Untitled
2008
oil, wax and wood on linen
84 x 58 inches
213.4 x 147.3 cm

untitled (four starts)
2009
oil, wax, pencil and wood on cut linen
84 x 58 inches
213.4 x 147.3 cm

Untitled
2008
Oil, wax and pencil on canvas
14 x 11 inches
35.6 x 27.9 cm

the searchers
2009
oil, wax and pencil on panel
13.5 x 11.5 inches
34.3 x 29.2 cm

From LM with Black Diamond
2005
Oil and wax on panel
15 x 11 inches
38.1 x 27.9 cm

PBTLA, 2005 Oil and wax on panel 51x38cm

BESS, 2005 Oil and wax on panel 37.5x28.5cm

Blue, 2005 Oil and wax on canvas 41x30.5cm,

Red Strip (with Blue) over Varnish Wash, 2006 Oil and wax on panel 50.8x38cm

Untitled (Palermo Interview), 2008 Oil, wax and wood on shaped canvas 38.5x30.5cm

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One of his projects is named “MONUMENT ODESSA”. He uses trick photos of young children that he supervises and arranges them between old illuminated light bulbs in old electrical sockets that are mixed in nonchalantly with the portraits. There is no doubt that these children are Jewish children who perished in concentration camps. Though it looks like just ancient photos in reality these pictures represent a fateful past.

The light bulbs appear old and worn yet they can be found in any store. The black electric wires seem to belong to a far away time. The switches are old switches. There appears to be evidence for onlookers that all this material, making up his work, dates back to the war (1939-1945).

And yet, it is not. It is the effect inspired by the genius of Christian Boltanski. It is both fake and real. I say also that it is completely perfect, that it is completely convincing.

In the work below we get the impression that we are facing a monument paying homage to the memory of the gas chamber victims.

The work below is part of our collection.

To understand who Christian Boltanski is, there is nothing better than his own words:

“A large part of my activities is connected to the idea of biography, but a biography completely fake and shown as such, with all sorts of fake proof. We can find this throughout my life: the non-existence of a character; the more we talk about Christian Boltanski, the less he exists.”

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Here is a short biography of Boltanski found on Wikipedia:

“Christian Boltanski was born at the end of World War 2 in a Jewish family, he remains affected by the memory of the Holocaust. He started painting in 1958, at 14 years old, even without any real education and without following any traditional artistic forms of the time. Most of his created works are in large format representing people in horrifying situations and historical scenes.

In 1967 Boltanski moved away from painting and started experimenting with writing articles and letters that he sent to artists. He integrated to his works elements and issues from his personal life, and his own biography, real or imaginary, became the principal theme of his works.

In unison with the artist Annette Messager, Christian Boltanski is today recognized as one of the principal contemporary French artists. He teaches at ‘l’école nationale supérieure des beaux-arts’ in Paris, and lives in Malakoff.”

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We visited the house of Rosa de la Cruz who has opened a warehouse in addition to her house in order to shelter her collection of contemporary art. The de la Cruz’s work in the background, making sure that the emergence of South American artists are on the international scene. Well spoken, by all good American collectors, the de la Cruz collection is composed of many American artists. Here is a list of the artists they currently keep:

For my part, the collection that satisfies my taste the most is the Rubell Family Collection.

It consists of an exposition entitled “Beg, Borrow and Steal” that includes around 74 artists presented in 28 rooms in the warehouse, which is 4000m2. The large space permits the presentation of monumental works as well as more intimate pieces.

The artists are:

Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to visit the Margulies Collection that is also presented in a 4000m2 warehouse but only presents 4 artists in front.

In conclusion, to collect in America is not comparable to those who collect in Europe. The collectors mount their collections and make a profit of about 10% on their pieces yearly to finance new works of emerging artists.

Fortunately there are some very large collectors in Europe including: François Pinault, Charles Saatchi, the fondation Beyeler,  Antoine de Galbert with la Maison Rouge, the fondation Kadist, the fondation Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, Italy, Ellipse Foundation in Cascais,  Portugal, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall in Sweden, and many others throughout Europe.

Until next time.

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Born in 1944 in Paris, Christian Boltanski, who lives and works in Malakoff (Hauts-de-Seine), is at the forefront of art news for January. He is currently preparing the exposition Monumenta 2010 which will be running from January 13 in the nave of the Grand Palais.

