Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column of original scoops. If you have a tip, email Annie Armstrong at [email protected].
TAKING STOCK
In my years of reporting on the art market, I’ve seen sales tactics that range from sealing deals only after three to four martinis to blindly Airdropping .PDFs at expensive hotels—in our industry, anything goes.
A new approach debuted this week in Manhattan’s Chinatown, where the Maxwell Graham gallery hosted an opening with a disarming title: “This artwork did not sell.” The language in its press release is mostly simple and straightforward, though with a gnomic conclusion: “This is a group exhibition at the gallery consisting of artwork that did not sell in solo exhibitions at the gallery. The artwork in this group exhibition is installed exactly where it was installed in solo exhibitions. The decisions of selection and the decisions of installation are deferred to previous decisions.”
A huge crowd appeared at the Wednesday night opening to see art that didn’t sell the first time around, and according to the gallery, there have never been more requests for a show’s price list. How’s that for Freakonomics?
“There were both internal and external catalysts for organizing a group of artworks in this way,” Graham told me by phone, from the Hester Street space his business has called home since 2017. Internally, it was a chance to stage a curatorial experiment. Externally, it was “related to the effects and inspirations of patronage,” he said.
“We started with a list of everything that was ever shown at this gallery space that didn’t sell, but that wasn’t on loan, or otherwise unavailable, and mapped out a model of all the overlapping artworks,” he said. “We didn’t want artworks to overlap or block one another, so we had to make some choices, and these were done on the basis of trying to be as inclusive of the broadest survey of exhibitions here.”
Those visiting the gallery without any context are in for a fairly confounding viewing experiences. Three photographs by Cora Pongracz are mounted in precise, equal distances from each other, but their rhythm is interrupted by a multimedia piece by John Miller and a painting by Jef Geys. On the floor, Jay Chung and Q Takeki Maeda’s Bad Driver series from 2021 suggests a classroom setting, which is thrown out of whack by Lewis Stein’s velvet rope and garbage-can readymades from the 1970s.
It’s dizzying to walk through, but viewed from a distance, there’s a distinctive, Cady Noland-esque cogency. “There are many artworks in this exhibition that are very strong, very irregular statements, that I wanted to experience again,” Graham said.
As I said, the opening was packed, with many fans of the gallery returning to revisit Anna Rubin’s entropic video Super Gift (2024), which she showed there just this past fall. The artist Chloe Wise was on hand, and I asked her how she would feel about participating in a show of unsold work. “The idea of foregrounding the market component of a gallery exhibition is so gauche that it becomes gorgeous,” she said. “There’s some satisfaction in acknowledging, reclaiming, and then repackaging the shared disappointment of unsold work.”
Also present was veteran dealer Jay Gorney, who was enthusiastic about the exhibition. “The show has a whiff of Michael Asher,” he told me over the phone. “There’s an interesting juxtaposition with the sort of cerebral, complex work with something as nuts-and-bolts as ‘these works didn’t sell.’ I think it’s very funny, and very witty.”
From what I can tell, the market slump that has endured for over a year now is not ending anytime soon. But artists and dealers who are following their instincts and taking risks, rather just chasing easy sales, seem to be weathering the storm. Take note.
WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE THE ART PRODUCTION FUND GALA
Speaking of the down market: In these trying times, it is comforting that some things do not change. The Art Production Fund gala has long been one of the most over-the-top and unabashedly showy events on the art calendar.
This year was no exception. The theme on Wednesday night for its 25th-anniversary bash was “Truth or Dare,” and the luxe Pool restaurant (the Grill‘s sister) at the Seagram Building was once again the venue. Artists and socialites like Ivy Getty, Mickalene Thomas, Nicky Hilton, Cynthia Rowley, Hannah Bronfman, and Lucy Bull posed for photos on pink satin beds, styled for an upper-crust sleepover, all in the name of public art.
APF co-founder Yvonne Force Villareal (with Doreen Remen) was toasted by current head Casey Fremont Crowe, before a live auction hosted by Christie’s head of postwar and contemporary art, Sara Friedlander, that found buyers for works by Joel Gaitan ($15,000), Katherine Bernhardt ($11,000), and Joel Mesler ($30,000). Bids were written down with fluffy-tipped pink pens, and cotton candy sculptures made by Alake Schilling were eaten with Champagne.
This was my fourth year attending the gala, but a table mate, artist Hanna Liden, said she’s been coming for many more, and that it has always been this outrageous. Let’s hope it remains that way for another 25 years.
A surprise cameo appearance was made by artist-turned-director Andrew Norman Wilson, who was looking pretty satisfied as he enjoyed his Champagne. How did he sneak in? “I walked in the door and saw a sign for SAKS,” he said, “so I just said I was here for SAKS.”
WE HEAR
Diva Corp hosted a poll about whether people in the art world date artists, and “YES” eked out a victory… Dealer Tanya Bonakdar is looking to hire a “bike operator/art handler” for an upcoming exhibition at a decent rate of $32/hour. The first job requirement: “Ride a stationary bike at low intensity (non continuous), to control a rope and pulley system with attached artworks as a theatrical performance.” Can’t wait to see who gets the gig!… Here’s a fun weekend activity: Greg Allen has an open call out for voice notes and voicemails of readings of favorite art criticism… Julian Schnabel opened up the garage gallery Casa del Popolo at his Palazzo Chupi once again to host a solo show by one of his assistants, Michael Alexander Campbell, who exhibited some satisfyingly psychedelic paintings… In a back closet at the new DIY gallery space Smilers, Colin de Land’s jacket hangs as part of Lizzi Bougatsos and Nick Waplington’s new show… And finally, I’ll just leave this here without any further comment…
GRIEVANCES
And we are back for another round of Grievances, after I successfully chastised all of my readers about hiding behind the cloak of anonymity last week. This week, I welcome Half Gallery founder Bill Powers, who has not one but three Grievances to share…
Recently the trend of people holding tiny microphones to do social media “reporting” is annoying maybe because of the newscaster aura which feels unnecessary as a prop. I saw a Cultured mag story about an Ilona Staller book the writer referred to as a “limited edition tome.” Using tome is so Google-me-a-synonym for “coffee table book.” I still think Glenn O’Brien had the best pet peeve (aka grievance) which was people wishing dead celebrities “happy birthday” on social media. Vincent Van Gogh was both March 30th. Please refrain from bday cake emojis sent his way on the last Sunday of the month.
What has been bothering you? Send your contribution to me at [email protected] with the subject line “GRIEVANCES.”
