Like It or Not, Artists are Married to Their Dealers by Daniel Grant

"The art market is an odd mix of money and affection"


Like It or Not, Artists are Married to Their Dealers

In The Huffigton Post, Daniel Grant, discusses the different types of relationships between: dealers, artists and collectors. He raises the many issues that occur when, business and friendship are faced with one another.

"Painter Richard Haas has noted the state of one's relationship with a dealer may be measured in the frequency of phone calls and who's calling whom. "The dealer is calling you most of the time when you're in favor," he said. "When you find yourself calling the dealer most of the time, you're not in favor anymore. There are not enough phone calls, not enough visits to your studio; you don't get invited to dinner. You know you're at an end."

"When Jackson Pollock signed his first contract with collector and dealer Peggy Guggenheim in 1943, he was able to quit his job decorating ties to concentrate on painting. That first contract paid him a stipend of $150 per month, with guaranteed sales of $2,700 annually (if there were less than $2,700 in sales, Guggenheim would be paid the difference in paintings). His second contract with her two years later raised the stipend to $300 per month and gave Guggenheim ownership of Pollock's entire artistic output for the year with the exception of one painting that the artist could retain. The terms of those contracts might not satisfy artists nowadays, but it was beneficial to both Pollock and Guggenheim then, reflecting her trust in his talents and allowing him to work unencumbered by financial constraints. This was a true partnership."

"For better or worse, it is the volume of money pouring into the art market that has led to evolving relationships between artists and dealers. For dealers, that sometimes means dropping an artist after one or two unsuccessful shows, because rents are too high and other artists' work is too sought-after to put energy into nurturing one person's career. For artists, that may mean not committing to a long-term relationship with a gallery. Ultimately, these questions lead to one at the heart of a relationship with a dealer, "Is loyalty a hindrance to my career?"


Article by, Daniel Grant.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-grant/like-it-or-not-artists-ar_b_605677.html

The Unreasonable Apple by Paul Graham

This is from a presentation by Paul Graham at the Museum of Modern Art Photograph Forum last month, that I find to ring true on every front.

