gumshoe

Collecting

We were thrilled to see Allen Salkin's NY Times article, Selling Himself and Prints, Too in yesterday's style section. The article confirms that prints are an excellent way to acquire works at reasonable prices and a great way for new collectors to get started. We look forward to the opening on Pace Prints in Chelsea and it's inaugural show of Ryan McGuiness, an artist of whom we are fans.

News

Cultural Institutions:
New acting secretary of the Smithsonian Institution apointed as SI trys to overcome scandal: "In a way, he was. Just two days before, Mr. Samper, 41, had been catapulted from director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to acting secretary of the entire Smithsonian Institution. He was the emergency replacement for Lawrence M. Small, 65, who resigned after a tumultuous seven-year tenure that concluded with an internal audit showing that the museum complex had paid for his extravagant personal expenses." By Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times.

Auctions:
At Christie's a rare Stradivarius violin went for a high — but not a record — price of $2.4 million. New York Times article

Party

Mark your calendars, cleanse your livers, the COLLAPSABLE GIRAFFE BEGGAR’S BENEFIT PARTY is coming on Saturday, April 14th at 3LD ART + TECHNOLOGY CENTER to benefit the creation of our new work, PEE PEE MAW MAW.

8:00 pm Drinks, Eats, DJ Flaco, Love
9:00 pm Guest performances, followed by DJ BenGay, more drinks, more love

RSVP to benefit@collapsablegiraffe.org or call 718 388-2251

NYC Architecture

Check out this interesting NY Sun article on the disaster that is the WTC / Freedom Tower site. NYC has really missed the boat, driving cultural organizations away with restrictions instead of partnering with them to create truly inspired complex.

Circa International Art Fair - Puerto Rico

In it’s second year, Circa still has a few kinks to work out, but on the whole proved to be an interesting and entertaining weekend. Circa’s strengths are it’s small size and the enthusiasm and gracious hospitality of the Puerto Rican cultural community. Unlike larger fairs, Circa offers intimate access to many artists, collectors and art world professionals who are on hand and more than willing to discuss their work, mission and ideas. (The Berezdivins personally welcomed guests at the door and handed out information on their collection.) Not to mention, the puertoricanos know how to have fun, the parties went late and the food, music and rum never ran out.

At the fair, highlights included booths by Dean Project and Space Other, several insightful panel discussions and Shortfilm Compilations curated by Lee Wells.

In addition, there were several wonderful events organized in conjunction with the fair. Hands down the most impressive was Espacio 1414, a converted warehouse in which collectors Diana and Moises Berezdivin and their Curator Julieta Gonzalez put on exhibitions from their collection. The current exhibition, Globalización is excellent; beautifully installed, timely in subject matter and thought provoking. The roster of artists included many art world MVPs such as Tom Sachs (a personal favorite), Jonathan Horowitz, Sarah Morris, Superflex, Nikki Lee and Arturo Herrera.

An exhibition of the sculpture of the Brooklyn based Puerto Rican born artist Milton Rosa-Ortiz at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico was another favorite. Thanks to our PR guide, Manuel Lopez, Milton led us on a private tour of his work. Milton is adorable – talented, well spoken, handsome, and enthusiastic. He speaks beautifully about his works and process and we look forward to visiting his Brooklyn studio. He will go places.

San Juan gallery Comercial, one or Puerto Rico’s noted up-and-comers, was another standout with an exhibition of the works of Michael Linares and Diego de la Cruz y Antuán Lázaga.

Gumshoe spreads the shopping cart love!

Check out our mention on the highly respected and incredibly witty blog, doylebrau.com. Yep, Gumshoe inspires all!

Brice Marden @ MoMA

On Thursday, we hit the member’s opening for Brice Marden: A Retrospective of Paintings and Drawings at MoMA. Organized chronologically, the exhibition’s highlights come in depicting his transition from monochrome planes to drawings and then canvases with at first muted and then vibrant lines. Timeless, brilliant and meditative Marden’s works are some of the best of both the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Why Gumshoe???

The New York Times and Jerry Saltz have said it best. The art world is bigger than ever – more than 300 galleries opened in Chelsea this fall. And even if you have an idea where to go, without an introduction you probably won’t get very far. As Saltz says, it's a jungle out there: “The New York art world is now like Wikipedia: It is vast, multilingual, collaborative, inconsistent, contradictory, and coming from everywhere.”

Thus, Art Advisors are becoming more of a necessity than an option. Times writer Mia Fineman recently reported: “'With so many wealthy collectors competing for the work of a few dozen international art stars, top galleries are in a position to handpick their clientele these days, keeping long and closely guarded waiting lists for new work. As a result, many insiders say, today’s art consultants are valued as much for their entree as for their advice on choice acquisitions. 'The most important thing an art adviser can provide is access,' said Mark Fletcher, 44, an adviser who specializes in postwar art with an emphasis on emerging artists. 'It’s become much more difficult to buy art these days, especially in the primary market, which is highly imperfect because, unlike auction buying, it’s a closed system based largely on relationships of trust.'”

Need we say more?  Gumshoe's here to help, leading the way, providing the background, knowledge and introductions needed to truly maximize your cultural experience.

No High Line for Dia

The Dia Art Foundation announced that it is abandoning its plan to build an exhibition space at the entrance to the High Line in order to focus on in-house reorganization – their longtime Michael Govan recently departed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and their largest benefactor Leonard Riggio stepped down as Chairman of the Board.

There is talk that The Whitney Museum of American Art may replace Dia at the prime Meatpacking District site in its place of moving forward with its Renzo Piano designed addition to its Marcel Breuer designed home.

Philly

In an example of serious procrastination, I finally made it down to Philly the weekend before my BFF, Joy, wrapped up her 2 year sojourn as an Ivy League grad student. I knew I’d be impressed, having read & heard many a story about Manhattan’s “6^th borough’s” thriving creative / hipster scene, but I must admit I was more than blown away.

On Thursday afternoon we cruised around town taking in all the fabulous architecture, walking through City Hall and scoping out the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Society Hill. I am a serious history dork. Thus, I was in my element. Joy was a fabulous guide as she is a city planner and provided many fascinating incites on Philly’s historical preservation and modern efforts at urban revitalization. Did you know that actor, Kevin Bacon’s late father, Edmund Bacon was “a renowned city planner whose vision transformed postwar Philadelphia and whose influence continued to shape the look and feel of the nation's fifth-largest city.”

We also hit the gallery area where much to my chagrin, Cereal Art was closed. I am a big fan of kitsch and love their affordable and fun collection of multiples by many well known artists. No joke, I own Yoshitomo Nara’s Pup Cup, Little Wanderer and Clock, Momoyo Torimitsu’s Rabbit Cookie Jars in all 3 colors, Ryan McGinness’ Soccer Ball, and Marcel Dzama’s Sad Ghost Lamp. What can I say? . . I like to buy in bulk.

Philly’s nightlife proved to be entertaining, I had the privilege of conversing with a guy who said he was from Italy – aka NJ (just ask the new Bachelor) – and claimed to have starred in several  southern themed porn movies in what little free time he has after touring with his Rolling Stones cover band, The Stoners.

On Friday, we were up early and headed for The Barnes Foundation, a must see before it much debated move from Merion into Philly. The gallery is hung salon style and is filled with masterpieces by the who's who of the art world. The Museum displays works of several painters, including Cézanne, de Chirico, Paul Gauguin, El Greco, Goya, Manet, Matisse, Modigliani, Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Utrillo, and Van Gogh – to name few. Literally by the end I was walking by works that would be the star of other collections, thinking nothing of em. Go now before the move.  - Liz