Still Shooting for 2014

The beginning of the final construction pause has been moved back to March. This means that opening by Chinati 2014 is doubtful, but we may have a Re-opening party during New Year's week. Keep your fingers crossed. It will be an exciting space. Simplicity and spatial manipulation on the outside with surprising spaces inside. 

James Welling - Glass House (2009)

See this magnificent image below - Edition of 25.

"Another example sold for over $16,000 at Christie's in October, 2007 "

This type of thing upsets me. Yes, the statement regarding this print is true. BUT, what is not shared are the prices obtained following the crash of the financial and art markets. 

The one thing to look out for when buying art are are the selective "comps." Of course, most everything sold for more in 2007. Plus, there are the crazy exceptions - on example - Jeff Koons Puppy vase generally sells at auction for about $10,000. During one sale, two people bid one up to over $18,000. These pieces are readily available and come up for auction all of the time. Is the Puppy vase worth $18,000. No, not really.

Dealers are having a harder time finding inventory and selling out of traditional galleries. But, their is a benefit that we can provide - integrity. We will be here and we want you to come back and buy from us again. So, even if one ignores integrity, one should realize that if you cheat a customer or misrepresent, then he or she should simply not buy from you again.

The latest sale of the same print mentioned above was just over $5,000. The asking price is $7,500. The asking price is fair (in my opinion) but the representation of the 2007 price is misleading.

FYI - selective comps are extremely common. I am sometimes surprised when I see such used by what appear to be very reputable art dealers. Artspace, which occupies a large share of the online art market does this too often. I cringe every time I notice it.

VI

Judd exceeds $14 Million at auction

Judd exceeds $14 million at auction - Christies Fall Contemporary 2013 

Hookin' up the Elecrtic

Yes - Marfa can present challenges. We need a new meter so when I call up AEP - they tell me that the street number already had a EID# and a meter - even though it doesn't. We do not have postal delivery in Marfa so house numbers were made up for years - just pick one. So many homes may have two different numbers - one that relates to old utilities and new numbers for 911 emergencies.  

So my meter adventure requires that I convince the 911 representative that the current numbering on the block is wrong so that a spot can be opened up for the new meter. Any way one looks at it, people will now have to change their street addresses - crazy! 

CHINATI Weekend Hours

Friday      2-9          Saturday  10-7          Sunday    10-2

New Ollier prints for Chinati Weekend

Ted Ollier has created 2 beautiful new multi-"woodblock" prints. Exquisite and only $300 unframed.

Chinati Weekend

Open Chinati Weekend at 200 E San Antonio - the old space right across from Ballroom Marfa. Stop by! 

Open Chinati Weekend / JUDD

Open Chinati 2013 in our "old" temporary space - STAY marfa corner across the street from Ballroom Marfa.  

Plenty of Judd prints. Plus Flavin. Plus Beck, Hirschi, Tabatabai

So come by for the last time before we really move into the new space in 2014. 

Gallery Contractor

It's been a while since I commented on the lack of progress of the gallery. We have retained one of Marfa's expert contractors, Billy Marginot, to help finish the project. He hopes to finish his current job in Sept. or Oct. & start on the gallery.  

He predicts that the remainder of the work might take about 6 months, depending on the complexity of some of the details that have yet to be decided.  

So, we believe and hope that although 2013 was a bust, that the building may in fact be ready in the spring of 2014. This is a long haul, but the end is in sight.

In order to maintain some minor presence, I will be open for the Chinati Open House Weekend in October in the gallery's old space in the STAY marfa apartments. Because Chinati's temporary exhibit will focus on prints, the gallery will show a wide variety of Judd prints from its inventory. 

Posthumous Flavin Editions

The Flavin estate has announced that it will start producing and selling posthumous editions - most of Flavin's work was created in editions of 3 or 5, but were only made for exhibitions or when a buyer existed. So, many editions were not complete when Flavin died. 

Detail of a Flavin installation at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa TX.  

