A Week of Art Fairs and Exhibition Openings and Now, Oh Now, The Auctions...

It always amuses me to see things on auction at Sotheby's and Christie's at the very same time that an exhibition of an artist is up in a gallery. Take for instance, the large Cecily Browns at the above mentioned auction houses that correlate to the exhibition uptown at Gagosian. Or Sterling Ruby, showing uptown too at the 980 Madison Avenue building by Joseph Nahmad Contemporary. Like my friend said by text message, "If you are trying to say that (dealers) manipulate markets I would find that hard to believe".  (BIG WINK;) Then his following message: "...And interested parties have been doing it since Lascaux." I must admit I had to go way back in my art history knowledge to remember who (or more appropriately WHAT) Lascaux was.

My up to the minute art news with the one and only...Kenny Schachter via FB

CECILY BROWN
Blood Thicker Than Mud, 2012
Oil on linen
109 x 171 inches  (276.9 x 434.3 cm)

Then there was Frieze. I guess if you like to buy art there was stuff to see and buy. I loved Marian Goodman Gallery for her presentation of Tino Seghal's perfomance; a monologue by a real girl who acted the part of an ethereal cyber girl. No art here for sale, but lots of art to see.

Art at Marian Goodman Gallery, not Art for Sale

Luhring Augustine's booth with the work of Tom Friedman reminded me that the bigger the gallery doesn't necessarily mean the happier the artist, as Friedman moved from Gagosian and seems to be happy where he is now. His work is as varied and intriguing as ever.

Strange that nobody seemed to be showing Damien Hirst, except for Jay Joplin at White Cube. And then of course there was Koons Koons Koons, out of the fair even more than in it; more common than ever with his blue spheres on copies of classical sculpture, but I liked the snowman at Zwirner. And I did like his interpretation of the Venus of Willendorf at Gagosian 24th Street.

Installing the Snowman at Zwirner