For the more studiously inclined, ArtHamptons offers the First Annual Worldwide Art Collectors’ Conference, a three-day-long blowout of lectures and tours (priced at $495 per person). The incredible event boasts presentations by Sotheby’s chair Lisa Dennison, art dealers Louis Meisel, Bridget Moore (DC Moore), Sundaram Tagore and Barrett White (Haunch of Venison), art scribes Benjamin Genocchio (Art & Auction) and Marcia Vetrocq (Art in America), artists Stanley Brodsky, Audrey Flack and Donald Sultan, and much, much more.

Meanwhile, for those of you out on the island, there are plenty of other art attractions. The Parrish Art Museum (still at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton) is holding its "midsummer party" on July 10, 2010, with cocktails, dinner, dessert and dancing. Tickets start at $1,000, but don’t worry, the event is "always a sell-out."

Figurative painter Joa Baldinger, who is also the companion of the legendary art dealer Heiner Friedrich, is finally unveiling some of her works at Harper’s Books (66 Newtown Lane) in East Hampton, in a show called "Because the Night," July 10-Sept. 10, 2010.

Salomon Contemporary (6 Plank Road) in East Hampton is presenting "Hunt & Chase," July 11-Aug. 15, 2010, organized by Beth Rudin DeWoody. Nothing if not inclusive, the collector-curator has included around 30 artists in the exhibition, including Dianne Blell, Pia Dehne, Walton Ford, Richard Pasquarelli and Alexis Rockman.

And plenty of you are sure to seek out Glenn Horowitz Bookseller in East Hampton, which is mounting a show by the legendary fashion photog and Madonna collaborator Steven Klein called "Stag Film," July 10-Aug. 8, 2010. The project sounds rather curious, promising "documentation of a sexual act" that involves "a dummy horse" and "the actual emission of the horse’s sperm."

Latest but not least, Bose Pacia -- which has relocated from Manhattan to 163 Plymouth Street in Brooklyn -- is presenting "Material Witness: Bari Kumar & Mondongo," July 17-28, 2010, at Murphy and Dine Gallery in Wainscott. A "full-length exhibition" by the Los Angeles-based artist Bari Kumar and the Buenos Aires-based collective Mondongo is scheduled for New York in the fall.

LOTS OF ART/PRODUCT TEAM-UPS
Lots of art-and-marketing news these days. A few recent highlights:

* Over the years, artist Jenny Holzer has slapped her signature slogans on plenty of surfaces. The latest is a pair of Keds, regular or high top, which can be had in black or gray with the phrase "Protect Me from What I Want." Keds is sponsoring the Whitney Museum of American Art’s summer season, and a portion of the proceeds -- around $75 a pair -- goes to the museum.

* Long an art lover, Absolut vodka is now offering clear "art pitchers" with designs by artists Chiho Aoshima (phallic cartoon skyscrapers and flowers) and Stephen Powers (cartoon hands mixing drinks, and a velvet rope). The carafes, Absolut notes, allow "consumers to share both art and drinks with friends." The pitchers are available at Selfridges in London (or on eBay) for around $60. Vodka is not included.

* For those with deeper pockets, fashion designer Lisa Perry is selling dresses printed with photos of Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick taken in the 1960s by photographers Nat Finkelstein and Carl Fischer. The dresses retail for $1,295 at Perry’s Madison Avenue and Sag Harbor boutiques. The designer says she plans to put out some $100 t-shirts as well, but no sign of them as yet.

"NO SOUL FOR SALE" ONLINE SALON
The "No Soul for Sale" initiative -- a sort of DIY art fair held first at the old Dia Art Center space in Chelsea and then at Tate’s Turbine Hall in London -- is entering its "second life" phase, so to speak. "No Soul for Sale" has launched an online forum "to continue the dialogue from our recent festival events and provide an ongoing platform for constructive conversation on topics concerning independent art initiatives." The forum is moderated by curator Howie Chen.

CONTROVERSIAL BEAVER RETURNS IN BEMIDJI
You think the art projects on Bravo’s "Work of Art" reality show are weird? Try the small Minnesota town of Bemidji, where they came up with the idea of having nine artists decorate eight-foot-tall ceramic beaver statues -- the beaver is Minnesota’s state mascot -- and place them around town. Controversy soon followed, after observers noted that one of the works was decorated with large pink shape between its legs that resembled a vagina (though perhaps one designed by Georgia O’Keeffe). This example of what might be called a visual pun led to the removal of the sculpture, and launched a city-wide debate over art and censorship.  

What makes the dispute so odd is that the artist in question, one Deborah Davis, denies the gynecological accusation, noting that she is a former kindergarten teacher, and a current pastor and girls’ councilor. In any case, her "who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes" argument won the day. After supporters organized a Facebook group, and packed a special city council meeting to consider the issue, the painted beaver was triumphantly returned to its place on the Bemidji Sculpture Walk, at the intersection of Fourth Street Northwest and Beltrami Avenue.

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