This raises serious questions. Perhaps the most significant relates to the technology of that exists today v. when Flavin was alive. Are these the same bulbs? Identical? Even the slightest difference leads to a mere "likeness" and not a genuine edition.  

Who will decide and who will benefit? 

The tax consequences for artist's estates will change drastically. I am guessing that the estate was valued for the assets - the physical assets left in the estate. Should artist's estates now contemplate the completion of unfinished editions when determining value.  

What are the implications for art in general. A photographer with digital files dies. Can the estate continue to create edition after edition?  

This is great for the Flavin estate, but the implications are far-reaching. What is genuine?  

The commodification of art continues! 

New Gallery Time-line

​The delightful play of shadows on the interior courtyard wall will not be visible to Marfa visitors in 2013. 

Unfortunately, I recently learned that the second contractor hired for this project will be unable to complete the work - this after a 6-month hiatus. Thus, our 2013 or bust timetable is indeed a bust.​

​I will begin to interview new General Contractors later in the summer. But, this means an unexpected delay in the project. 

Meanwhile, we have started some initial landscaping on the lot adjoining the property. So, we are taking baby steps. One day...​

Photography & Limited Editions

Darren Almond - Midnight Mousetrap,  Edition of 50

Limited Editions are a creature of the art marketplace. Once the ability to reproduce an artist's image evolved (through printmaking), it became desirable to ​present the images as limited editions - ensuring some exclusivity. Of course, the lower the edition number, the scarcer the image, thereby making it more desirable to collectors. 

There have always been questions about editions, but this has arisen now more than ever. Now that we are in a digital age, reproductions can be done over and over - the copper plate of an etching wears out - the digital image does not.​

In photography a collector named Sobel brought a suit against photographer William Eggleston. Sobel had collected 190 Eggleston photographs and supported a major exhibit of his photography that travelled the world. Suddenly, in 2012, Christie's was auctioning off large scale digital prints (scanned from the original negatives) of some of the images that Sobel had in his collection. The lot of 36 new prints sold for $5.9 million. Sobel brought suit arguing that the fact that the original vintage prints were sold as limited editions precluded new artworks based on the same negative. ​

This was an interesting challenge. It has long been known that photographers take popular limited editions - i.e., their great images, resize and re-editon them to sell more and more of them. Sobel, however, argued that the value of his work was devalued b/c their was an implied promise that the edition was limited.​

The District Court of NY did not need a trial and determined the case in Summary Judgment. The placing of an edition on a print is meaningless unless the ARTIST explicitly promises that the "underlying" image will be used for "only" this edition.​

IRONY: Christie's argued against the collector, i.e., for expansive rights for the photographer. Yet, their Spring Photography Catalogue proudly states that images are numbered X of an edition of Y. They feign exclusivity while knowing (and having argued) that there is no such thing as an edition. Bottom-line - its all about selling.

Conclusion: I have always tried to stress that editions are relatively meaningless. Jeff Koons has made fun of editions by issuing an edition of 3,000 Puppy vases - why edition? - He mocks the concept.​ Yes, I sell editions but I often try to discuss what this really means. Virtually nothing in photography.

Back to the Gallery - A new Approach

There are tradeoffs for everything. The excruciatingly slow construction process has its benefits. It allows for a slow exploration of the building, related spaces - what works, what doesn't work, what might be rethought.​ 

This past weekend, I showed the space to the landscape architect Martin Mosko of MARPA (Boulder CO.) See: www.marpa.com. We walked through the space & I explained the architectural concepts of the building designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune - including the forced perspective created in the exterior courtyard. Martin called me back the next day with an idea.​

The specifics of the plan are difficult to explain without drawings and photographs. But, suffice it to say, Martin suggested an entirely new "approach" to the building. Instead of having visitors simply rush into the gallery, he suggested a new journey that slows them down. He suggests that we bring the visitor deeper into the exterior courtyard - to a new front door. This allows/forces the visitor to experience the architect's concept of elongated perspective. 