Titled “Personnes” (“People”), this installation will be included in another of his expositions called “Après” (“After”), which will be presented, on the 15^th of January, at the contemporary art museum Mac/Val de Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne).

Christian Boltanski is “one of the major contemporary artists of France” as stated by the minister of culture and CulturesFrance.

The artist chose the commissioner Jean-Hubert Martin who has managed many museums of modern art, most notably the Centre Pompidou and the Museum Kunst Palast of Düsseldorf before taking a position as the Curator General of Heritage.

After Annette Messager who received the Lion of Gold from the Biennial of Venice in 2005, France was represented by Sophie Calle in 2009 and by Claude Lévêque in 2009.

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Teresa Margolles (1963)

Her work is a cry for help, as she is a woman who revolts against drug crimes and the mafia who exist everywhere in Mexico.

The Mexican press estimates that the year 2008  was a year in which more shots were fired than ever in recent history. 2008 is also the year where more than 5,000 murders were committed by gang executions and the police forces. The year before 2800 murders took place. These murders, which occur without punishment, affect every social class at every part of the country. This state of affairs has a profound tramatic affect on the Mexican families exposed to such crimes.

This trauma is exactly what Teresa Margolles looks to reproduce in all her works, this is particularly the case in her 2009 series “De qué cosa podriamos hablar?”  (“Of what would we be able to speak of?”).

Her radical approach came from the 1990′s (in the collective SEMEFO “life of the human corpse”), where she incorporated harvested crime scenes and the residue of murder. She collected the remains of clothes stained with blood and earth and broken pieces of cars after an attack…

Teresa Margolles collects the unseen and the inexpressible as well as millions of lives. Her work is an expression of memory through her collections of the history of her country; her work is a political account in the hopes that the world will know what has happened to her home country.

Teresa Margolles carries with her the voice of an entire people, particularly Mexican women, who are subject to the unending violence similar to the inexplicable death in the city of Juarez. “Over 420 women were abused and killed mysteriously in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the U.S border. No crime has been known about until now. The local government has declared a “pass” on a major scale for these events. Security measures are non-existent and there is no protection. The women have been forced to rally themselves, yet again.

(source: http://www.mujeresdejuarez.org/penelopes.htm)

This canvas serves as a cover for the corpses and is also used to clean the floors at crime scenes. The cloth absorbs earth, blood, and fluids which are found on dead corpses.

Flag during the biennial of Venice, 2009

no comment

Sol cleaning a crime scene

The cloths that are soaked in blood were collected and portrayed in the windows of the American house for the Biennial of Venice 2009.



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What makes an artist collectable? This is a tough question to answer, and something that changes from person to person, culture to culture, and generation to generation. I can only offer my personal understanding of this complicated equation from my experience working with post-war and contemporary art in New York.

What follows is my current understanding of the factors that make an artist collectable in today’s art market. Things could be very different six months or two years from now. However, looking at historic patterns, it is possible to identify some core characteristics of collectable art and the artists who produce it. What emerges is a combination of factors pertaining to both the artist and their dealer, and it is important to consider both together when addressing collectability.

You will have to allow me to establish some parameters to the idea of collectability. Aesthetics are at the heart of this question; however, I have not been asked to address this. Rather, I will discuss the more formal nuts and bolts of the international market for post-war and contemporary art, in order to indicate some of the reasons why certain artists and artworks are more collectable than others.

A useful analogy might be for art collectors to consider analyzing the art market as investors study financial markets. Investors use analytical instruments to assist them in establishing what is and what is not investment-grade material. Similarly, art collectors should apply the equivalent art-market tools in identifying collectable art and artists.

What is a collectable artist or artwork? If you were to survey 500 experienced private art collectors as opposed to museum professionals, I suspect that you would come up with an answer that involves different combinations of the following elements: aesthetic and philosophical satisfaction, financial appreciation, and social kudos. As I mentioned, this is not a discussion of aesthetics.

Here are some pointers that might assist in identifying collectable artists and artworks. They are in no particular order of importance.

