisions when purchasing those first few works of art. They have all been told to buy what they love, but some want to know more. That post was one tip. Just a suggestion. There are many ways to go about collecting art.

That post was also a little passive-aggressive. I believe that there is a lot of "bad" art being sold at "bad" galleries. Just my opinion, of course. I don't know, yet, how to explain it without naming names and pointing fingers, but I am working on it.

Too Many B's

Please excuse the seemingly flaky frequency of posts. I have been burdened with too many B's in my life...Business, Baby, Book, and Blog. One was destined to fall through the cracks and I'm afraid it was Blog. I'm back trying to manage all four B's again and will make every attempt to keep a regular posting schedule. At least until another B comes along.