I attended Art Basel in Miami Beach the first week of December. For those of you who are not familiar, this is one of the premier art events in the world. Originally established in Basel Switzerland, this satellite show, established 10 years ago is rivaling the original. Over 250 Dealers from nearly every continent brought out their best. Original Picassos' next to installation sculptures by some hot new artists. During the opening night the value of the artwork was closely matched by the value of jewelry on the attendees.
I saw some truly amazing artwork. Not only beautiful works by established artists but more contemporary artists stretching the boundaries of the materials they use and the subjects they invoke. Contingents from most of the major museums attend to see what is available in the marketplace and what new artists they may want to add to their permanent collections.
Several ancillary shows were impressive in their own right:
Art Miami - This show is an excellent blend of prints by modern masters and originals by established contemporary artists. No shortage of print work by Warhol, Rauschenberg and Hirst to name a few. Originals by Eric Zener, one of my favorite artists stood out.
SCOPE - SCOPE definitely pushed the envelope on installation artwork. Art that you can say "Wow that's cool - but who would buy it" Some installation art by itself could only end up in a museum due to the square footage required to install. This show included Art Asia and Red Dot in adjoining tents. Art Asia displayed contemporary Asian work. A little heavy on the photography for my taste. Red Dot was a tamer version of Scope and a launching pad for those newer dealers trying to get into a sold out Art Miami. An Original photo collage/painting by Anka Schofield of a little girl standing on a Zebra was breathtaking.
NADA - The New Art Dealers Association held this show for both newer dealers and established dealers showing newer artists. The least impressive of the shows, it was crowded on opening day so hopefully both the dealers and artists gained exposure.
PULSE - Far and away my favorite show. Similar in make up to the other shows, there was a level of sophistication and uniqueness to the artwork. Being the last of the major shows I attended, I almost skipped it. Burnt out after viewing thousands of pieces of artwork by over 750 dealers, I saw refreshing new artwork around every corner. Most of the visuals I brought back on artists I would like to show in our gallery came from this show.
The common denominator to all shows was an incredibly vibrant art scene. Artists continue to amaze me with their ingenuity. Working in mediums I have never before seen. The mood amongst dealers was also upbeat. The word on the street is serious collectors are back buying. Gone, the speculative buyers who artificially drive up prices by trying to hype a certain artist. Lets all hope the energy present is a sign of a positive direction the art market desperately needs.
I have been inspired to bring some of the talented artist I have discovered back to Minneapolis. In addition, I was reminded of artists from the past whose art I need to show again. We will be working on introducing new artwork to the gallery on a weekly basis. Keep coming back and you will continually be amazed by the talent we will be showcasing.
Next year I would like to host a group of interested collectors to travel to the Miami shows together. Please email me at greg@hennesart.com if interested.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Purpose of an Art Show
We had a very successful first official art show as a gallery on Sept 30th. Successful on many fronts. Good turn out, positive comments on the gallery, beautiful artwork and success on our mission of pairing artists with charities to help raise funds for a good cause. Most importantly we sold some artwork!
Hence where my soap box starts.
I got my start in the art business managing a gallery on First Avenue in 1986. The peak of the First Avenue Art scene. Every 6-8 weeks, we would re-hang the gallery, buy a bunch of wine and cheese and sit back and serve people who were having a blast with no intent on buying any artwork. Seeing how many of those galleries went out of business, or had to move to lower overhead, my guess is most had the same results.
I moved on and developed a successful corporate art consulting business where I decided I wasn't going to sit back and wait for people to walk in the door and buy. I was going to seek out the people who bought art. We also had great parties, serving free wine and cheese to the people who were buying artwork from us as a thank you, not an enticement to buy.
A few years back someone wrote an article in the Star Tribune about missing the First Avenue art scene, and that no one was buying art anymore. The truth is, galleries cant exist just showing art, people have to buy it too. They have been buying it, but in different ways; through consultants (including my former company), interior designers, furniture stores and online. I believe there is a model in-between, where galleries can show quality work by emerging and established artists at reasonable prices and people will buy.
