civilized ku # 227 ~ awash in blood
Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 10:56AM 
Bruce Silverstein Gallery ~ Chelsea, NYC • click to embiggenKnowing that there was little change of seeing anything, photography-wise, I went down to the Chelsea art district on Monday afternoon. Monday is the day that most galleries are closed.
My low expectations were met and, in fact, vastly exceeded. Not a gallery was open. But the other reason I went to Chelsea was to get a feel for the ongoing devastation in the gallery scene. My high expectations were met and, in fact, vastly exceeded.
Without even venturing into any of the gallery buildings, it was apparent just at street level that the so-called recession is taking a devastating toll - if one ever wanted to open a gallery in Chelsea, now's the time, at least from an available space POV. There are empty street-level galleries spaces all over the place. I would also bet that the rents have dropped like a stone as well.
However, one had better include no sales as an integral part of your business plan. It's a fact that galleries, large and small all across NYC, are selling nothing. Nada, Zip. If they don't have any working capital, they're gone in a NYC minute.
So, if you go to NYC for a gallery crawl, Monday is the day to make pictures, not see them. And, with all of the picturing possibilities, like ...
Reader Comments (2)
Perhaps if those galleries catered to the common man, instead of just the super-rich collectors, and offered art at a more affordable price, they wouldn't have to close their doors. I may be in the minority here, but I just can't feel bad for an establishment that goes out of business because no one is buying their $1000+ photographic prints.
Right! I can see the photog's temptation - 1000s of bucks for a print, but can't justify paying same myself - as much as I might like the image. There's no way I'm gonna put down my hard earned (not really - I don't dig ditches and I'm not a garbage/fire man) on a piece of paper - I'd always be willing to pay materials plus 10% and shipping. For me stuff I hang on my walls is decoration. Sometimes a little more, but primarily deco. I'm willing to swap, tho.