|
|
| HLAA NEWSLETTER WINTER 2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
Dear
|
Happy holidays dear readers! After a sobering 2009 HLAA looks forward to the start of a new decade.
Since June, I have seen the art market steadily change its tide as
seasoned
collectors emerged from their hibernation and first time buyers came to the
fore. Art Basel Switzerland and the November auctions reinvigorated the market with realistic prices
and impressive sales results. Sotheby's achieved a total of $178.5m and Christie's totals were
$117.9m at their Contemporary art sales. The star lot was
Warhol's 1962 seminal pop painting 200 One Dollar Bills
which sold for an impressive $43.7m at Sotheby's. A contrast to the 10% unemployment rate and rising gold prices of $1,140 per ounce, the art market is
steadfast and true. Art Basel Miami was also upbeat (sans speculators) so the year ahead
is indeed looking up even if it is only for the secondary market.
Regarding the primary market, new art initiatives born out of the recession are aimed to support young artists. For example, the
Guggenheim's nascent contemporary program, the Intervals, is
committed to showcasing emerging artists. Be on the look
out for their next show which is sure to impress even the most discerning collectors.
This issue includes highlights from the Frieze fair in London (see my published article in Whitewall), Art Basel Miami and a glimpse at "The List", the Whitney Biennial's much anticipated roster of the year's most avant garde American artists. I also had
the unique opportunity to talk with fantastic artists such as
Eve Sussman, Ellen Harvey, Grayson Perry, Raqib Shaw and Matthew Day Jackson about their art as well with international art
collectors about their diverse approaches to art. Read on for more and please do
not hesitate to share your thoughts!
Yours truly, Heidi Lee
Art Basel Miami taken from my phone.
Above: Roxy Paine, rooftop of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
|
|
 |
In This Issue
|
- At Art Basel Miami - A Buyer's Market
- Art Basel Swiss vs. Art Basel Miami
- Not enough time to see all of Basel? Don't worry it's online.
- HLAA Curates ACNY's inaugural show
2009 ART HIGHLIGHTS
HLAA IN THE PRESS
ASK HLAA
- What is the best way to protect my art from damage and care for it properly?
ABOUT HLAA
|
|
|
 HOT TOPICS
|
|
 de la Cruz Collection, Miami
MIAMI PRIVATE COLLECTIONS ARE NOT SO PRIVATE More and more Miami is becoming a top travel destination for well-heeled tourists with an interest for art and culture as private collectors make their homes and offices accessible to the public. The Rubell Family, Craig Robbins, Marty Marguilies and Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz are among the top collectors who opened their collections for the onslaught of visitors who came for Basel this year. If combined, some say their collections would amass to become one of the most important museums of contemporary art in the United States. Although that is not likely to happen in the near future these private collections are a must-see. Miamians love the spotlight especially those who have good art to show off. Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz spent an entire week welcoming throngs of visitors to both their house and new exhibition space. They were installing art up until the actual day of the opening while artists made last minute changes. There is a tremendous level of respect and support for artists and long lasting artist-collector relationships develop as a result. The very expressive German artist, Jonathan Meese was ecstatic about his installation at the Cruz space and praised them for their efforts. On VernissageTV he said that the exhibition was a huge statement about art and it's role in the world. As opposed to being kept in the hands of a few, he expressed his strong belief that "art will someday take over the world". The 30,000sf building was designed by John Marquette, a genius architect of light and space who had a clear vision of how to construct the space and make it suitable enough to properly house some of the world's most important contemporary artists including: Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jim Hodges, Ana Mendieta, and Sigmar Polke. Watch interview with Rosa de la Cruz
 Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Small A Projects
WHITNEY BIENNIAL ARTISTS ANNOUNCED
Since 1932 the Whitney Museum has produced a series of biennials with the purpose of surveying the nation's top contemporary artists. This years biennial simply titled '2010' is a tightly focused group of new and old artists inspired by Modernism. Amoung the 55 lucky artists are Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Tam Tran, Lorraine O'Grady, Robert Williams, Piotr Uklanski and George Condo. The much-anticipated event is co-curated by star curator Francesco Bonami, who directed the Venice Biennale in 2003 and also curated the Rudolf Stingel exhibition that traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago to the Whitney in 2007. Co-curator, Gary Carrion-Murayari, 28, is a senior curatorial assistant at the Whitney and will be adding his take on the emerging artist scene. He is also co-curator of Progress (on view at the Whitney through January 4, 2009) and is organizing the upcoming exhibition Elad Lassry: Three Films.
