Resale Royalty debate continues to drag on

Image SMH: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri in front of his artwork Warlugulong, quoted in the article as an example of an indigenous artist who could have benefited from the Resale Royalty scheme. This work sold for $1200 in 1977 and then in 2007 for $2.4 million.

Louise Schwartzkoff reported in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald on Peter Garrett's response to the Resale Royalties Bill Inquiry. Mr. Garrett has recommended (amongst other things) that the 5% royalty that would be given to artists with each sale of their work would not be placed on works that are currently owned by the collector and then sold, only on the second time around, "A retrospective scheme would be unfair to current artwork owners who bought works without knowing that a royalty would be payable on resale," said Mr Garrett.

However the art market is a fairly slow one and artworks are kept in families or collections often for decades. Therefore this was would not effect many older artists and particularly older indigenous artists whose works has steeply increased in value in recent years. However in the long-term this is great for younger artists who will make some money off the sale of their artworks as works gain value as they are sold and re-sold over time. The Bill has yet to go to the House of Representatives so we will not know for quite a while to full ramifications of decisions being made.

Creative Sydney Starts Tomorrow

Creative Sydney starts tomorrow with events over the next 2 weeks, this event has really snuck up on me but should be a great fortnight of exciting and engaging events. I am endeavouring to go to as many as possible and will review any events I attend - to be posted during the next couple of weeks.Check out their website (click image above) for all their details or see their page on facebook.

Highline Project Update 2

Photos courtesy of Joel Sternfeld
Rendered images courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Inhabitat

The first Section of the New York Highline project in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan is set to open in a weeks time. I have kept you up to date on this project in previous posts and with the great photos by artist Joel Sternfeld. Check out the new photos out in conjunction with the launch of a documentary about the project which will air this week in America. This project never ceases to make me smile and I look forward to checking it out in person as soon as I can (the project was in very early stages last time I visited).

TV Moore wins Anne Landa Award 2009

IMAGE CREDIT: TV Moore Nervous Sleep, 2009
video and mixed media assemblage (details). © TV Moore

The Anne Landa Award celebrates the increasing quality and variety of media and video art internationally and abroad and is honour of Anne Landa, who was a Trustee of the AGNSW before she passed away in 2002. TV Moore's video work has received attention particularly since his installation at the 2008 Biennale of Sydney, which was a stand-out at the amazing Cockatoo Island venue. The exhibition is an acquisitive award which hopefully increases the depth and credibility of the galleries contemporary film collection as well as the prestige of new media in the greater community.


Double Take: Anne Landa Award for video and new media arts 2009 is on at the Art Gallery of NSW until 19 July 2009.

John Waters: Director and Artist

JOHN WATERS
Children Who Smoke, 2009
Chromogenic color print
8 photos: 20 x 14 inches overall (50.8 x 35.6 cm), Ed. of 5, Gagosian Gallery

Cult film director John Waters' (best know for the original Hairspray) photographic and sculptural work is currently on show at leading gallery Gagosian (Beverly Hills), under the exhibition title "Rear Projection". Waters utilises the medium of cinematography which he often uses absurdly and boldly in his own films to create hybrid stills which depict unreal or imagined situations. To Waters, "There is no such thing as a bad movie frame", although there certainly must be a disturbing one. Waters manipulates stills to include actors with cleft palates, speaking pig latin, holding product placements and a cheeky nod to the exhibition title, films projected onto bottoms (not all in the same still). Click here for a video of John Waters talking about his work and artistic practice.




JOHN WATERS
Pig Latin (detail), 2009
Chromogenic color print
8 photos: 14 3/4 x 86 3/4 inches overall (framed) (37.5 x 220.3cm)
Ed. of 5


Rear Projection
April 11 - May 22, 2009
Gagosian Gallery (Beverly Hills)

Broadway Malyan's Green Heart Centre

This is the kind of building that makes me smile. In the centre of Singapore this Heart Centre will be sustainable not only in terms of materials and structure but they have also responded to the ever changing nature of the medical system by including building modules which can be replaced. Hopefully in the future all buildings will have this attitude as a normal part of the design process.

Image and info INHABITAT

Artists raking it in?

Your Cash at Work - pdf link


The Herald Sun online has published two articles over the weekend damning the way Federal and Local Government agencies (in Melbourne) are allocating grant money to artists.

