Narrative Over Form?

(view of MoMa's sculpture garden; courtesy of veranda.com)

(Marina Abramovic performance; courtesy of bing.com)

Last Sunday the front page of the Arts & Leisure section in the New York Times featured an article by famed art critic Roberta Smith entitled Hold That Obit; MoMa's Not Dead, in which she muses about current trends in Contemporary art while discussing the state of New York's Museum of Modern Art since their sweeping renovation in 2004. She points out that the first several years following the completion of the $800 million Yoshio Taniguchi structure in which the MoMa now resides, visitors and members alike were unsettled and disheartened. She notes that they feared, "we were witnessing nothing less than a major museum's suicide by architecture." One of the major complaints was that the galleries were way too small and the major connecting hallways, ramps, staircases and lobby were not conducive to crowd flow and left something to be desired, as the atmosphere was overwhelmingly "sterile" and "corporate."

Smith goes on to explain the difficulties that the new space created for curators and visitors. However, the gripping portion of the article, and most pertinent to our lives here at the gallery, was her recognition of the museum's "complete disregard for contemporary painting." True, the tiny escalators that force you upwards as you travel into the depths of the galleries along with a thousand other viewers, are a pain. And yes, the lobby with its mobs of people purchasing tickets, meeting friends, and following tour guides, tends to feel more like a train station than a sanctuary of art. Not to mention the months during which a "blockbuster" exhibition is running, such as the recent Tim Burton which closed last April, when utter mobs descend.

Once safely inside the galleries however, you might be surprised at what greets you. If you have visited the museum on W. 53rd Street lately, and enjoy contemporary painting, but tend to feel daunted by performance art, you might have been let down. To many, including Smith, the latest trend in art towards shock-and-awe, with a lack of content and experience, are more often than not, frustrating and disappointing. As Smith so poignantly puts it, "superficial sensationalism" has taken center stage. And, perhaps this is a consequence of the society in which we live, which is increasingly "attention-deficient" and focused on consumption. I.e. the ideal audience for performance and video art that can be quickly absorbed and create a flutter of excitement. What does this mean for those of us who remain captivated by paint on a surface? If you can't get your fill at the Modern, or feel unfulfilled upon leaving a "blockbuster" exhibition at a museum near you, it might just be time to get out to your local galleries instead.

Happy Holidays from Emily Amy Gallery

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a safe and relaxing holiday season and a Happy New Year!

And...thank you to all of our loyal customers for another year in business.

Cecil Touchon, PDP 453

Please note: we will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.

Holiday Gifts!

Doing some last-minute shopping for the holidays?

We have plenty of pieces under $500 that make wonderful and very unique gifts.

Just a few examples...

1) Nate Moore Wood Jets Acrylic on wood 15" x 14" $150 each.

2) Nate Moore 8 Jet Star #205 Origami and graphite lines on museum board 15" x 15" $275.

3) Zuzka Vaclavik Lime Green Sprinkles Mixed media on paper 7" x 8" $375.

4) Jennifer Cawley Other Things to Consider Mixed media on panel 8" x 8" $400.

5) Melanie Parke Morning Poem 3 12" x 12" Oil on paper $300.

Come in and see us, we would love to help you find something for everyone on your list!

Happy Holidays!

The Museum District

(courtesy of www.saadiyat.ae)

(bing.com)

(UnionJackCreative.com)

As the art world is slowly but surely making its way back from the economic downturn, one place that is bubbling with activity is Abu Dhabi. A cultural hot bed of the Arab world, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is experiencing a rebirth the likes of which is unparalleled anywhere in the world. Arms of the Guggenheim and the Louvre, just to name a few, are popping up there, along with a Museum of Islamic Art in nearby Doha, Qatar.

Designed by famed architect I. M. Pei, the Museum of Islamic Art houses a dynamic selection of art and artifacts from various parts of the Islamic world, which were assembled over the last two decades. Per the museum's website, the pieces housed within date from the 7th to the 19th centuries. It is certainly the first of its kind, and is geared towards educating a whole new generation of people by making local culture and art more accessible in this area. And more recently, Mathaf, or the Arab Museum of Modern Art, which is set to open in 15 days in Doha, is a showcase of art produced since the mid-19th century.

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, scheduled to open in a mere three years, has a budget of $600 million to build their collection, a sum made possible by the profitable local resource of oil. Frank Gehry is designing the 450,000 square-foot Guggenheim, the largest of its namesake in the world, which will only be 12 times larger than its New York counterpart. The Louvre branch, also set to open in 2013, will be designed by architect Jean Nouvel. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the government of Abu Dhabi is paying France a meager $1.3 billion, in large part to finance the establishment of their collection.

The museum district in which many of these powerhouse institutions can be found will also boast the Zayed National Museum, which will honor the work and legacy of a more "local" name, the late leader of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The district, found on Saadiyat Island, or "Island of Happiness," barely five minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi, will be connected to the mainland by two large bridges. It can be see in the first image above. Only an hour from Dubai, the intention is for this area to become a luxury cultural travel destination. With this many one-of-a-kind museums, it appears that this will indeed be an oasis of happiness for anyone looking to spend a few days viewing art.

Admission: Free of Charge

(photo courtesy of visitsouth.com and greenworld365.com)

Several months ago the AJC profiled Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day in the Living section. The journalist behind the article pointed out that "this year, 1,300 museums in all 50 states" were participating in the sixth annual day of free art, which took place in late September. With admission to the High at $18 a head right now, and MoMA charging two dollars more, this is a welcome reprieve. Especially as the extraordinary Dali exhibit was, and still is, on view the High Museum for those taking advantage of this offer in the Atlanta area.

