BERLIN REPORT
The sixth annual Art Forum Berlin, which presented 172 galleries from 28 countries in the German capital Oct. 3-7, 2001, reports both good attendance and sales. "An excellent example of globalization," wrote critic Christian Herchenröder in the Düsseldorf Handelsblatt. "An uncompromising stance towards young art," wrote Charles Rump in Die Welt. Over 23,800 people attended the fair, up about 3,000 from the year before. One in five visitors came from abroad, an encouraging sign, especially considering the current political situation.
Though sales were faint for more than a quarter of the exhibitors, others reported strong results, particularly in painting and photography. Asian Fine Arts Berlin/Prüss & Ochs Gallery sold a new painting by Fang Lijun to a young Munich collector for $40,000. Heinz Holtmann, Cologne, sold a 1959 acrylic by Heinz Mack for DM 54,000 and a painting by Andrea Belag for DM 28,000. Anselm Dreher, Berlin, sold a painting on aluminum by Gerold Miller for between DM 30,000 and DM 40,000. Leo Koenig sold paintings by Torben Giehler and Les Rogers, both for $11,500.
Lisson Gallery, London, sold a sculpture by Anish Kapoor for £65,000, while Haas & Fuchs, Berlin, sold a Tony Cragg work for DM 86,000. Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, reported selling three sculptures by Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset for between $5,000 and $10,000. A video installation by Maria Friberg, No Time to Fail, featuring a sample from the inauguration speech of George W. Bush, was sold by Charlotte Lund, Stockholm.
In the photography sector, Helga de Alvear, Madrid, sold works by Thomas Ruff for DM 45,000. Akinci, Amsterdam, reported several sales, including a large photo by Poul Gernes for DM 22,000. Wittenbrink, Munich, sold a photo work by Alexander Timtschenko for DM 14,000. Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, sold a large picture by Poul Gernes for DM 22,000. Thomas Erben, New York, sold several large-format photo works by Sarah Rossiter for $3,000 each.
Finally, the prize for the best gallery stand went to the combined booth of Maccarone from New York and Michael Neff from Frankfurt am Main, who divided the space into five "garages" for shows of works by Manuel Ocampo, Mike Boucher, Olav Westphalen and others. The prize for the best "project space" stand went to the Berlin gallery Koch und Kesslau, a two-story structure designed by architect Tilman Wendland that featured changing exhibits every day.
Art Forum Berlin 2002 is slated for Sept. 26-30, 2002, with the preview on Sept. 25. For more info, contact berlin@golmannpr.de.
WENDY SHOW OPENS AT WALLACE HALL
New Yorkers who have been missing that antiques bazaar rush that only a good art show can provide are flocking to the Park Avenue Antiques Show at Wallace Hall at Park Avenue and 84th Street next to St. Ignatius Loyola Church, Oct. 18-21, 2001. What has turned out to be the first New York antiques fair of the fall season (thanks to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11) is one of the top fairs organized by Diane and Meg Wendy, who produce 19 shows a year between September and May.
The 40 dealers on hand offer an eclectic selection of wares: furniture at Van Slyke & Bagby from Sandwich, Mass., and Rinehart Antiques from Katonah, N.Y.; Chinese Export Porcelain at David Good; tall case clocks at John & Patricia Snead from McLean, Va.; American Impressionists at Frates Fine Arts, Rowayton, Conn.; Hudson River School paintings at Julian Beck, Washington, Conn.; antique maps and prints from Barbara Fine, Beverly, Mass.; and jewelry from Joan Grober of New York and Brad Reh of Port Jefferson, N.Y. General admission is $10; for more info, call (212) 288-3588.
COLLECTOR'S CHOICE AT EXIT ART
What are the art-market power brokers buying? Who knows! But go to the stalwart Manhattan alternative space Exit Art to see "Boomerang -- Collector's Choice," Nov. 10-Dec. 29, 2001. The fourth annual "choice" exhibition features 11 seasoned art collectors as guest curators: Flora Miller Biddle, Kenneth L. Freed, Wynn Kramarsky, Andrew Ong, Nancy & Joel Portnoy, Bill Previdi, BZ & Michael Schwartz, and Allison Lane Rubler & Meridith Lane Verona. The curators began with the unusual proposition: "If you were given $100,00 to spend solely on artwork, what would you choose?"
The list of artists included is long, and still in formation. A completely arbitrary and meaningless selection: Kevin Cannon, Celia Rumsey, Richard Tuttle, Anton Henning, Florian Merkel, David Moreno, Sandeep Mukherjee, Jill Baroff, Cary Smith, Jeff Jackson, Cary S. Leibowitz, Sean Mellyn, Leoni Oostvogel, Enoc Perez, Fabian Birgfeld, Karen Arm, Brett Cook-Dizney, Art Crumb, Phil Frost, Rob Pruitt, Amy Sillman, Katy Grannan, Alix Lambert, Louise Lawler, Tony Feher, Jeff Gauntt, Jane Simpson. None of the work on view, by the way, actually belongs to any of the collectors involved.
The place to be, needless to say, is the exhibition's benefit gala, a fundraiser for Exit Art, slated for the Puck Building in SoHo on Nov. 9, 2001. Tickets are $500. For info, contact Karen Hershey at (212) 343-1920.
JERSEY CITY ART TOUR
Everybody on the ... PATH train! The Jersey City Art Tour, a 10-year-old, self-guided walking tour of downtown galleries, artist studios and ad hoc exhibition sites in the buzzy burg just across the Hudson from Lower Manhattan, is scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. on the weekend of Oct. 20-21, 2001. Some 300 artists are participating, and 10,000 visitors are expected. The tour begins at the Grove Street PATH Station; participating spaces include 111 First Street, the Rotunda Gallery in City Hall (280 Grove Street), Victory Hall (196 Grand Street), the Case Museum (80 Grand Street), the Jersey City Public Library (472 Jersey Avenue), the Gallery Space at Grace Church Van Vorst (39 Erie Street) and more. For more info, call (201) 547-5406.
CALDER MOBILE FOUND IN WTC DEBRIS
The New York Post reports that part of Alexander Calder's monumental sculpture Bent Propeller (1970), which stood on the plaza at 7 World Trade Center, has been found in the rubble. Alexander Rower, Calder's grandson and head of the Calder Foundation, had asked volunteers at the site to keep an eye out for the work.
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