ART FAIRS FOR 2004
The remarkable expansion of the global art world is nowhere more evident than in the listing of major art fairs featured in the new edition of The International Guide to Art Fairs and Antique Shows, the one-year-old publication put together by veteran art-magazine publisher Paul Shanley (and available for $10 via artmediaco@aol.com). About 50 fairs in 10 countries are on tap, and that's only for the first six months of 2004. The handy booklet also features an informative essay by Brook S. Mason that puts the art-fair phenomenon in a detailed economic context.
In appropriate avant-garde fashion, the first fair of the year began before 2004 had even started -- the Monte-Carlo International Fine Arts & Antiques Fair, the five-year-old exposition held at Monte Carlo's Grimaldi Forum, Dec. 30, 2003-Jan. 6, 2004. Other top fairs for January include a quartet in sunny Florida (Art Miami, Jan. 7-11; Palm Beach Contemporary, Jan. 9-13; the Palm Beach Winter Antiques Show, Jan. 9-11; and the Palm Beach Classic, Jan. 30-Feb. 8) and the Americana shows in New York City (the New York Ceramics Fair at the National Academy of Design, Jan. 14-18; the American Antiques Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion, Jan. 15-18; and the Winter Antiques Show at the Seventh Regiment Armory, Jan. 16-25), plus prints in San Francisco (the San Francisco International Art Exposition, Jan. 16-19) and Outsider Art in New York (Outsider Art Fair, Jan. 23-25). For details on fairs in subsequent months, get the guide (or stay tuned to Artnet Magazine).
ATLANTA'S NEW ART DISTRICT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently explored the city's newest art district, the 40-acre Castleberry Hill neighborhood of 19th-century warehouses and storefronts down by the city's railroad tracks. Two contemporary galleries -- Artnet client Skot Foreman Fine Art and Ty Stokes Gallery -- are already located in Castleberry Hill. Now, according to AJC reporter Catherine Fox, several additions to the area are about to open: Marcia Wood Gallery is moving from the city's Buckhead neighborhood to a new space at 263 Walker Street, slated to open this month; the Garage, a new alternative space, has debuted at 261 Peters Street under the aegis of artists Carolyn Carr and Michael Gibson (who exhibit with Fay Gold Gallery); and lawyer Wolf Fischer plans to open Montage Gallery, specializing in photography, also at 261 Peters. Last October, neighborhood boosters put on a special "loft tour," with stops at the area's many artists' studios. Castleberry Hill also boasts other essentials for any contemporary art district -- a pizza parlor and two day spas.
NEA GRANTS FOR 2004
The National Endowment for the Arts recently posted its first list of 2004 grant winners -- some 915 awards totaling $25.3 million, out of a total NEA budget of $122.5 million. The majority of the grants 788 totaling more than $19.8 million -- are in NEA's "creativity" category, and support the production and presentation of new works. Some examples:
$100,000 to the Metropolitan Museum for "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)"
$100,000 to the Los Angeles County Museum for "The Course of Invention: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880-1920"
$100,000 to Asia Society for "Asian Games: The Art of Contest"
$100,000 to the St. Louis Art Museum for "Art from New Ireland"
$80,000 to the Phillips Collection for "Calder and Mir"
$75,000 to the Berkeley Art Museum for a touring exhibition of oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens
$75,000 to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art for "Art and the Feminist Revolution"
$75,000 to the University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach, for a touring exhibition of works by Candida Hofer
$70,000 to the Museum for African Art for "Beauty of the Gods: Urhobo Art in a Modern World"
$60,000 to the American Folk Art Museum for "The Synagogue and the Carousel: Jewish Woodcarving Traditions"
$60,000 to Praxis, an architecture journal published in Cambridge, Mass
$50,000 to the Carnegie Institute to support the "2004 Carnegie International"
$50,000 to the Chicago MCA for kiosks in city parks designed by Dan Peterman
$50,000 to the Fabric Workshop for its artist-in-residence program
$40,000 to the Jersey City Museum for "Jersey Ride," an exhibition of works by Chakaia Booker
$40,000 to ArtPace in San Antonio for artists' residencies
$29,000 to Creative Time for a "sign painting project" at Coney Island directed by artist Stephen Powers
$25,000 to the Americas Society for "The Phoenix and the Hummingbird: Asia in the Arts of Latin America, 1520-1820"
$25,000 to Arcadia University Art Gallery in Glenside, Pa., for a site-specific installation by Olafur Eliasson
$25,000 to Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle for summer residencies
$23,000 to Art Papers magazine in Atlanta
$22,000 to Sculpture magazine
$20,000 to the Blaffer Gallery in Houston for a touring exhibition of work by Jessica Stockholder
$20,000 to the Philadelphia ICA for an exhibition of work by Pepon Osorio
$20,000 to the Grand Rapids Art Museum for a touring show of plant lithographs by Ellsworth Kelly
$15,000 to the College Art Association to support the commission of offset print projects by contemporary artists in the CAA's Art Journal magazine
$15,000 to California Center for the Arts in Escondido for a show of works by Niki de Sainte Phalle, to be presented in conjunction with the unveiling of her monumental sculptural environment, Queen Califia's Magical Circle
SEARCH FOR REV. JEN'S ASS
What better way to start off 2004 than with Art Star Scene Mag (otherwise known acronymically as ASS), a new publication from the Lower East Side's stellar artist and troll museum curator, Saint Reverend Jen. The literate, 64-page newsprint zine, which is priced at $2.50, includes tongue-in-cheek features like "Classic Porn Corner" (revisiting The Opening of Misty Beethoven in the premiere issue) and "Fashion Daredevil of the Month" (Chris Brodeur), plus several articles by Reverend Jen herself ("if I live to be 12,000, I will never write all of the essays on my to-do list," she writes in her introduction), a piece by Jonathan Ames, an interview with painter and Vienna gallery-owner Lisa Ruyter and much lively fiction, poetry, personals and witty capsule movie and book reviews. Ass can be found at Printed Matter or at www.revjen.com.
MORE CORNELL AT FEIGEN GALLERY
"Joseph Cornell: The 100th Birthday," the celebrated centennial exhibition of works by Joseph Cornell at Richard L. Feigen & Co. in Manhattan, has been extended until Feb. 23, 2004 (originally it had been slated to close Jan. 16). The show features works from the Robert Lehrman Art Trust and celebrates the publication of Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay. . . Eterniday (Thames & Hudson).
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