With emerging artists, education at an élite art school is an important indicator of potential collectability. More attention is paid to graduates of élite schools like Yale, Columbia, Cal. Arts, Düsseldorf, or Goldsmiths than to those from other schools. Former students have cultivated an influential support group of critics, curators, dealers, and alumni collectors, who can prove to be of lifelong use in promoting their career. Of course there are always exceptions, but when you look at the history of artists coming out of a school like Yale’s Art School, you should pay attention.

Galleries and art dealers are not all alike. Take account of those dealers who have had a great history of international success with their artists. Dealers like the late Leo Castelli, Barbara Gladstone, Irving Blum, Larry Gagosian, Andrea Rosen, or Sadie Coles clearly know more about collectable art and artists than other less successful ones. With younger dealers, pay attention to those who appear to have their finger on the pulse or are exhibiting innovative or challenging artwork. Examples of younger dealers worth watching include Toby Webster of the Modern Institute, Zach Feuer of LFL, and Andrew Kreps.

The mechanisms of marketing and distribution are extremely important too. Specifically I am referring to the presence of the artist and dealer at the right art fairs, the production of high-quality catalogues, the placement of artworks with the right collectors and museum, and the arrangement of museum exhibitions. Also, an artist who is represented by a good dealer network is important. For example, think of Jeff Koons who is represented by Sonnabend, Max Hetzler and Gagosian; or Jim Lambie who works with Sadie Coles, Anton Kern and Toby Webster.

This brings us to market intelligence; insider information is incredibly important. Talk and gossip about who is collecting which artists and why, what’s hot right now, and what’s on its way back, is important to follow so that you are up to speed with the latest trends in collecting. If several influential collectors or dealers are buying the same artist, or feel strongly about the eye of a particular critic or dealer, it is worth paying attention. Those in the know had been buying Richard Prince’s work a year to eighteen months ahead of the recent surge in his auction prices. Dana Schutz is the talk of the New York art world.

The art market is not rational; however, market factors do apply. Scarcity or the relative abundance of work by an artist is extremely important. If a large proportion of an artist’s output is placed with museums and major collectors – neither of whom are likely to sell – those available works are going to be more sought-after and valuable. The higher risk associated with emerging art results in lower prices. Similarly, high prices are set for low-risk blue-chip artists. Generally the more collectable an artist, the more expensive or difficult to acquire the work it is, unless you are ahead of the curve.

Not everything produced by an artist is of equivalent value. Different periods within an artist’s career are more collectable than others. A 1964 Frank Stella is worth twenty times that of an equivalent 1970s painting. Often fine distinctions are necessary; for example a Ferus-gallery Elvis by Andy Warhol is markedly more valuable than a studio Elvis, though both were produced at the same time. Also, the physical condition of the work is extremely important. A great deal of post-war art is made out of non-archival materials – think of the work of Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, or Robert Rauschenberg. Works by these artists in supreme condition are highly collectable, as many others will have been damaged during their years of existence. Equally, a special work with a great provenance, like the recent $104-million rose-period Picasso from the collection of John Hay Whitney, has added value.

Adopt a historical perspective. For example, try to assess the collectability of an artwork seen from two hundred years in the future. What will be the significant art of our time? What is the most challenging, confrontational, and innovative work being made today? Jeff Koons? Matthew Barney? Damien Hirst? Robert Gober? Cindy Sherman? Certain trends such as Pop art seem here to stay – for example, as Pop art’s relationship to the still-life tradition becomes more apparent. Look for historical patterns; for example, think of the relationship between the arts-and-crafts movement and the minimalism of Donald Judd. Jenny Saville continues and innovates within the tradition of figurative painting, building upon the lineage of British figurative painting in Spencer, Bacon, and Freud. There is a line of thought that suggests that Jeff Koons is the new Andy Warhol and that Takashi Murakami is the new Jeff Koons. How valid is this?

Finally, in collecting mistakes are inevitable. This need not put you off; rather you need to learn from them and keep going. For every important artwork in a major private collection, there are many, many more mistakes in storage. No one has a 100% strike record. It is commonly known that you are not really an art collector until you have a list of regrets over missed opportunities as long as your arm.

Fergus McCaffrey works at Gagosian Gallery, New York.

Article reproduced from CIRCA 108, Summer 2004, pp.31-32.