The new approach would also create a new experience within the gallery space. We rarely think about the "flow" of a building. What is revealed and how? But, CKR has created incredible spaces. In fact, they are so good that the gallery would stand alone without any art. One can rarely say this about any building. ​

Martin's ideas of the new "approach" have been presented to the architects. We are dedicated to presenting their vision of the space to the best of our abilities. I await a response with anticipation. ​

​I thank Martin Mosco of MARPA for his brilliant vision. It is extremely generous for him to provide input when he has not been involved in the project. Insightful!

Although the construction of the building has taken years, these added years have allowed contemplation. The building has a life of its own and is revealing itself, so that it may be one of the most interesting pieces of new construction in Marfa, W Tx and beyond.

James Turrell - Decker - aquatint & etching

​James Turrell's earliest exploration of light occurred in his Mendota Hotel studio from 1966-1974. During this time, Turrell projected light onto the walls of an otherwise dark room. The "Projection Pieces" were made up of various shapes and might include projection onto a flat wall, corner or both. 

Turrell states: "From a distance the shape has solidity, but appeared to be literally composed of light....Advancing toward the image, the image would eventually dissolve to a point where you saw not an object in space, but the actual light on the wall." ​

In 1989-90, Turrell presented some of these Projection Pieces as editioned prints - "First Light" - Aquatint & etching, "Decker" is from this early series - 42" x 30", edition of 30. First light was Turrell's third set of prints. A fascinating exploration of light and space. 

A Retrospective of Turrells' work will take place at LACMA and then travel to the MFA-Houston & the Guggenheim in New York. This is a must see exhibit.​

"Decker" from "First Light", 1989/90

Abiquiu New Mexico / Georgia O'Keeffe

Just as Donald Judd is the seminal American minimalist artist, Georgia O'Keeffe is one of America's first abstract or modern painters. Alfred Stieglitz discovered her abstract drawings in the early twentieth century and invited her to New York. The two lived together in New York city and summered at Lake George. O'Keefe, soon discovered the beauty or the American Southwest. Abiquiu, New Mexico became her home and the surrounding landscape was her subject matter. ​

I am currently visiting Abiquiu, her home/studio and some of the locations of O'Keeffe's paintings. The  photograph depicts the adobe ruins of the Catholic church that the Spaniards built in Abiquiu in 1734. In the background, beyond the Chama River, one sees the brilliant white cliffs that O'Keeffe painted. Art and landscape as one.

Despite the aesthetic differences between Judd and O'Keeffe, both were drawn to the American Southwest and the landscape was integral to their finest work. Both Marfa and  Abiquiu are remote and allowed the artists to focus on their craft.​ Both places provide windows into the respective world of artist - well worth the visit. 

La Santa Rosa de Lima, Abiquiu NM

The Real Kabakov - Alnis Stakle / Photographer

Ilya Kabakov created School No.6 in 1993 as a gift to the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, TX. The work occupies an entire building and is subdivided into rooms reminiscent of an abandoned schoolhouse from the former Soviet Union. The key here is the word "reminiscent."

Alnis Stakle is a photographer that lives in Latvia, a former Republic of the Soviet Union. Stakle has created a series of work  called Ex Pride ​that presents actual abandoned spaces from the post-Soviet era. Stakle writes: 

The photographs present interiors of these factories and constitute subjective visual research about former pride. The essence of this body of work portrays the environment of the seemingly lifeless factories that have a continued inner quiet life.… Noise of dropping water, wind in broken windows, old posters and documents, books from soviet times, personal belongings of workers....

Stakle presents something new and different to western photography as we know it in the United States. He presents work that is of another place that is generally not known to many. It has its beauty despite its uncomfortable nature. Stakle's newer series presents a remarkable use of color/light and composition. 

The photographer received ​first place in the Architecture section (series Lost: Paris), Sony Wolrd Photography Award in 2011.  His work is included in many books and discussions of contemporary Latvian/Eastern European art.

Stakle is represented by inde/jacobs in Marfa TX. His work is available in digital format in various sizes and editions. More of his work can be seen at www.alnisstakle.com.