While museum goers and arts lovers alike should be thrilled about a free activity such as this, art galleries open their doors for free, well, every day that the doors are open. Not to mention exhibition openings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Often visitors timidly peek in and ask if they can look around for free, which of course, is one reason we are here. To offer some sort of sanctuary where one can come in and have some peace and quiet while experiencing art. Yes, we are running a business, but a gallery is a place to publicly viewing art as much as a museum.

So, just a gentle reminder that gallery doors are open for free all the time! Which is not to say that you shouldn't buy that $18 ticket to see Dali's early works, only in Atlanta through January 9, as there is nothing quite like a trip to a world-class museum. Not to mention, in times like these, museums need just as much support as the rest of us!

As tomorrow is the third Saturday of November, the art galleries on our side of town, including Emily Amy Gallery, are gearing up for the Westside Arts Walk. Comprised of ten different spaces, including 8 galleries, plus Octane Coffee and the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, WAD offers locals and visitors alike an opportunity to view art, meet artists, and learn more about the contemporary arts scene in the city. The third Saturday of each month, WAD puts on a free arts walk during which many of the galleries will feature a lecture by an exhibiting artist, a musician playing in the gallery space, or a film screening just to name a few past events. As several of the participating galleries, including Get This! Gallery and SALTWORKS, have openings tomorrow evening, their new shows will be previewed during the walk. In the case of Get This!, the artist Veronica De Jesus will be giving a talk at noon as part of the walk to the backdrop of her solo show which opens hours later. We recently had an opening here at EAG featuring two New-England based artists whose works will be up for viewing during the walk.

Again, all galleries are open free of charge, and the Contemporary is just $5 to enter (members free). All sites have free parking as well. Featured galleries include: Emily Amy Gallery, Sandler Hudson Gallery, Kiang Gallery, TWIN KITTENS, Tanner Hill Gallery, Astolfi Art, Get This! Gallery and SALTWORKS. More complete information about tomorrow's walk and individual shows can be found here.

Art Sells

(photos courtesy of art.anazana.com, Phillips de Pury & Co., and nytimes.com)

Yesterday, a Warhol painting sold at Sotheby's for $35.4 million. The day prior, at the smaller, strictly contemporary auction house on the other side of Manhattan, Phillips de Pury & Co., one of Warhol's Elizabeth Taylor pieces sold for $63 million. Considering that the owner of the Coca Cola, which sold for $35.4 million, purchased the piece in the 80's for $143,000, this price is considerable. According to the New York Times, in a summary of the evening auction, waiters at Sotheby's offered bidders and audience members alike old-fashioned bottles of Coca-Cola. Call it product pushing, but Andy his Coca Cola [4] Large Coca Cola had a great night, with said piece grabbing the evening's highest price. Per Bloomberg, Christie's will join the competition for highest grossing Warhol, as his Campbell's Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable), goes up for auction tonight. With the high estimate for bidding at $50 million going into the auction, it will be very interesting to see where the price lands. Many of his other pieces beat out their own estimates last night, a very promising sign for the market. In addition, many of Andy's lesser known works, such as the 1984 screenprint The Scream (after Munich), pictured above, went for $242,500 at Phillips de Pury & Co. last night. For a profile of the artist offered on Sotheby's website, click here.

Andy, however, is not the only contemporary artist who is currently impressing the auction market. Lichtenstein was also catching attention and a high price at Sotheby's, with his Ice Cream Soda. In addition, Francis Bacon and Richter brought sky-high prices at the auction house on York Ave. A Rothko brought $22.5 million. Overall, Sotheby's fetched a whopping $222,454,500. No doubt to the delight of their Chairman of Worldwide Contemporary Art and most famous auctioneer, Tobias Meyer.

Just this week, Lindsay Pollock of Art Market Views, quoted art adviser Mary Hoeveler as saying, "The appetite at the very top seems insatiable. You can name your price." While most of us might not quite be "at the very top," positive auction results such as these can only be good news for all of us in the art market.

To London

(photos courtesy of friezeartfair.com)

(photo courtesy of 'The Art Newspaper')

As fall is in full swing and the holidays are fast approaching, we are also in the midst of auction season. In addition, this post comes on the heels of the completion of the Frieze Art Fair in London. With many people finding themselves very anxious about the current state of the art market, this is an appropriate time to be curious.

Sotheby's and Christie's in New York will be holding Contemporary art auctions in early November, which will include powerhouse names such as Bacon and De Kooning, along with the Dennis Hopper collection. The results of these auctions should prove to give us some slight inclination of where the market stands.

More recently, the Frieze Art Fair in London, which takes place every October in Regent's Park, wrapped up on October 17. 60,000 people attended the annual fair while exhibitors from over 150 contemporary galleries worldwide participated. White Cube, Hauser & Wirth and Gladstone were among them. In addition to being possibly the most dynamic and energetic contemporary art fair in existence, Frieze might also lend itself to be indicative of the current state of the art market. As can be read in Lindsay Pollock's recent article for The Art Newspaper regarding stall presentation at the fair, critic Jerry Saltz's reaction was, "There's not a lot of bling, but you can see dealers are trying to make sales." But did the sales come? Per a recent blog post by Pollock, who was also in attendance, "Sales were selectively brisk...I believe many of the exhibitors made money, thought I did hear moans from some quarters that results were just 'comme ci, comme ca'." According to The New York Times, a Damien Hirst installation brought $5.6 billion, which "may be the highest price point of any work ever achieved at Frieze." Is this a sign of an improving market? Tough to say, but at least there are mumblings of positive trends. It should also be considered a good omen that there were so many participants and so many visitors, a sign that galleries are alive and to some degree, well.

(The Anish Kapoor sculpture shown in the photo above, was featured at Gladstone this year.)