Alias Arts

The Christies Contemporary Art Sale in London…goes Down as expected. Well..The results are in, and it wasn’t exactly a strong auction. The one silver lining was that so far, Contemporary Art Photography seems to be holding in well. One Example.. (Photo 1, Andreas Gursky, Prada III, 1989, 67 x 118 inches) The one big photo lot was #27 and it sold for more than the already lowered presale estimate. Andreas Gursky Prada III (1989) Color coupler print mounted on Diesec in wooden artist frame. Presale Estimate : 180,000 – 220,000 British Pound Sterling Actual Hammer price : 225,000 Sterling +…

Yet another “news” story about NYC Art Gallery closings… Today Bloomberg news decided it had to also have their own Art Recession news story. Just a few MAO thoughts on the material points in this “news” story.. 1. So, ONLY 4 NYC art galleries have closed since Sept. This is a Big deal? It sounds like Art galleries are doing considerably better than most industries in NYC. Did you see this blog post, listing the HUGE number of NYC Restaurants which have closed, over 40 just since Jan 1? 2. Imi Knoebel works priced at Mary Boone Gallery for $170,000…

MAO Interviewed.. twice.. about the Art Market Recession… That’s right my little MAO-ettes.. when MAO talks… people run for cover listen. In these tough economic times.. everyone is whining about asking the same questions.. Will the Art Market Crash? Will Every Chelsea Art Gallery Close? Why wont the Government Bail out the Art World? Is now a good time to add to or dump sell my collection? Clearly no one knows where the art world is going.. (Photo by Jill Greenberg, Revelations, 2005, Archival pigment print, 50 x 43 inches) But yesterday.. posted on Hrag Vartanian’s blog (as well as…

Save the dates.. Photographers Paul Graham, and Jamel Shabazz give free public lectures.. Some of the best things in NYC are free.. and in this shit crashing economy recession.. also a cheapstimulating date! Both are 2 photographers who’s books, and photographic work we just can’t get enough of. So MAO has already put February 3rd, and February 9th on our photo art obsessed calendar. See you there! 1. February 3th.. Jamel Shabazz at Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn. Yes.. my little MAO-ettes.. for great photography..sometimes MAO will even cross a river to experience it!! Here are the details | | |…

New work by Edward Burtynsky at Flowers East in London. For all those many obsessed Burtynsky fans.. you might have seen one or 2 new Burtynsky photos (still selling strongly) during Art Basel Miami 2009, but now there’s a complete new gallery show up as of January 9th. So if you’re in London before it closes on February 7th, you probably want to check out this new photography show. For all the rest of us, who are geographically challenged.. you can see Edward Burtynsky’s many new photographs on line. Here and here. (photo #1, Ed Burtynsky, Silver Lake Operations #1,…

Nobuyoshi Araki photography from the 1960′s at Anton Kern Gallery Over the years MAO has begun to greatly appreciate Japanese photography. And certainly the golden age of Photography in Japan was most certainly the 1960′s and 70′s. In this show, you’ll get to see previously unseen work by one of the Japanese Masters. If you think Araki, is just a photographer of naked women he wants to make love to and pretty hyper-sexual flowers.. Think Again! (photo #1, Nobuyoshi Araki Ginza (2573-31), B/W Photographs, 17 x 14 inches) This show truly shows Araki as a street photographer visionary. Here he…

ArtCycle.. A new Website to Buy and Sell lightly used secondary Contemporary Art. If you’ve not checked out new york based, www.ArtCycle.com, you should. It’s a new curated website (aka.. a contemporary art pawn/consignement shop), and like Artnet.com it also is helping give the much needed liquidity and transparency to the contemporary art market. Here’s a little Art industry secret… sometimes Collectors need to sell art. Yes, my little MOA-ettes, it’s sada bit funny..but given these tragic difficult economic times, totally understandable. While MAO has never sold a work of art from our beloved collection, lately, MAO probably gets at…

MAO’s best photography book list of 2008. Happy New Year my little MAO-ettes! Welcome to 2009! So.. while MAO is doing his best to totally FORGET the financial sit show that has was 2008. We thought we’d start the new year with one last look back at the worst year in financial history. What better way to do that walk down memory lane 2008, than with a list of our favorite photography books. Now there were actually, way too many good ones to even think about, but these were the top 10. Ones that MAO keeps finding himself returning to…

The Holiday Art Sales… 48.5% off a Basquiat… My How times have changed! It’s quite amazing how fast the art world can adjust to these difficult impossibe changing times. We have to say.. MAO was RIGHT not surprised how “Discount” become the most popular word uttered at Art Basel Miami Beach 2008. But clearly.. this is the time of stress for the private art dealer community. It would seem, rumors of gallery closings has quickly become the newest sport in the gutters streets of Cheslea these days. In fact, some tenatious people are resorting to new and interesting sales techniques……

The Aqua Art Fairs during Basel Miami Beach… some passing MAO thoughts.. Now that we’ve had some much needed time to rest up from our Art Basel Miami vacation. Since everybody asks… we thought it was worth doing a little postmortem more art fair writing. After the Pulse fair.. our next favorite fairs were the 2 Aqua fairs. One in the traditional Hotel, and the other in an old warehouse in Wynwood. Just like all the Art Maimi fairs, both were more quiet this year than last. Sadly, these 2 fairs were also filled with very anxious art dealers….who’d not…