The Unreasonable Apple This month I read a review in a leading US Art Magazine of a Jeff Wall survey book, praising how he had distinguished himself from previous art photography by: “Carefully constructing his pictures as provocative often open ended vignettes, instead of just snapping his surroundings” Anyone who cares about photography ‘s unique and astonishing qualities as a medium should be insulted by such remarks, especially here, now, in 2010, in this country, in this city, which has embraced photography like no other. Now this is maybe just an unthinking review, but what it does illustrate is how there remains a sizeable part of the art world that simply does not get photography. They get artists who use photography to illustrate their ideas, installations, performances and concepts, who deploy the medium as one of a range of artistic strategies to complete their work. But photography for and of itself -photographs taken from the world as it is– are misunderstood as a collection of random observations and lucky moments, or muddled up with photojournalism, or tarred with a semi-derogatory ‘documentary’ tag. This is tremendously sad, for if we look back, the simple truth is that the majority of the great photographic works of art of the 20th century operate in precisely this territory: from Walker Evans to Robert Frank, Diane Arbus to Garry Winogrand, from Stephen Shore traveling across America in Uncommon Places; Robert Adams navigating the freshly minted suburbs of Denver in The New West, or William Eggleston spiraling towards Jimmy Carter’s hometown in Election Eve, who would seriously propose that these sincere photographic artists were merely “snapping their surroundings”? So what is the issue? The broader art world has no problems with the work of Jeff Wall, or Cindy Sherman or James Casebere or Thomas Demand partly because the creative process in the work is clear and plain to see, and it can be easily articulated and understood what the artist did: Thomas Demand constructs his elaborate sculptural creations over many weeks before photographing them; Cindy Sherman develops, acts and performs in her self-portraits. In each case the handiwork of the artist is readily apparent: something was synthesized, staged, constructed or performed. The dealer can explain this to the client, the curator to the public, the art writer to their readers, etc. The problem is that whilst you can discuss what Jeff Wall did in an elaborately staged street tableaux, how do you explain what Garry Winogrand did on a real New York street when he ‘just’ took the picture? Or for that matter what Stephen Shore created with his deadpan image of a crossroads in El Paso? Anyone with an ounce of sensitivity knows they did something there, and something utterly remarkable at that, but... what? How do we articulate this uniquely photographic creative act, and express what it amounts to in terms such that the art world, highly attuned to synthetic creation -the making of something by the artist- can appreciate serious photography that engages with the world as it is? Now, please do not get me wrong, I admire the work of Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall and Thomas Demand - I have zero problems with it, and it is emphatically not an either/or situation. Nor should you misunderstand me in the other direction: I am not arguing for some return to photographic fundamentalism of Magnum style Leica reportage 35mm black & white work or whatever - far from it, for we are clearly in a Post Documentary photographic world now. Both of these disclaimers not withstanding, I have to say that the position of ‘straight’ photography in the art world reminds me of the parable of an isolated community who grew up eating potatoes all their life, and when presented with an apple, though it unreasonable and useless, because it didn’t taste like a potato. Am I ‘Tilting at Windmills’ here? Perhaps so, but as with the great Don – Cervantes that is – it is to make a point, earnestly, yet with good humor. The point is certainly not the art world versus the photography world, because it is not apples or potatoes, anymore than it is sculpture or painting. The point is that we need the smart, erudite and eloquent people in the art world, the clever curators and writers, those who do get it, to take the time to speak seriously about the nature of such photography, and articulate something of its dazzlingly unique qualities, to help the greater art world, and the public itself understand the nature of the creative act when you dance with life itself - when you form the meaningless world into photographs, then form those photographs into a meaningful world. Thankfully, as the glass clears, it has become apparent just what Robert Frank or Garry Winogrand or Diane Arbus or Robert Adams accomplished back in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s, and for that we must be grateful. For the great exhibitions at the Met, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, and of course MoMA itself; for the books, the catalogues, the enlightened essays: I thank you. But... what of those who work today with equal commitment and sincerity, using straight photography in the cacophonous present? I will not name names here, but for these serious photographers the fog of time still obfuscates their efforts, and the blindness j’accuse some of the art world of suffering from, narrows their options. It means their work will almost never be considered for Documenta, or placed alongside other artists in a Biennale, or found for sale in major contemporary art galleries and art fairs. This does not just deprive the public of the work, and the work of its place, it denies these artists the self-confidence that enables them to grow, to feel appreciation and affirmation, not to mention some modest financial reward allowing them to continue to work. It is also, most importantly, seeing the world of visual art in narrow terms. It is seeing the apple as unreasonable. So, what is it we are discussing here - how do we describe the nature of this photographic creativity? My modest skills are insufficient for such things. However let me make an opening offer: perhaps we can agree that through force of vision these artists strive to pierce the opaque threshold of the now, to express something of the thus and so of life at the point they recognised it. They struggle through photography to define these moments and bring them forward in time to us, to the here and now, so that with the clarity of hindsight, we may glimpse something of what it was they perceived. Perhaps here we have stumbled upon a partial, but nonetheless astonishing description of the creative act at the heart of serious photography: nothing less than the measuring and folding of the cloth of time itself. Presentation by Paul Graham at first MoMA Photography Forum, 16th February 2010. http://www.paulgrahamarchive.com/index.html

TOMORROW: FIRST THURSDAY D.U.M.B.O.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 6 - 8:30pm

1. Anna Collette & Christopher Williams - Second Viewing

2. Kris Graves & Eric Hairabedian - A Queens Affair @ FARMANI GALLERY

3. Amy Stein & Brian Ulrich - Instruments of Empire @ CAPTION GALLERY



ANNA COLLETTE - INVASIVE SPECIES

Anna Collette is a photographer who explores conflicted notions of the contemporary landscape. Her work began in 2002 with a series rendering urban and suburban environments that focused on how the natural world—and human expectations of it—is being redefined, both visually and metaphorically, by the failed idealism of increasing development.