As a supplement to the biennial, a special installation titled Collecting Biennials will highlight works from Whitney's permanent collection including artists who were in the first biennials ever produced including Milton Avery and Edward Hopper. (Biennial dates Feb 25 - May 30, 2010)
 REALITY LEAVES A FINGERPRINT ON THE BIENNIAL by Carol VogelThe 2010 edition of the Whitney Biennial - that giant survey of American art on the Upper East Side of Manhattan - will not only try to chronicle current goings-on in contemporary art, but it will also reflect the world at large...Read full NY Times article |
HLAA ON THE TOWN
|
Sylvester Stallone with his painting, Galerie Gmurzynska, Art Basel Miami
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH - A BUYERS MARKET
This year's 8th annual Art Basel Miami Basel showed signs of optimism as
confident buyers strode through the halls of the enlarged Convention
Center and snatched up choice work. The usual suspects, John McEnroe, Pharell Williams, Calvin Klein, and
Steve Wynn, were there mingling with dealers. Sylvester Stallone, not a usual art fixture, debuted his paintings at the Galerie Gmurzynska booth which incidentally had $6
million dollars worth of art seized by US Marshals just minutes before the VIP opening. The seizure was the result of an insurance dispute that was quickly resolved and the art was returned two days
later. 
Santiago Sierra, Los Penetrados video, Galerie Helga de Alvear, Art Basel With over 2 billion dollars of art presented, 42,000 visitors,
2,000 artists and a dozen satellite fairs, ABMB is the largest art fair in the world. Major works
of art sold including: Kehinde Wiley's homage to Michael Jackson painting ($175k), a James Rosenquist painting ($1m), a Louise Bourgeouis hand sculpture ($1.5m), an Alexander Calder mobile ($1.4m), Ai Wei Wei's ceramic cube ($300k),a Guillermo Kuitca painting ($250k), Jason Rhodes neon light sculpture ($450k) and a Roxy Paine tree ($500k). 43% percent of galleries described their sales as "much better
than expected" with only 18% saying sales met or fell short of
expectations this year. According to the Miami Herald, established
galleries were able to sell prized works to so-called cash-strapped
collectors and I personally witnessed many first time collectors buying art.
ABMB
also experienced their first "terrorist" scare. A covert attempt to
sabotage the fair happened when a tall thin man released thousands of
ladybugs in the VIP lounge. An art collector was grabbed by fair
officials for questioning and then quickly released when they realized
they had the wrong guy. Needless to say the collector was very unhappy.
The ladybug perpetrator was never caught but officials did not rule out that it may have been an artist doing a bad art stunt...not everything is
art.
ART BASEL SWITZ VS. ART BASEL MIAMI
Art Basel
and Art Basel Miami are two entirely different experiences yet they are
the same fair with Miami a bit like the evil twin. Art voyeurs will enjoy these non-narrated videos taken at this years respective vernissages. See if you can spot familiar faces!
Click to watch: ArtBasel Switzerland vs. Art Basel Miami
Marilyn Minter and Richard Flood at Art Salon/Art Basel, Miami Beach 2009
NOT ENOUGH TIME TO SEE IT ALL? DON'T WORRYIf you missed Art Basel talks, conversations or films in the past you can finally watch them online.
Click here to watch videos
Yadir Quintana installation, Awakenings Show at ACNY
HLAA CURATES ART CONNECTS NEW YORK'S INAUGURAL OPENING
ACNY
was established in 2006 with the objective of placing contemporary art
in social service agencies throughout the five boroughs of New York City. ACNY
aims to connect curators with the city in order to
create inspired and compelling exhibitions of NY-based artists. Heidi Lee curated their first show in the 1,000 square foot space with 4 artists: Emily Barletta, Judith Braun, Yadir Quintana and Houben RT. "They have a non-traditional approach to
art-making," said Ms. Lee. "This exhibition transcends the visual realm
and presents an other-worldly experience to the viewer. The artist's inner-most
spiritual and emotional desires intrigue and captivate the viewer by their
compelling use of sensory-based materials." To date ACNY has installed permanent placements in Comunilife Incorporated, International Center for the Disabled, Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, and the Doe Fund.
