Sotheby's Auction in NYC March 9th

It is filled with crap, but also with a few diamonds.
I am not going to write much, my powers are tiny in front of the power of the works! -alas in images but still awe imposing.
Above works by Gober and Ruscha at around 80,000 $ estimates

Reference buying

I attended the charity auction at The Breeder Gallery this past Saturday organised for Athens Pride.
The starting price for the auction was 300 euros for each work. It is so great that people wanted to give amongst the crisis.
It also gave a glimpse of the buying profile some of the Greek collectors have and i think a representative of the art taste in Greece at the moment.
I have to say that in Greece painting still holds the fort. Mantalina Psoma and Poka Yio exceeded by 300% and 700% respectively their prices.
As did Kalup Linzy the new artist member of The Breeder. Yorgos Sapountzis nominee for the DESTE award recently also had a high hammer price.
So painting is the drug of choice still..which is good for us photography lovers.

3 old commentaries from an old blog of mine from 2007

on the same date 7 february but in 2007 i wrote:

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Athanasios Argianas@The Breeder

Among the best exhibitions of the last couple of years in Athens. Argianas manages to be dark, strong, sensitive and balanced at the same time.
His sculptures/instalaltions and his paintings of such installations, as well as his portraits have the mark of a skilled painter that really remind me of the Russian Avant-Garde but also very much of Max Beckman. I think it is the choise of colours -although Beckman was a bit more vibrant at times- and the actual way he paints the "route" of his lines, their personality.
There is a well-planned trail of thought behind his sculptures -such as lyrical machine - and they manage to look fragile but very determined.

and then on two posts one on this same day 3 yrs ago and a previous one.
Thoughts i wrote about the ICA talk on art and democracy that was happening near then

Thursday, January 25, 2007

ICA Talk

There will be a very interesting talk at the ICA on the 30th of January titled "Should Art Be Democratic?". Those who will be in London during these dates are lucky!

It makes one think a lot, and it is a very important question to ask. Especially in this athens version of the art world. IT is the continuing question i guess that will always have a new answer. Or none at all. Or two at once.

Should art be democratic then? and this Should states a feel of should it be obliged? should it be, out of politically correctness? Basically is it really necessary? And what does democratic define?

In Athens there are about 20 galleries doing their job, each one the way it knows -or does not know. Since my return to Greece and i must admit i was pretty prejudiced- i realised things are not that bad. They were actually much better than expected. And i am trying to keep my british standards, and try to forget the fact that i am actually in athens now because that really would be a step backwards. Of course greek mentality is quite different than the british one, which is slightly more civilised and honest. Honest being the operative word here especially when it comes to galleries and their relationships to artists.

Galleries first of all abolish the notion of pure democracy but then again i do not think that there exists one as we have learnt to think of it.
I will try to put down my thoughts about this question very superficially and quickly.
Art does not exist as Gombrich taught us. Only artists. Therefore the word art could mean the art world.
Well, the art world is not democratic or is it? Well if we think about the ancient greek standards of democracy where there were slaves and women didnt vote..why of course the art world is democratic..
IF we think of the modern so called "democratic" countries that are bothered to know what the art world is, well yes again. The art world is a capitalist machine with injustices and ups and downs in its economy, with "crimes", social rules taboos and social classes. Underline the word class.
Class as in groups. And groups exist in this system that is called the art world, as they should for it to develop and prosper, and really just function.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

ICA Talk 2

The ICA talk from what i hear was indeed very interesting but also futile. How can one talk about a concept that is so fluid as is democracy? Was there ever really ever a state of democracy?
Anyway going back to the art world and democracy. As i said, my humble opinion is that yes indeed the art world is democratic in the conventional and contemporary sense of the word. But whether it should be...why would we want to ask this quaestion? The people that spoke, faced the question by referring to the "academic" notion of the word democratic. But that is slightly utopic i believe. If democratic questions whether artists receive, or should receive equal opportunitites to show their work, (if it is any good) whether there should be an "objective" way to establish art prices and art value (aesthetic or not) , whether there should be a rank among artists according to work experience..we can only talk about these issues, dispute and discuss over them but not answer them really..
It is futile to go around this question i think without sounding like an anarchist or a marxist. However, the fact is this and we'll leave it at that. The art world is a market, a strong one and a very well preserved one. Therefore democracy is not relevant to it I think. again that is my opinion..

Belle Vue

at Ileana Tounta gallery, curated by Thanos Stathopoulos and Katerina Nikou. i liked this exhibition for its romantic themed approach its very old school academic feel (in the best possible way) and it's reference to man's biggest debate; what is beauty.
Very interesting work by Maurice Ganis who has evolved his abstract expressionism and Dimitris Tataris as always very intriguing.