There is a poetic sadness in this invasion that is not unfamiliar. Much like any invasion, it is violent, swift, and irreversible. The entire world depicted in these photographs has turned green – and while it appears quite peaceful and serene there is an underlying tension that consumes it. These plants were originally brought to the northeast for erosion control, but over the years have spread throughout the area and have taken over the native species. For support, they wrap their vines around the native plants, but this blocks the sunlight and their support system eventually dies.

Collette was born in Massachusetts in 1974. She received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MFA from Yale University. She teaches photography at Purchase College, SUNY, and lives in New York City.



CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS - DRAWINGS

Running concurrently with INVASIVE SPECIES, Christopher Williams will be exhibiting his newest series of stippled ink drawings. He graduated from Southwestern University in Texas, with a B.A in Art History. Williams is a native of Texas and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.






A Queens Affair
Photography by Kris Graves and Eric Hairabedian
Book pre-Launch and Exhibition
February 04-13, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 04, from 6-8PM

(January 15, 2010, Brooklyn, NY) The Farmani Gallery will host the book pre-launch for A Queens Affair, a collaborative photography endeavor by Kris Graves and Eric Hairabedian, due out summer of 2010. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 6-8PM at which time book pre-orders will be made available. A Queens Affair is priced at $40 and for the first 100 individuals to pre-order will receive one 8x10” signed archival pigment print from each photographer. These artists prints are exclusive to the book pre-order and will not be reprinted in this style once they are sold out. Both artists will attend the reception and the exclusive artists prints will be made available to take home with a pre-order during the reception.

A Queens Affair is a culmination of eight years of photographing the development, fixed characteristics and spirited nature of Queens, New York. Both Kris Graves and Eric Hairabedian were born and raised in and around Queens and through their photographic partnership share a visual history of their beloved borough.

A special selection of images from the book will be on exhibit and available for purchase for the duration of the show. After which these images will be available in small editions at the Farmani Gallery web site.

Kris Graves, photographer and creative force behind the +kris graves projects is a graduate of SUNY Purchase College and is currently exhibited in Versus, a group show at Haus Projects in New York. His Queens photography will have its debut with this exhibition at the Farmani Gallery.

Eric Hairabedian, photographer and graduate of both SUNY Purchase College with a B.F.A. and the School of Visual Arts with an M.F.A. has been exhibited in the group show, Ten Photographers, Ten Days and his solo show, Remembrance.

FARMANI GALLERY





Caption Gallery is pleased to announce a dual exhibition of photographs by Amy Stein and Brian Ulrich. The exhibition links two powerful photographic series, Ulrich’s recent “Dark Stores,” and “Stranded,” here presented for the first time.

“Dark Stores” examines the all-too-familiar landscape of global brands and big-box retail in the context of a market economy in crisis. His work is a form of visual sociology, providing a portrait of empty spaces, darkened outlets, and, by implication, people left out when the boom recedes.

Amy Stein’s “Stranded” offers us a vision of people at the mercy of forces beyond their control. Metaphorically, the images stand in for the people we don’t see in Ulrich’s photographs. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Stein had the idea to take portraits of motorists she saw stranded by the roadside. The series became, in her words, “a meditation on the despondence of the American psyche stuck in an unfamiliar space between distress and relief.”

The powerful, dystopic visions of Stein and Ulrich expose the transformation of human beings into consumers, with little power or agency. They recall Napoleon’s dictum: “In the eyes of the empire builders, men are not men but instruments.”

CAPTION GALLERY

Anna Collette & Christopher Williams Install Shots

Tonight at the Gallery, And FLAK Photo!

Will I see you at the gallery Tonight?




And hey, I made it onto Flak Photo today, check it out!

Flak Photo

Welcome 2 Wednesday: Volume 2

Friday at +Kris Graves Projects

ANNA COLLETTE - INVASIVE SPECIES

OPENING: FRIDAY, JANUARY 22th, 6-8:30pm

Anna Collette is a photographer who explores conflicted notions of the contemporary landscape. Her work began in 2002 with a series rendering urban and suburban environments that focused on how the natural world—and human expectations of it—is being redefined, both visually and metaphorically, by the failed idealism of increasing development.