|
2009 ART HIGHLIGHTS
|
Pop Life Show, Tate Modern, London
James Brett's Museum of Everything, Outsider Art exhibition, London
Thomas Houseago sculpture, Frieze Fair, London
Anish Kapoor solo show, Svayambh, Royal Academy of Art, London
NS Harsha sewing machine installation, London
Maria Jose Arjona death defying performance at Pulse fair, Miami. Standing on glasses for 6 hours
Ellen Harvey installation at Stefan Stoyanov Gallery, NADA fair, Miami
Grayson Perry, transvestite artist with his monumental tapestry, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
"To be normal is the ideal aim of the unsuccessful" -Grayson Perry quoting Carl G. Jung
Michael Heizer installation, Marty Margulies Collection, Miami
|
HLAA IN THE PRESS
|
 FRIEZE ART FAIR BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO ART MARKET by Heidi LeeLondon was alive and hopping the week of October 11th as thousands of
residents emerged from their shells for a week-long celebration of art
and design. I spent seven days running to dozens of different gallery
openings, exhibition viewings, cocktails and dinners. Unlike any other
fair in the world, Frieze just took over the whole city engaging both
the commercial and residential sectors. This year was particularly
successful due to a higher level of participation and interest from
institutional organizations to make up for last year's free fall in the
market. Read full interview...
GOTHAM MEDIA ART PANEL: Art in Turbulent Times Paul Morris, co-founder of Armory Show, Rick Wester, Sergei Skater, Jeanne Rohaytan Greenberg, and Heidi Lee. September 2009 Click here to view video |
ASK HEIDI
|
Q. What is the best way to protect my art from damage and care for it properly?
HL:
The top four culprits
of inherent art damage are material, light, heat, and humidity.
MATERIAL: Some materials are more sensitive to light than others and the risk is inherent. Works on paper such as prints, photographs, watercolors and drawings are more fragile and are easily damaged by UV rays. Be conscientious of the material of the artwork when
installing your art and take appropriate measures to protect the art. If your
collection contains transgressive materials such as animals,
formaldehyde or latex, we recommend that you call in a professional conservationist to inspect the work and provide a professional opinion. Fragile works should be checked on periodically.
LIGHT: If
your room or house is filled with natural or artificial light we
recommend a layered approach to protecting your art. Since keeping the shades drawn is not an optimal solution, we advise all our
clients to cover their windows with a UV film. This is an easy
and affordable application that is available at more stores. The second layer of protection is framing. Most framers are able to provide UV protected museum glass or plexi (recommended to prevent shattering) that will prevent damaging rays from affecting your art. Think about sun damage and what it does to your skin. It is the same concept for art. Blocking UV rays by covering your windows and the frame glass with protection will help ensure that your
art will last for years to come and maintain it's value. Be aware that even
fluorescent light can damage your art!
HEAT/HUMIDITY: Never
hang works above an open fire or radiator as the extreme
temperatures will cause wooden frames to stretch and warp,
canvases to cockle, or surface rippling. Even if you do not have wooden frames, any surface will warp over time. After 50 years,
works on oil on canvases will become brittle and start to crack if the
humidity levels vary too much. Under-floor heating is
ideal, but if you keep the room temperature around 70 degrees F (~20
degrees C) your art should be safe from damage. Most people with beach homes or boats prefer not to install art there because of the irreversible damage that can be caused by humidity. HLAA recommends using a digital thermo-hydograph to
regulate the relative of humidity in your room a the optimum level of
50-55 percent.
Some things are beyond your control but when you minimize your risk you can enjoy your art for many more years. It is also recommended to use a professional
handler for shipping and handling your art. Transportation techniques and technologies are constantly being updated and improved to transport art in a safe and secure way. Art-handling companies also offer storage and packing but make sure they have climate-controlled vehicles and warehouses. Please contact us for recommendations: info@heidileeartadvisory.com |
ABOUT HLAA
|
Founded in 2002, Heidi Lee Art Advisory provides comprehensive art consulting services for corporations,private collectors and art institutions. Specializing in Modern and Contemporary art, HLAA's core services include secondary market dealings, disposition of collections, art inventory control, and fine art appraisals for wills, estates, insurance, donations and resale. With in-depth experience and a proven track record, HLAA client's have
benefited from our services to significantly enhance the value of their
collections as well as gain exclusive access to top quality fine art.
We are committed to our clients by providing trusted art expertise,
international market savvy and the highest standards for acquiring,
maintaining and presenting art.
THANK YOU!
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