This is what we are trying to do at Hennes Art Company. Find great art at good prices, get in front of the buyers of artwork and make a match. Everyone wins, artist, client and gallery owner. Too often the gallery owner is left on the sidelines.
I have some ideas on how to better promote the gallery scene in Minneapolis, so stay tuned. My experience with getting PR, calendar listings and online references has been eye opening.
Hence where my soap box starts.
I got my start in the art business managing a gallery on First Avenue in 1986. The peak of the First Avenue Art scene. Every 6-8 weeks, we would re-hang the gallery, buy a bunch of wine and cheese and sit back and serve people who were having a blast with no intent on buying any artwork. Seeing how many of those galleries went out of business, or had to move to lower overhead, my guess is most had the same results.
I moved on and developed a successful corporate art consulting business where I decided I wasn't going to sit back and wait for people to walk in the door and buy. I was going to seek out the people who bought art. We also had great parties, serving free wine and cheese to the people who were buying artwork from us as a thank you, not an enticement to buy.
A few years back someone wrote an article in the Star Tribune about missing the First Avenue art scene, and that no one was buying art anymore. The truth is, galleries cant exist just showing art, people have to buy it too. They have been buying it, but in different ways; through consultants (including my former company), interior designers, furniture stores and online. I believe there is a model in-between, where galleries can show quality work by emerging and established artists at reasonable prices and people will buy.
This is what we are trying to do at Hennes Art Company. Find great art at good prices, get in front of the buyers of artwork and make a match. Everyone wins, artist, client and gallery owner. Too often the gallery owner is left on the sidelines.
I have some ideas on how to better promote the gallery scene in Minneapolis, so stay tuned. My experience with getting PR, calendar listings and online references has been eye opening.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Work of Art
I watched the season finale of Bravo's "Work of art - the next great artist" last week. I did not have the opportunity to see any of the earlier episodes of this inaugural season. Partially due to a lack of time raising 4 teenagers and partially because I despise reality television. See all the details and artists bios at www.bravotv.com/work-of-art.
I must say I was impressed with the quality of the three finalists.
Third place was Minneapolis' own Miles Mendenhall. He is a print maker who explored multiple layers of photography taken from a cell phone camera. He has also been doing work with High Point Center for Printmaking through a Jerome scholarship. I look forward to seeing more of his work and would love to show it in our new gallery.
Second place was Peregrine, who created a carnival atmosphere with her three dimensional sculptures, complete with a cotton candy machine. Very fun to see in a museum but makes me come back to the age old question, would you buy it?
The winner was Abdi who created a series of sculptures and paintings that showed he has skills. Being the winner got him $100k plus a show at the Brooklyn Museum. Both high on any artists wish list.
So the verdict is still out on whether this show will see season two. It definitely could use a new writer and editor as the quality of the production left a lot to be desired. I'll be waiting by the phone.
Greg Hennes
8-16-10
I must say I was impressed with the quality of the three finalists.
Third place was Minneapolis' own Miles Mendenhall. He is a print maker who explored multiple layers of photography taken from a cell phone camera. He has also been doing work with High Point Center for Printmaking through a Jerome scholarship. I look forward to seeing more of his work and would love to show it in our new gallery.
Second place was Peregrine, who created a carnival atmosphere with her three dimensional sculptures, complete with a cotton candy machine. Very fun to see in a museum but makes me come back to the age old question, would you buy it?
The winner was Abdi who created a series of sculptures and paintings that showed he has skills. Being the winner got him $100k plus a show at the Brooklyn Museum. Both high on any artists wish list.
So the verdict is still out on whether this show will see season two. It definitely could use a new writer and editor as the quality of the production left a lot to be desired. I'll be waiting by the phone.
Greg Hennes
8-16-10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)