There is a poetic sadness in this invasion that is not unfamiliar. Much like any invasion, it is violent, swift, and irreversible. The entire world depicted in these photographs has turned green – and while it appears quite peaceful and serene there is an underlying tension that consumes it. These plants were originally brought to the northeast for erosion control, but over the years have spread throughout the area and have taken over the native species. For support, they wrap their vines around the native plants, but this blocks the sunlight and their support system eventually dies.

Collette was born in Massachusetts in 1974. She received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MFA from Yale University. She teaches photography at Purchase College, SUNY, and lives in New York City.



CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS - DRAWINGS

Running concurrently with INVASIVE SPECIES, Christopher Williams will be exhibiting his newest series of stippled ink drawings. He graduated from Southwestern University in Texas, with a B.A in Art History. Williams is a native of Texas and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.




*6 Sell-Outs & Counting! Ruben Natal-San Miguel's image has sold out, Jason Hanasik and my own print still have a few more copies.

Successful emerging photographers from around the U.S. and Canada have joined forces to support the people of Haiti.

Every print is 8x10 inches in size.
Every print is from an edition of 10.
Every print is $50
100% of the proceeds go to Haiti.

Please go to this link and pass the word out!
HAITI PRINT SALE



+KGP Artist Greg Miller has an image in the upcoming group show at Danziger Projects!

The exhibition will be held in Danziger Projects, Thursday, January 21, 2010. 6:00pm - 8:00pm. 534 West 24th Street. New York, NY

Exhibiting Artists:

JOWHARA ALSAUD, CHAN-HYO BAE, THOMAS BANGSTED, MANDY CORRADO, STEPHEN GILL, JOSEPH HOLMES, ALEJANDRA LAVIADA, GREG MILLER, DAVID SCHOERNER, PATRICK SMITH, TOMMY TON, SCOUT TUFANKJIAN, OLIVER WARDEN, KATHERINE WOLKOFF, TSUKASA YOKOZAWA, EVELYN HOFER, HELEN LEVITT, IRVING PENN, JULIUS SCHULMAN, BETTIE PAGE, CHARIS WILSON

More information at DANZIGER PROJECTS



+Kris Graves Projects will be showing work at MadridFOTO this coming May 12-16. We will have a big booth in Spain showing off the work of most of our photographers. More info coming soon. See you in Spain!

MadridFOTO

+kg

Welcome 2 Wednesday: Volume 1

1. SECOND RECEPTION AT THE +KGP: THURSDAY, JANUARY 7th, 6-8pm

SARA MACEL - TEXAS BUNCH
“Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word...A Texan outside of Texas is a foreigner.”
- John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Sara Macel moved to New York at the age of eighteen. In 2003 she earned a BFA in Photography and Imaging from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she also received the Tobias Award for her project titled Kiss + Tell. After graduating, she spent two years as the assistant and studio manager to Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson and subsequently became a still photography producer at Art Department. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Photography at the School of Visual Arts. Macel will have her first solo exhibition next month at +Kris Graves Projects in Brooklyn, NY. The artist currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

CARIN JOHNSON - NUANCES
Running concurrently with TEXAS BUNCH, Carin Johnson will showcase new works on paper. Johnson focuses on awkwardness in relationships and situations, and aims for the outcomes to not be expressly literal. Johnson uses her imagination to express what she sees from day-to-day into that verging on the surreal. She then takes aspects of things she finds interesting at a certain moment combining them into images that carry a clouded idea that is not easily identifiable - in hopes of stirring up the imagination to another plane of thought.

+KRIS GRAVES PROJECTS



2. VERSUS a show curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel of ArtMostFierce (also a +KGP artist), will open at Hous Projects this Thursday, January 7, 6:30-10:30 pm featuring Brian Ulrich, Jen Davis, Eric Ogden, Hank Willis Thomas, Amy Elkins, and Michael Wolf among others (including Kris Graves).

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 7, 6:30-10:30 pm

Exhibition on View: January 7-March 8, 2010

Hous Projects
31 Howard Street, 2nd Floor
New York, New York

Hous Projects



3. A Queens Affair - book pre-order
A QUEENS AFFAIR