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Ahmed Alsoudani fled Iraq for the United States in the new millennium and finish his artistic studies at Yale University School of Art in 2007. He is 35. Mostly he paints the war in Iraq, or war in general.

His collection represents and resonates from the war in Iraq and its atrocities. We find the scars of the war in his paintings with disfigured faces, bodies torn to shreds, exploded cars, fire, and bombs.

We also find in each of his paintings, or almost all, a form of rebirth symbolized by a broken egg by the top with a child coming out. Perhaps the cycle of life and death.

Some say that these paintings resemble those of Goya (“Disaster of War”) or of Picasso (“Guernica”). They are full of detail, suffering faces, tormented eyes…

Here is “Guernica”:

Here are two of Ahmed Alsoudani sketches. The first is a paper design of 2.75m high and 3m wide. The second is a canvas of 2.5m high and 2m wide.

With my wife Chiara, we had the opportunity in July to go pay Ahmed Alsoudani and his gallerist Robert Goff, from New York, a visit in their studio in Berlin. We met an artist who works 12-15 hours per day, extremely nice, approachable, and shy. 

Here now is a preview of the paper sketches that Ahmed Alsoudani will present in his Solo show in Berlin at the end of September 2009.

In addition, here is an article devoted to Ahmed Alsoudani in a revue of Middle-Eastern art.

Another article about Ahmed:

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This fair was a real success with more than 250 galleries assembled in the Miami Convention Centre. The area was spaced out and therefore allowed for a greater appreciation of these works, aside from the upper level which was unfortunately the case for Art Basel of Bâle.

The first surprise: it was practically impossible to find any Chinese artists.  However there was one to three years of pain when the Chinese artists inundated the market with inflated prices and the result in bidding sales was that the sky became the limit.

Middle-Eastern artists were also absent from the fair, aside from a few rare exceptions. This was a stark contrast to the Art Paris Photo show some weeks before (at Carrousel du Louves) where Middle-Eastern art was at the forefront of the show.

American and South American artists however were very well heard at the Art Paris Photo show, and were represented in large numbers. And very well, after all it is a fair, of Swiss origin, for the American and South American market. This is not very troubling for the American scene, because the American scene is so interesting. For my part, I find that the young generation has trouble getting away from the Pop Art legacy of Warhol, Rosenquist, Lichtenstein… They react with a hard labour towards anything new that is being created and that is where the interest lies.

It’s not easy for a European to understand the American scene because Pop-Culture plays such a large role in the everyday life of the young American generation. The neon culture is excessive and on everything from restaurants to stores, the culture of posters and collages, the culture of cars and roadside signs, the culture of hyper-consumption, etc…

For my part, I find it attractive and the richness of the creations of young artists is extremely interesting.

The American artists to follow are: Sterling Ruby, Nate Lowman, Wade Guyton, Kelley Walker, Matthew Brannon, Seth Price, Barbara Kruger, Julian Hoeber, Christopher Wool, Cady Noland, Aaron Curry, Mark Handforth, Karl Haendel, Glenn Ligon, Mike Kelley, David Noonan, Steven Shearer and of course there are others.

On the other hand I find that the artistic scene in Berlin is more ruptured than the American scene. The Germans are more “cutting edge”. There is one radical aspect that expresses itself through different media outlets that is very different than in the United States. In effect, the Americans have a certain violence, but it expresses itself in a more classical form with standard materials. This violence is more in the theme than the images.

The artists on the Berlin theme (or close to it culturally) to follow are: Gregor Hildebrandt, John Bock, Andreas Hofer, Matthias Bitzer, Axel Geis, Saadane Afif (French but from Berlin), Anselm Reyle, Jonathan Meese, Christoph Büchel (Swiss), Christian Andersson (Swedish), Cristian Andersen, David Renggli, Mathew Hale, Thomas Kiesewetter, Aleksandra Mir (Polish), Elmgreen & Dragset (Denmark), Olafur Eliasson (Denmark), Urs Fischer (Swiss), Aneta Grzeszykowska (Poland)…

In the next post, I will talk about other artistic scenes such as: France, England, Spain, and Italy.

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Here are his paperworks:

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“We are pleased to announce Axel Geis’ third solo exhibition at Galerie Wentrup, entitled Die Wildgänse kommen [The Wild Geese are Coming].

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