James Tarmy
After a winter of collector discontent, the art market is thawing out just in time for the Frieze New York art fair, which opens on Randall’s Island on May 5.
“January and February were particularly bad—really slow,” said art adviser Lisa Schiff.
“Not scary, just depressing. But in April, it really picked up for us,”
she said, noting that she just facilitated the sale of five “major”
secondary market works.
Photographer: Kevin Todora, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky
As
dealers prepare for Frieze, which serves as the opening salvo for a
10-day onslaught of fairs, auctions, and gallery openings across New
York, the question of what collectors want to buy—and how much they’re
willing to spend—has become even more exigent than usual.
“Has the price point gone down for people making snap decisions?” asked Candace Worth, an art adviser who plans to bring from six to eight clients through the fair. “Probably.”
A painting by Ali Banisadr, Treasure (2016), brought to Frieze by Sperone Westwater.
Source: The artist and Sperone Westwater, New York
Noting
that “everybody has their own threshold for what constitutes an
investment,” Worth said works under $40,000 are “certainly an easier
conversation,” but added that “that’s true in any market.”
Schiff, who is bringing from five to 10 clients to the fair,
gave a similar range. “I just say the lower you spend the higher the
risk, but the scariest part of the market is between $50,000 to
$250,000,” she said. “That’s a lot of money, and it’s just not certain.”
Below $50,000, in other words, people can buy an artwork for
fun, or to support a particular gallery or artist, or because they
simply like it. Above that (rough) threshold, there has to be some
assurance that the art will hold or increase in value.
The Sweet Spot
The question, in turn, is what dealers will bring to
spark those sub-$50,000 impulse buys. Some galleries’ inventories
naturally fall within that range.
“We’re bringing this amazing presentation by Mai-Thu Perret,” a Swiss artist known for her feminist sculptures and installations, said Kurt Mueller, a director at L.A.’s David Kordansky gallery. “Those are priced between $45,000 and $50,000, so we’re coincidentally in that sweet spot.”
A painting by Becky Suss, 1919 Chestnut (Three Cities, Kiddush Hashem, Salvation, The Apostle, Mary, Nazarene) (2015), which Jack Shainman Gallery is bringing to Frieze.
Source: The artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Other galleries are bringing works that span a broad price range as a matter of course.
“What we’re bringing goes from the top part of the program to the bottom,” said Tamsen Greene, a director at New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. The top, in this instance, is a large-scale metal wall sculpture by Ghanian sculptor El Anatsui, which the gallery is offering for $1.3 million. At the bottom end of their price range is a $12,000 painting by American Becky Suss, whom the gallery recently signed.
A painting by Lisa Yuskavage, Stoned (2016), which David Zwirner Gallery is bringing to Frieze.
Source: David Zwirner, New York/London
In other instances, galleries planned their booths so far in advance that responding to market conditions wasn't an option.
“We’re approaching the fair in the same way we approached it for the
last three years,” said Greg Lulay, a director at the mega-gallery David Zwirner, that is, with what he describes as a “curatorial standpoint.” This year, their booth will be a dual show of Isa Genzken, the German artist made famous by her assemblage sculptures, and Lisa Yuskavage, the
quasi-surrealist American figurative painter. Prices at the booth will
range from $100,000 to $900,000, though the gallery declined to give
prices for specific works.
Locked In
A painting by Benjamin Senior, Summer (Lake) (2016), brought to Frieze by James Fuentes.
Source: James Fuentes
James Fuentes said
that he was in a similar situation as the Zwirner Gallery, albeit for
very different reasons. His eponymous Lower East Side gallery is showing
in the Focus section
of the fair dedicated to galleries founded in or after 2004 (aka
galleries that can’t afford the normal $79 per square foot that Frieze
reportedly charges exhibitors).
“We’re locked into a presentation almost a year in advance,” he said.
“Galleries [in the Focus section] have a more rigorous application
process than galleries in the main section.” Happily for Fuentes though,
his choice, a solo presentation of Benjamin Senior,
a figurative painter based in London, falls well within the range of
so-called affordability. “The price range is roughly $10,000 and under,”
he said.
A painting by Philip Guston, Black Coast (1977), which will be in the Hauser and Wirth booth at Frieze.
Source: The Estate and Hauser & Wirth
Some
galleries are forgoing the lower-priced tier and aiming squarely at the
middle of the market. Angela Westwater, co-owner of New York's Sperone Westwater, is bringing “four or five new paintings that haven’t been seen before” by the quasi-abstract painter Ali Banisadr.
They range from $70,000 to $250,000, she said. “They’ll be part of an
exhibition of his we’ll do next year, and so we want to feature his work
ahead of time in New York.” Westwater said she wasn't concerned about
Banisadr's price range. “We’re not talking half a million dollars or
anything, and Ali already has a waiting list,” she said.
Regardless of the price, dealers and advisers are expecting a
slightly less frenetic pace than years past, when opening day at Frieze
was reminiscent of a billionaire-packed rugby scrum.
“There are times that it’s so bullish that people are buying
willy-nilly,” said Schiff, the adviser. “That’s just not in the air
right now. It’s very calculated, what we buy.”
The adviser Worth echoed that sentiment: “Across the board, there’s more caution.”
The wallpapers, which we have to admit that are pure
masterpieces, are in fact inspired by the codenames of the Ubuntu
operating system, most of which are real animals.
With the upcoming Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus),
Ubuntu Linux has a total of 23 releases, but at the moment of writing
this article Sylvia Ritter managed to release wallpapers for only the
first ten releases.
It starts with the first release, Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty
Warthog), and continues with Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog), Ubuntu 15.10
(Breezy Badger), Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake), Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy
Eft), Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn), and Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon).
You'll also find a special wide-screen version for
the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron), as well as phone wallpapers for the
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).
We have attached them below for your viewing pleasure, but we strongly recommend that you visit the artist's Deviantart page for the full version, as well as if you want to keep an eye on new releases for the rest of the Ubuntu Linux versions.
More wallpapers to be released soon
We can't wait to get our hands on wallpapers for the
rest of the Ubuntu releases, such as Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala), Ubuntu
10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx), Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), Ubuntu 11.04
(Natty Narwhal), and Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot).
And the list continues with the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
(Precise Pangolin), Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring
Ringtail), Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander), Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty
Tahr), Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn), Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet),
Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) and, of course, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial
Xerus).
It starts with the first release, Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty
Warthog), and continues with Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog), Ubuntu 15.10
(Breezy Badger), Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake), Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy
Eft), Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn), and Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon).
You'll also find a special wide-screen version for
the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron), as well as phone wallpapers for the
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).
We can't wait to get our hands on wallpapers for the
rest of the Ubuntu releases, such as Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala), Ubuntu
10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx), Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), Ubuntu 11.04
(Natty Narwhal), and Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot).
And the list continues with the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
(Precise Pangolin), Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring
Ringtail), Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander), Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty
Tahr), Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn), Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet),
Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) and, of course, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial
Xerus).