Entitled The many ways artists gain grants from government by Fiona Hudson and Carly Crawford and Savvy artists collecting multiple grants from federal and state government by Fiona Hudson questioned tax payer money being spent on grants while many other other budgets are being cut.

In the first article they criticize artist Christian Capurro who is currently in a residency in New York, although they mention that he exhibited at the Venice Biennale. Any athlete working at that level would gain funding or sponsorship if they were training overseas - to me there is not much difference. The second article questioned the grants system writing that "Savvy artists are collecting multiple grants from federal, state and local government honey-pots for an array of fringe projects." Both articles also link to a pdf entitled YOUR CASH AT WORK in which they have clearly found unusual projects to make it seem as though most projects that are funded are silly and/or irrelevant, although to me most seemed engaging, interesting and fresh.

These two articles are offensive for several reasons but most obviously the idea that artists are savvy by simply trying to have enough money to complete their work and still be able to eat is absurd. I am sure plenty of artists around Australia would like to know where this honey-pot is before it is used to make something much more "useful"...

Melbourne's Neon Parc Gallery to be in London art fair

Neon Parc is set to be part of the first annual FRAME, a section of Frieze Art Fair in London. This brand new section for 2009 will work differently in a couple of ways. Unlike the main event FRAME will have presentations of a particular artist curated by the gallery rather than a selection of different artists work. This bold and exciting program will only be showing young (running less than six years) international galleries with the selected galleries chosen by Daniel Baumann and Sarah McCrory who will curate the program. Neon Parc is the only Australian Gallery to be included so congratulations to them. For the full list of galleries see below:


* Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco
* Amp, Athens
* Ancient & Modern, London
* Balice Hertling, Paris
* Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
* Bugada & Cargnel (Cosmic Galerie), Paris
* Lisa Cooley, New York
* Gaudel de Stampa, Paris
* Hoet Bekaert Gallery, Ghent
* Hunt Kastner, Prague
* Ibid Projects, London
* Galerie Parisa Kind, Frankfurt/Main
* Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin
* Limoncello, London
* Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin
* Marz Galeria, Lisbon
* Andreiana Mihail Gallery, Bucharest
* Monitor, Rome
* Neon Parc, Melbourne
* Neue Alte Brücke, Frankfurt/Main
* Project 88, Mumbai
* Rodeo, Istanbul
* galerie schleicher+lange, Paris
* Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin
* Seventeen, London
* Franco Soffiantino, Turin
* Supportico Lopez, Berlin
* 023 Sassa Trülzsch, Berlin
* Tulips & Roses, Vilnius
* Jonathan Viner Gallery/Fortescue Avenue, London

Laith McGregor - cover artist

Laith McGregor's artworks are all over Australia's art magazines this month, having been featured on the cover of both the art guide and ART MONTHLY. There is something obviously enticing and interesting to viewers about this artist who uses biros to create magical and strange bearded people. To be upfront I am not the biggest fan of beards, but in a way these drawings both celebrate and poke fun at facial hair and its place in our culture. McGregor is currently on show at the MCA, Sydney as part of the I Walk the Line: New Australian Drawing and a solo exhibition of these latest works is opening this week at Helen Gory Galerie in Melbourne.



Images: artguide, Art Monthly and the artist, Laith McGregor.

Helen Gory Galerie
Prahran, Melbourne
Laith McGregor, So It Goes
5th - 23rd May 2009

I Walk the Line: New Australian Drawing
MCA Sydney
17 March - 24 May 2009

Sotheby's downsizing in more ways than one.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

The New York Times has reported that Christies and Sotheby's (US branches) are downsizing their catalogues. Collector's shoulders will be thankful but for researchers and historians catalogues are also a great resource for studying an artist's work in the art market. Catalogues often include long (sometimes tedious) histories of the artists and their artworks but they can also be invaluable later on in reselling or studying a painting or object.

Christies are cutting down the size and page number, while Sotheby's are sending collectors usb catalogues which they can also view online, as well as maintaining printed catalogues. The quality and colour of prints can be extremely important when viewing an artwork for sale and the colour differences in screens could cause a problem but the online catalogue has its upsides. Both auction houses have searchable catalogues which are still useful for research, including condition report and background information but do not have the depth of knowledge usually presented in print catalogues. Catalogues are still a money spinner for auction houses, particularly high profile auctions so they will most likely never be completely discountinued, of which art historian are probably quite relieved.