civilized ku # 2134-35 ~ it's nice to be home ...

Gallery ~ Chelsea/NYC, NY • click to embiggenChicken ~ Chelsea/NYC, NY • click to embiggen... but a trip to NYC is always enjoyable. Especially so when it includes a day long gallery crawl with a good friend.

Ostensibly, the purpose of the trip was the previously mentioned Artist's Dinner which, as it turned out, was not what I expected. It was not in a gallery, but in a restaurant (very conveniently located just around the corner from my friend's apartment). There were a couple 20×24" Kris Graves (the featured artist) prints on the wall and a print box with additional 11×14" prints for viewing. And, of course, there was the dinner.

Re: "the previously mentioned Artist's Dinner ... was not what I expected" - this should not be construed as a negative comment. We met and chatted up some interesting people, to include Kris Graves, who sat with us during the first couple courses. The evening was very enjoyable, so much so that my friend and I were mildly surprised, after the short walk back to his apartment, to realize we had spent over 4 hours at the event. As the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun.

One of the more interesting aspects of the event was one which is emblematic of the NYC photo gallery scene, at least that part of it as I experienced in Chelsea on Friday. To put it mildly, the photo gallery scene is in a state of flux. Many of the less established galleries are, quite simply, gone. Some the more established ones have downsized. A few of the biggies seem to be carrying on as usual (although, looks can be deceiving). In any case, things are changing.

In the smaller galleries in particular, even the slightest expressed interest in work on exhibit is greeted with a sales pitch - albeit kind and courteous, never "pushy" - which inevitably includes some variation on the phrase, "we can work with you on the price" - one even offered a payment plan. They are not exactly at the point of saying "make us an offer", but there is a bit of a whiff in the air of an eagerness (desperation?) to make a sale.

Make no mistake about it, selling art and making money is, of course, the point of a gallery but the less established galleries are becoming much more transparent in the pursuit of that mission. For the most part, gone is the air of benign aloofness, re: we're ever so sophisticated and ever so above the money fray, that was once the attitude most commonly experienced in art galleries.

Which, all that said, brings me to our artist dinner host, the fine folks from Baang and Burne Contemporary. They are truly fine folks and I really do admire their efforts and ingenuity in the pursuit of finding a new presenting/selling art paradigm.

As best as I understand it, there is no Baang and Burne Contemporary in the physical sense inasmuch as there is no actual gallery space. They are a "mobile" art "event" organization which conducts exhibits and events - such as their Artist Dinner series - at various sites, as opposed to at/in their own overhead-ladened gallery space. I like the idea although I have no idea how "serious" art buyers / collectors are responding to it.

I suspect that, in a world where much art is sold through personal gallery director/owner / buyer/collector relationships, the concept could work as long as the gallery director/owner has a stable of brand name and emerging artist's work in his/her travel case. In the high-end fine art sales world, relationships and schmoozing is primarily what gets it (sales) done. Although, the fly in that ointment is that, while a good web presence helps, nothing (at least, not yet) says "established" like a nice gallery space.

However, that said, one "genius" aspect of the Baang and Burne Contemporary artist dinner series is that, while the events are not exactly "openings" events, a primary part of their purpose is to introduce an artist and his/her work to prospective buyers / collectors. So, in a very real sense, the dinners are an opening like event and the "genius" part of them is that the good folks from Baang and Burne Contemporary have figured out how to have the clients pay for their own food and entertainment.

I'm not complaining, just saying is all.

Comments

[aaron]

"a primary part of their purpose is to introduce an artist and his/her work to prospective buyers / collectors."

I disagree. Brandy and I talked about this while driving home from your place last night.

Even if the "air of benign aloofness, re: we're ever so sophisticated..." is presumably gone from the gallerist, it is definitely not gone from the collectors. I suspect a collector would baulk at the idea of having to pay to have dinner with an artist. They are much more important (not my opinion) and would rather be wooed and pampered. I suspect that the majority of guests were simply aficionados like yourself or young artist that think this would be a good place to grab the gallerist ear for a chat about their own portfolio. If a collector was there, I would bet a dollar to a donut that their price of admission was paid for by the gallery.

Of course this is a sweeping generalization of collectors, and I've met some really down-to-earth ones once or twice, but it is still my assumption.